Deck 6: Small Bodies in the Solar System

Question 1

Saturn's two shepherd moons herd the particles in the F ring.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The leading hemisphere of Iapetus is much darker than the back side, which is icy.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Triton shows similar cratering to the Lunar highlands, which suggests that it too is an old surface.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

As with Saturn's F ring, shepherd moons play a major role in the structure of the thin narrow rings around Uranus.

Question 5

All known asteroids can be found in the asteroid belt.

Question 6

A typical ring particle is about the size of a snowball.

Question 7

Most of the midsized jovian moons show heavy cratering.

Question 8

The rings of Saturn occupy the region inside Saturn's Roche limit.

Question 9

Which of the Galilean moons is the densest and most geologically active?

A) Io
B) Europa
C) Ganymede
D) Callisto
E) Titan

Question 10

The moons of Saturn are darker than those of Uranus.

Question 11

The lakes on Titan are almost pure methane.

Question 12

Ganymede has many features that look like its history may be similar to the Earth's Moon's, but with water on Ganymede playing the role of rock on the Moon.

Question 13

Pluto is smaller than many moons in the solar system.

Question 14

Pluto is visible to the naked eye on extremely dark nights.

Question 15

When initially discovered by Voyager 2, Neptune's rings appeared as ring arcs, and are more clumpy and less regular than most other rings.

Question 16

Pluto is probably one of the largest of the Kuiper Belt bodies beyond Neptune.

Question 17

The particles making up the ring of Jupiter are composed of bright, reflective ice.

Question 18

All the Galilean moons are in synchronous rotation, with the same face always pointed toward Jupiter, except for tidally stressed Io.

Question 19

The rings of Uranus were discovered from Earth when the planet passed in front of a star.

Question 20

The most geologically active moon in our solar system is Ganymede.

Question 21

What is the prediction for the future of Triton?

A) It will provide the raw material for a future Neptunian ring.
B) It will develop active volcanoes as Neptune's tidal stresses become greater.
C) It will crash into Nereid when the smaller moon comes too close.
D) Its orbit, while retrograde, is very stable and will not change.
E) Its retrograde orbit will throw it back out into the Kuiper Belt again, with Pluto.

Question 22

On Io, volcanic eruptions, such as those from Prometheus, can send material how far above the surface?

A) 150 km or more
B) 2-3 km
C) A few meters
D) Just far enough to get a surface flow
E) Nowhere-volcanoes are not found on moons.

Question 23

What evidence suggests that Enceladus has ongoing geological activity?

A) Voyager 2 photographed liquid nitrogen geysers 10 kilometers tall.
B) Lack of impact craters on much of its surface, evidence of ice flows from possible volcanic activity, and geysers that supply material for the E-ring.
C) Voyager 1 showed sulfur eruptions all over its pizza-pie colored surface.
D) Enceladus is located within Saturn's Roche limit, and ready to blow up.
E) Enceladus undergoes severe tidal stresses from its resonance with Titan.

Question 24

What is the origin of the jovian moons?

A) They all formed with the planet.
B) They were main belt asteroids, captured by Jupiter's strong gravity.
C) They are Trojan asteroids, orbiting 60 degrees ahead or behind Jupiter.
D) The four Galilean moons formed with Jupiter, most others were later captures.
E) They were ripped from the planet's interior in an early cataclysmic event.

Question 25

Which of the four Galilean moons is not differentiated?

A) Io
B) Europa
C) Ganymede
D) Callisto
E) None of the above. All the moons are differentiated.

Question 26

The surface of which jovian moon most resembles the pack ice of the Arctic Ocean?

A) Amalthea
B) Io
C) Europa
D) Ganymede
E) Callisto

Question 27

The highest temperatures of volcanic lava on Io that are

A) similar to that of hot springs on Earth.
B) similar to volcanic lava on Earth.
C) similar to the surface temperature of Venus.
D) far hotter than any earthly volcano.
E) just barely hot enough to melt water ice.

Question 28

In addition to Saturn's Titan, which other moon has a nitrogen atmosphere?

A) Jupiter's Europa
B) Uranus' Titania
C) Neptune's Triton
D) Jupiter's Ganymede
E) Pluto's Charon

Question 29

Of the Galilean moons, the one with striking grooved terrain and icy tectonic features as well as older craters is

A) Amalthea.
B) Io.
C) Europa.
D) Ganymede.
E) Callisto.

Question 30

What is interesting about Saturn's large moon Titan?

A) It is one of Saturn's two large moons.
B) It has a 2:1 resonance with Mimas and a 4:1 resonance with the Cassini gap.
C) It has its own moon.
D) It orbits Saturn in a retrograde sense.
E) It has an atmosphere.

Question 31

What is erupting out of the geysers on Triton?

A) Liquid water
B) Liquid methane
C) Liquid nitrogen
D) Liquid carbon dioxide
E) Liquid hydrogen

Question 32

What is the major component of Io's volcanic flows?

A) Basaltic lava, like the lunar mare
B) Liquid nitrogen, like the eruptions of Triton
C) Sulfur and its compounds
D) Carbon dioxide and water vapor, as with our eruptions
E) Iron oxide, as on Mars

Question 33

Of the Galilean satellites, which has the oldest, most heavily cratered surface?

A) Titan
B) Io
C) Europa
D) Callisto
E) Ganymede

Question 34

In size, from largest to smallest, the correct order for the Galilean moons is

A) Callisto, Ganymede, Europa, Io.
B) Ganymede, Callisto, Io, Europa.
C) Io, Europa, Callisto, Ganymede.
D) Europa, Ganymede, Io, Callisto.
E) Ganymede, Callisto, Europa, Io.

Question 35

What mission landed on Titan in early 2005?

A) Galileo's probe
B) Huygens
C) New Horizons
D) Rover Spirit
E) Cassini orbiter

Question 36

The atmosphere of Titan is composed mostly of

A) oxygen.
B) methane.
C) carbon dioxide.
D) hydrogen.
E) nitrogen.

Question 37

What is thought to be the cause of Io's volcanoes?

A) Jupiter's magnetosphere and its charged particles
B) Jupiter's gravity and the heat it creates
C) Tidal stresses from both Jupiter and Europa
D) Solar radiation focused by Jupiter's gravity
E) Radioactive decay in Io's interior

Question 38

What did the Huygens and Cassini probes find on the surface of Titan?

A) Rocks and no water
B) Methane oceans
C) An ocean and some lakes of methane, ethane, and other hydrocarbons
D) Lakes and oceans of water
E) No methane, no water; just rocks

Question 39

The largest volcano on Io, Loki, is similar in size, but a bit larger than

A) Texas.
B) India.
C) Mauna Kea.
D) Maryland.
E) Manhattan.

Question 40

Which of the jovian moons is the largest and also the largest moon in the solar system, even bigger than Mercury?

A) Titan
B) Triton
C) Ganymede
D) Callisto
E) Umbriel

Question 41

One of the discoveries made by the Voyager probes while near Jupiter was

A) Io has a featureless surface that never changes.
B) a thin ring of dust around the equator.
C) the absence of a magnetic field around the giant planet.
D) that the Great Red Spot is uniform and featureless.
E) each of the four large moons produces a strong magnetic field.

Question 42

What are Saturn's rings?

A) A great disk of liquid helium
B) Large rocky boulders moving in orbit around Saturn
C) A glowing, flat magnetospheric auroral display
D) A solid thin disc of material encircling Saturn
E) Small icy particles moving in orbit around Saturn

Question 43

Why are Saturn's rings so noticeable?

A) They are made of metallic hydrogen.
B) They are made of lots of fresh, bright icy particles from a recent breakup.
C) The particles in the rings are highly polished from numerous collisions with other particles.
D) They are made of nitrogen frost, like the bright surface of Triton.
E) Saturn is so bright, the rings reflect a lot of light from both Saturn and the Sun.

Question 44

Shepherd satellites are defined as

A) satellites in the coma of a comet.
B) moons that confine a narrow ring.
C) a type of moon that orbits another moon.
D) moons that follow the exact orbit of another, larger, moon.
E) moons that orbit inside the system of rings.

Question 45

The rings of Uranus and Neptune are found

A) by the Hubble Space Telescope.
B) above their equators.
C) in the ecliptic plane.
D) outside the Roche limit.
E) all of the above

Question 46

The orbits of most asteroids

A) lie beyond Neptune.
B) lie entirely beyond the orbit of Mars.
C) cross the orbit of Mars.
D) cross the orbit of Earth.
E) cross the orbits of all four terrestrial planets.

Question 47

A moon that goes inside the Roche Limit will

A) get heated by the strong magnetic fields.
B) collide with a major satellite.
C) escape its planet's gravity.
D) be torn apart by the planet's tidal forces.
E) become a planet.

Question 48

The reason the rings of Saturn exist is because

A) the ring material lies within the Roche limit of Saturn.
B) the gravitational influence of Titan confines them to those orbits.
C) the eruptions of Mimas' volcanoes are keeping them supplied with ice.
D) there has not been sufficient time for the ring particles to form a moon.
E) Saturn's rapid rotation is spinning material away from its equator, out into space.

Question 49

While not yet observed in eruption, it is likely that ________ has active volcanoes; it certainly has one hemisphere greatly reworked by tectonic and volcanic forces.

A) Dione
B) Titan
C) Enceladus
D) Mimas
E) Rhea

Question 50

What makes Mimas a distinct moon?

A) It suffered a huge meteorite impact that must have nearly shattered it.
B) It helps maintain a wide apparent gap in Saturn's rings, known as Encke's Division.
C) It has a rich atmosphere that may resemble that of the early Earth.
D) It is the largest of Saturn's moons.
E) The leading hemisphere is very dark, while the back side is bright ice.

Question 51

The rings of Neptune

A) were confirmed by the Voyager 2 in 1989.
B) number five, with three narrow, two more diffuse.
C) all lie within Neptune's Roche Limit.
D) often appear as clumpy ring arcs, rather than complete and symmetrical.
E) All of these are correct.

Question 52

Radiation darkening explains why

A) there are so many dark craters on the jovian moons.
B) Uranus' moons are darker than Saturn's.
C) Earth's Moon is made of rock, but jovian moons are icy.
D) Iapetus has a two-faced appearance.

Question 53

The "wispy terrain" on Rhea was revealed by the Cassini spacecraft to be

A) ice cliffs created by tectonic fractures.
B) water ice flows from past impacts that cracked its icy surface.
C) the icy ash of water volcanoes.
D) "maria" created during the period of high impacts.
E) water ice flows from geyser-like activity.

Question 54

What did the Voyager mission discover about the main rings of Saturn?

A) There are hundreds of small moons in the ring system.
B) They were less dense than the rings of Jupiter.
C) There are several small moons inside the inner-most ring.
D) The ring system is much thicker than originally believed.
E) They are composed of tens of thousands of narrow ringlets.

Question 55

The Roche limit is the point at which

A) the mass of an object classifies it as a moon.
B) a moon orbiting a planet experiences synchronous rotation.
C) the external tidal forces on an object are strong enough to be felt by the object.
D) the external tidal forces on an object become greater than the internal forces that hold it together.
E) the internal forces that hold an object together weaken so that the object falls apart.

Question 56

The orbits of most comets

A) are like the planets, fairly circular and in the ecliptic plane.
B) lie almost entirely beyond the orbit of Neptune.
C) have perihelions within the orbits of Mercury.
D) go no farther out than Pluto, then return to the sun again.
E) are shorter than the 76 year period for Comet Halley.

Question 57

Which of the following played the most important role in the ring's formation?

A) Saturn's differential rotation
B) Saturn's Roche limit
C) Saturn's distance from the Sun
D) Debris from volcanoes on Mimas
E) Tidal resonance with Titan

Question 58

How many medium-sized moons does Saturn have?

A) Too many to count
B) 18
C) 9
D) 6
E) 1

Question 59

What is the defining property of the Trojan asteroids?

A) Their orbital periods are exactly one year, like ours.
B) They have orbits that cross the orbit of the Earth, but not that of Venus.
C) They have orbits at the distance of Jupiter and 60 degrees ahead of or behind it.
D) They have orbits between Saturn and Uranus.
E) Like Pluto, they are in a 3:2 resonance with Neptune.

Question 60

What did the Voyager mission discover about the Cassini Division?

A) It actually contains one or more moons.
B) It contains several ringlets.
C) It is completely filled with a ring of very dark material.
D) The spokes originate from it.
E) It is actually completely empty of all ring material.

Question 61

Io's volcanoes contribute material to a ________ around the planet Jupiter's equator.

Question 62

The Oort Cloud is thought to be

A) the cloud of gas and dust from which our solar system formed.
B) a cloud of debris that occasionally encounters the Earth, causing a meteor shower.
C) the spherical cloud of comets and some larger icy bodies surrounding the outer solar system.
D) a cloud of asteroids moving between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
E) the material in the ecliptic plane that creates the zodiacal light.

Question 63

Except for Io, the other three Galilean satellites have periods of rotation and revolution that are ________.

Question 64

The Kuiper Belt objects have orbits that

A) carry them thousands of AU beyond the Sun.
B) stay out just beyond Neptune and close to the ecliptic.
C) stay sixty degrees ahead of or behind Jupiter.
D) cross the orbit of Mars at perihelion.
E) cross the orbit of Earth at perihelion.

Question 65

At Titan, the weather is driven by phase changes of ________ gas into liquid or solid forms.

Question 66

The moon with an atmosphere denser than ours is ________.

Question 67

What are comets made of?

A) Silicates and rocky dust
B) Metallic dust particles
C) Dark colored complex hydrocarbons
D) Methane, ammonia, and water ice
E) All of the above

Question 68

Neptune's large moon ________ is the only large satellite known in a retrograde orbit.

Question 69

Io's "pizza pie" colors come from eruptions of ________ and its compounds.

Question 70

The large moons of Jupiter have low densities suggesting compositions that are a mixture of rocky materials and ________.

Question 71

Pluto's density is most similar to

A) the terrestrial planets.
B) the jovian planets.
C) moons of the jovian planets.
D) Mercury, but nor Venus, Earth, or Mars.
E) Saturn, but not Jupiter, Uranus, or Neptune.

Question 72

Titan has oceans made chiefly of liquid ________, along with smaller amounts of methane and propane.

Question 73

From its orbit, we now recognize Pluto as one of the largest members of the

A) moons of Neptune.
B) asteroid belt.
C) Kuiper Belt.
D) Oort Cloud.
E) Zodiacal Belt.

Question 74

Long period comets are thought to reside mainly in the

A) asteroid belt.
B) Kirkwood gaps.
C) Kuiper Belt.
D) Oort Cloud.
E) Interstellar Medium.

Question 75

The Galileo spacecraft showed that volcanic features on Io could change in ________.

Question 76

The tail of a comet always points

A) toward the Sun and disappears at perihelion.
B) toward Earth and never varies.
C) away from the Sun and disappears at perihelion.
D) away from the Sun and becomes longest and brightest at perihelion.
E) in the direction of the comet's motion.

Question 77

Pluto's bulk density is

A) 3,400 kg/m³, comparable to our Moon's.
B) 2,100 kg/m³, similar to Callisto's mix of rock and ice.
C) 1,200 kg/m³, like Mimas, made of almost pure ice.
D) 700 kg/m³, like Saturn a mix of hydrogen and helium slush.
E) 400 kg/m³, like Comet Halley's nucleus, a ice ball with many gas pockets.

Question 78

When a formal definition of a planet in the solar system was adopted, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet. What characteristic of planets does not describe Pluto?

A) Planets orbit the sun.
B) Planets are approximately spherical.
C) Planets have cleared the neighborhood around their orbit.
D) Planets orbit in ellipses with low eccentricity.
E) Planets orbit in or very near the ecliptic plane.

Question 79

The nucleus, or main solid body, of a comet has a typical size of

A) a few centimeters.
B) a few meters.
C) a few kilometers.
D) a few hundred kilometers.
E) a few thousand kilometers.

Question 80

Pluto was discovered in

A) ancient times.
B) 1789.
C) 1859.
D) 1930.
E) 1992.