Deck 17: The Solar System

Question 1

The planet having a period of rotation nearest the earth's is

A)Mercury.
B)Venus.
C)Mars.
D)Saturn.

Answer 1

Mars.

Question 2

Meteoroids

A)follow orbits around the earth.
B)follow orbits around the sun.
C)move randomly through the solar system.
D)come from outside the solar system.

Answer 2

follow orbits around the sun.

Question 3

Meteorites never contain

A)iron.
B)nickel.
C)silicate minerals.
D)limestone fragments.

Answer 3

limestone fragments.

Question 4

Of the following planets, the one with the most satellites is

A)Venus.
B)Mars.
C)Jupiter.
D)Neptune.

Question 5

Most of the mass in the solar system is located in

A)the asteroids.
B)the sun.
C)Jupiter and Saturn.
D)Uranus and Neptune.

Question 6

The solar wind

A)blows over the sun's surface.
B)consists of photons streaming from the sun.
C)consists of ions streaming from the sun.
D)consists of hydrogen atoms streaming from the sun.

Question 7

The planet with the longest day is

A)Mercury.
B)Venus.
C)Earth.
D)Mars.

Question 8

On an average clear night, the number of meteors that can be seen per hour is

A)1 or 2.
B)5 to 10.
C)100 to 200.
D)1000 to 2000.

Question 9

The tail of a comet

A)is constant in size.
B)always points away from its direction of motion.
C)always points toward the sun.
D)always points away from the sun.

Question 10

The planet with the shortest year is

A)Mercury.
B)Jupiter.
C)Saturn.
D)Neptune.

Question 11

Comets consist largely of

A)hydrogen.
B)iron.
C)ice and dust.
D)rocks.

Question 12

Meteors appear in the night sky

A)only during the spring and fall.
B)only during specific shower periods.
C)in approximately the same numbers every night.
D)every night, but more often during shower periods.

Question 13

Planets shine because they

A)emit light.
B)reflect sunlight.
C)reflect moonlight.
D)reflect starlight.

Question 14

Compared to the inner planets, the outer planets

A)are denser.
B)rotate more rapidly on their axes.
C)have lower escape speeds.
D)contain relatively less matter in gaseous form.

Question 15

The Oort Cloud, which lies outside the orbit of Neptune, consists mainly of

A)comets.
B)meteoroids.
C)asteroids.
D)various gases.

Question 16

Which of the following is not one of the inner planets?

A)Mars
B)Earth
C)Jupiter
D)Venus

Question 17

The largest known meteorite has a mass of

A)5.5 kg.
B)55 kg.
C)550 kg.
D)55,000 kg.

Question 18

A planet with no known satellites is

A)Venus.
B)Jupiter.
C)Saturn.
D)Uranus.

Question 19

A planet with two satellites is

A)Venus.
B)Mars.
C)Jupiter.
D)Saturn.

Question 20

The least dense of the following planets is

A)Mercury.
B)Venus.
C)Mars.
D)Saturn.

Question 21

On Mars,

A)the durations of day and night are similar to those on the earth.
B)the duration of the year is about half that of the earth.
C)the atmosphere is very dense.
D)there are no deposits of water ice.

Question 22

Planetary rings

A)are thin sheets of rock.
B)are gas clouds.
C)consist of small chunks of rock and ice.
D)are more than 100 km thick.

Question 23

Of the following planets, the one with the thinnest atmosphere is

A)Mercury.
B)Venus.
C)Mars.
D)Uranus.

Question 24

A planet that consists largely of compressed gases is

A)Mercury.
B)Venus.
C)Mars.
D)Neptune.

Question 25

Venus is very unlikely to support life because

A)it has no atmosphere.
B)its escape speed is too low.
C)its surface is too cold.
D)its surface is too hot.

Question 26

If Jupiter had more than about 80 times its present mass, it would

A)split up into a number of smaller planets.
B)have rings like those of Saturn.
C)have an orbit closer to the sun.
D)be a star.

Question 27

Venus

A)rotates counterclockwise (looking downward on its north pole), as the other planets do.
B)shows signs of volcanic activity in the past.
C)has a crust that consists of huge shifting plates, as the earth does.
D)has a thin atmosphere mainly of oxygen.

Question 28

Most asteroids lie in a belt between

A)Mercury and the sun.
B)Earth and Mars.
C)Earth and moon.
D)Mars and Jupiter.

Question 29

The surface of Jupiter's satellite Europa may be covered by

A)vegetation.
B)metallic hydrogen.
C)the highest volcanoes in the solar system.
D)a layer of water ice floating on liquid water.

Question 30

The spacecraft that landed on Mars found

A)unambiguous signs of life.
B)liquid water on the surface.
C)a strong magnetic field.
D)lava flows.

Question 31

The planet with the most mass is

A)Earth.
B)Jupiter.
C)Saturn.
D)Neptune.

Question 32

The asteroids are probably similar in composition to

A)stony meteorites.
B)iron meteorites.
C)comets.
D)Jupiter.

Question 33

Surface temperatures are lowest on

A)Venus.
B)Earth.
C)Mars.
D)Saturn.

Question 34

The planet with the largest satellite is

A)Earth.
B)Mars.
C)Jupiter.
D)Neptune.

Question 35

The Great Red Spot is an atmospheric disturbance occurring on the planet

A)Mars.
B)Neptune.
C)Saturn.
D)Jupiter.

Question 36

The surface of Mars does not contain

A)active volcanoes.
B)meteor craters.
C)deserts of sand.
D)signs of surface water in the past.

Question 37

Asteroids

A)are fragments of a planet that broke up.
B)are all approximately spherical.
C)may be solid, liquid, or gaseous.
D)sometimes have satellites.

Question 38

Traces of life are being sought on a satellite of which of the following planets?

A)Mars
B)Jupiter
C)Saturn
D)Uranus

Question 39

A planet that has no rings around it is

A)Mars.
B)Jupiter.
C)Saturn.
D)Uranus.

Question 40

The planet that appears brightest in the sky is

A)Venus.
B)Mars.
C)Jupiter.
D)Saturn.

Question 41

The maria of the moon

A)are found only on the hemisphere that faces the earth.
B)are found only on the hemisphere that faces away from the earth.
C)are found everywhere on the moon's surface.
D)regularly change size and shape.

Question 42

If the moon were smaller than it is, total eclipses of the sun would

A)never occur.
B)occur less often than now.
C)occur as often as now.
D)occur more often than now.

Question 43

If the moon were smaller than it is, total eclipses of the moon would

A)never occur.
B)occur less often than now.
C)occur as often as now.
D)occur more often than now.

Question 44

An eclipse of the sun can occur

A)only when the moon passes directly between the earth and the sun.
B)only when the sun passes directly between the earth and the moon.
C)only when the earth passes directly between the sun and the moon.
D)at any time.

Question 45

A full moon is visible

A)only during the day.
B)only until midnight.
C)only after midnight.
D)all night.

Question 46

All known dwarf planets

A)are smaller than the moon.
B)are approximately spherical.
C)follow elliptical orbits around the sun.
D)All of these choices.

Question 47

In the past 3 billion years the main influence on the lunar landscape has been

A)volcanoes.
B)moonquakes.
C)meteoroid impacts.
D)running water.

Question 48

Relative to the oldest rocks that have been found on the earth, the oldest lunar rocks are

A)very much younger.
B)somewhat younger.
C)about the same age.
D)older.

Question 49

The maria of the moon are covered with

A)water.
B)hard, smooth rock.
C)dark, loose soil.
D)frozen carbon dioxide.

Question 50

The moon has an abundance of

A)atmospheric gases.
B)water.
C)ice.
D)craters.

Question 51

At new moon, the moon is

A)not in line with the earth and the sun.
B)between the earth and the sun.
C)on the opposite side of the earth from the sun.
D)on the opposite side of the sun from the earth.

Question 52

The interior of the moon

A)is uniform in structure.
B)has a liquid core.
C)is relatively cool.
D)is active geologically, giving rise to severe moonquakes.

Question 53

At full moon, the moon is

A)between the earth and the sun.
B)on the opposite side of the earth from the sun.
C)on the opposite side of the sun from the earth.
D)not in line with the earth and the sun.

Question 54

A planet that has phases like those of the moon is

A)Venus.
B)Mars.
C)Jupiter.
D)Saturn.

Question 55

A dwarf planet

A)must not have any satellites.
B)need not be massive enough to have cleared other objects from the neighborhood of its orbit.
C)must have an orbit outside that of Neptune.
D)must have an atmosphere.