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Astro Final > Chap 8 > Flashcards

Chap 8 Flashcards

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1
Q

Where did the elements heavier than hydrogen and helium come from?

A

They were produced inside stars

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2
Q

Why did the solar nebula heat up as it collapsed

A

As the cloud shark, its gravitational potential energy was converted to kinetic energy and then into thermal energy

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3
Q

Why did the solar nebula flatten into a disk

A

It flattened as a natural consequence of collisions between particles in the nebula, changing random motions into more orderly ones

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4
Q

What happened during the accretion phase of the early solar system?

A

Particles grew by colliding and sticking together

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5
Q

According to our theory of solar system formation, why do all the planets orbit the Sun in the same direction and innerly the same plane

A

The laws of conservation of energy and conservation of angular momentum ensure that any rotating, collapsing cloud will end up as a spinning disk

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6
Q

What percentage of the solar nebula’s mass consisted of hydrogen and helium gases

A

98 percent

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7
Q

Why are the inner planets made of denser materials than the outer planets

A

In the inner part of the nebula only

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8
Q

At the first, the sun’s present day rotation seems to contradict the prediction of the nebular theory because

A

the theory predicts that the sun should have been rotating fast when its formed but the actual rotation is fairly slow

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9
Q

According to our theory of solar system formation, why does the sun rotate slowly today?

A

The sun once rotated much faster, but it transferred angular momentum to charged particles…..

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10
Q

According to the nebular theory, how did the Oort Cloud form

A

it is made of planetesimals formed in the outer solar system that we were flung into distant orbits by encounters with the jovian planets

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11
Q

According tot he nebular theory, what are asteroids and comets

A

They are leftover planetesimals that never accreted into planets

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12
Q

What is the most likely reason that there are no giant planets beyond Neptune

A

By the time planetesimals grew to a large enough mass to hold onto an atmosphere, the solar nebula had been blown away

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13
Q

Which of the following is the origin of almost all the large moons around the jovian planets

A

They were formed by condensation and accretion in a disk of gas around the planet

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14
Q

The nebular theory of the formation of the solar system successfully predicts all but one of the following. Which one does the theory not predict

A

the equal number of terrestrial and Jovian planets

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15
Q

Suppose you find a rock that contains some potassium-40…. How old is the rock

A

3.9 billion years

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16
Q

the age of our solar system is approx

A

4.6 billion years

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17
Q

Which of the following is not evidence supporting the giant impact theory for the formation of the moon

A

Scientists have found several meteorites that appear to be the remains of the object the caused the giant impact

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18
Q

According to our theory of solar system formation, why do we find someone tot the general rules and patterns of the planets

A

Most of the exceptions are the result of giant impacts

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19
Q

According to the nebular theory, how did the Kuiper belt form

A

It is made of planetesimals that formed beyond Neptune’s orbit and never accreted to form a planet

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20
Q

What kind of material in the solar nebula could remain solid at temp as high as 1,500 K such as existed in the inner regions of the nebula

A

metals

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21
Q

Rank the five terrestrial worlds in order of size from smallest to largest

A

Moon, Mercury, Mars,Venus, Earth

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22
Q

What is differentiation in planetary geology

A

the process by which gravity separates materials according to density

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23
Q

Under what circumstances can differentiation occur in a planet

A

The planet must have a molten interior

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24
Q

The core, mantle and crust of a planet are defined by differences in their

A

Composition

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25
The terrestrial planet cores contain mostly metal because
Metals sank to the center during a time when interior were molten throughout
26
The three principal sources of internal heat of terrestrial planets are
accretion, differentiation and radioactivity
27
Heat escapes from am planet's surface into space by thermal radiation Planets radiate almost entirely in the wavelength range of the
Infrared
28
Which of the following best describes why the smaller terrestrial worlds have cooler interiors than the larger ones
They have relatively more surface area compared to their volumes
29
Why does Earth have the strongest magnetic field among the terrestrial worlds
It is the only one that has both a partially molten metallic core and reasonably rapid rotation
30
Which of the following most likely explains why Venus does not have a strong magnetic field
Its rotation is too slow
31
Which tow properties are most important in determining the surface temp of a planet
distance from the sum and atmosphere
32
which of the following does not have a major effect in shaping planetary surfaces
magnetism
33
The relatively few craters that we see within the lunar maria
were formed by impacts that occurred after those that formed out most of the craters in the lunar highlands
34
when we see region of a planet that is not as heavily cratered as other regions, we conclude that
the surface in the region is younger than the surface in more heavily cratered regions
35
Volcanism is more likely on a planet that
has high internal temp
36
Shallow-sloped shield volcanoes are made from lava tha
has a medium viscosity
37
Steep-sided stratovolcanoes are made from lava taht
has a high viscosity
38
which of the following describes tectonics
the disruption of a planets surface by internal stresses
39
which of the following describes erosion
the wearing down or building up of geological features by wind, water, ice and other plantetary weather
40
Which of the following describes volcanism
the eruption of molten rock from a planets interior to its surface
41
which of the following describes impact cratering
the excavation of bowl shaped depressions by asteroids or comets striking a planets surface
42
How did the lunar Maria form
Large impacts fractured the moons lithosphere, allowing lave to fill the impact basins
43
A planet is most likely to have tectonic activity if it has
high internal temp
44
The calorie basin on mercury covers a large region of the planet, but few smaller craters have formed on top of it. From this we conclude that
The calorie basin formed toward the end of the solar systems period of heavy bombardment
45
Why do we think Mercury has som nay tremendous cliffs
They were probably formed by tectonic stresses when the entire planet shrank its core cooled
46
Which of the following show evidence of ancient river beds
Mars
47
What drives the motion of the tectonic plates on Earth
Convection cells in the mantle
48
Olympus Mons is a
Shield volcano on mars
49
Which of the following correctly describes the meaning of albedo
The higher the albedo, the more light the surface reflects, and the less it absorbs
50
Which of the following worlds has the most substantial atmosphere
Venus
51
Which of the following planets has the least substantial atmosphere
Mercury
52
Why does Venus have such a great difference in temp between its "no atmosphere" temp and its actual temp
It has a large amount of greenhouse gases in its atmosphere
53
What are greenhouse gases
gases that absorb infrared light
54
What is the exosphere
the highest layer in the atmosphere
55
What is the troposhpere
the lowest layer in the atmosphere
56
The ski is blue because
molecules scatter blue light more effectively than red light
57
Sunsets are red because
sunlight must pass through more atmosphere then, and the atmosphere scatters even more light at bluer wavelengths, transmitting mostly red light
58
There are no aurora on Venus because it
lacks a strong magnetic field
59
What is the difference in meaning between the terms weather and climate
Weather refers to short term variations in conditions, and climate refers to long term variations in conditions
60
The strength of the Coriolis effects depends on
A planets size and rotation rate
61
Why doesn't Venus hav seasons like Mars and Earth do
its rotation axis is not tilted
62
Where is most of the water on Mars
in its polar caps and subsurface ground ince
63
Why isn't Earth's atmosphere mostly hydrogen
Light gases such as hydrogen move faster than heavier gases and escape from Earth's gravitational field
64
Why does the burning of fossil fuels increase the greenhouse effect on Earth
Burning releases carbon dioxide into the atoms
65
What are oxidation reactions
reactions that remove oxygen from the atmosphere, such as fire and rust
66
What are fossil fuels
the carbon-rich rains of plants that died millions of years ago
67
What is differential rotation
Rotation where a body rotates faster or slower at its equator than it does at its poles
68
Why do Jovian planets bulge around the equator, that is have "squashed" appearance
their rapid rotation flings the mass near the equator outward
69
Which of the following does not yield information on Jovian planet interiors
spectroscopy of the cloud layers
70
Why is Jupiter denser than Saturn
The extra mass of Jupiter compresses its interior to a greater extent than that of Saturn
71
Why is Neptune denser than Saturn
It has a different composition than Saturn, including a higher proportion of hydrogen compounds and rocks
72
How do the Jovian planet interiors differ
All have cores of about the same mass, but differ in the amount of surrounding hydrogen and helium
73
The belts and zones of Jupiter are
Alternating bands of rising and falling air at different latitudes
74
What is Jupiters great red spot
a long lived, high pressure storm
75
Why do Uranus and Neptune have blue methane clouds but Jupiter and Saturn do not
Methane does not condense into ice in the warmer atmospheric temperatures of Jupiter and saturn
76
The four large Galilean moons around Jupiter are
a mixture of rock and ice fraction increasing with distance from Jupiter
77
Why are there no impact craters on the surface of lo
lo did have impact craters but that have all been buried in lava flows
78
The fact that most moons always show the same face tot their planet is
a natural consequence of tidal forces acting on the moons
79
What is the most important reason why an icy moon is more likely to be geologically active than a rocky moon of the same size
ice has a lower melting point than rock
80
Why do astronomers believe Triton may have been a planet that was captured by Neptune
It orbits Neptune in the opposite of Neptunes rotation
81
Why are Saturns rings so thin
Any particle in the ring with an orbital tilt would collide with other ring particles, flattening its orbit
82
Planetary rings are
All of the above
83
Which of the Jovian planets have rings
All of the above
84
Which previously unknown planets location was predicted from mathematical calculations of orbital motions
Neptune
85
Which of the following planets cannot be seen with the naked eye
Neptune
86
Which moon has the most substantial atmosphere
Titan
87
How big is the largest asteroid
About 1000km in diameter
88
What is the average distance between asteroids in the asteroid belt
About 1,000,000 km
89
Why didn't the material in the asteroid belt form a planet
Orbital resonances with Jupiter disrupted the orbits of the asteroids and prevented them from forming a planet
90
What are the Trojan asteroids
They are asteroids in the 1:1 resonance with Jupiter in Jupiters orbits
91
Why are most meteorites found in Antarctica
Meteorites are dark and easy to spot against the ice in Antarctica
92
What are the most common types of meteorites
stony primitive meteorites
93
What is the orientation of a comets plasma tail
the plasma tail extends from the nucleus in the opposite directions of the sun
94
What produces meteor showers
meteor showers are caused by the passage of Earth through the debris left by a comet in its orbit
95
Comets are often described as
Dirty snowballs
96
Where do the Kuiper belt comets come from
They formed in the Kuiper belt
97
How is Pluto different from the other objects in the Kuiper belt
none of these
98
What is a dwarf planet
A dwarf planet is any object orbiting the Sun that is large enough to be round but not one of the 8 planets
99
what is the largest dwarf planet discovered to date
Eris
100
What is comet sl9
it is a comet that was seen crashing into Jupiter
101
which of the following is not evidence for a large impact on Earth 65 million years ago
globally distributed meteorites with a radiometric age of 65 million years
102
How large was the object that caused the Tunguska impact
about 40 m across
103
How often does an impactor large enough to cause tsunamis and widespread devastation strike Earth
about once in a million years

Astro Final (1 decks)

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