Chapter 7 Flashcards
(32 cards)
The Jovian planets are composed mostly of
hydrogen and helium
some astronomers object to the new definition of a planet that was adopted in 2006
By this definition, Earth, Jupiter, and other planets should not be considered planets.
The moon Titan is special because
its surface is wet
The discovery of _________ prompted astronomers to reconsider whether Pluto should really be called a planet
Eris
two factors influence whether gas particles stay or leave a planet’s atmosphere
gravity and heat
A gas particle will escape a planet’s atmosphere if it moves faster than the
“escape speed”
Transit Method
discovering exoplanets looks for tiny dips in light as a planet passes in front of its star
“More money is spent on making movies about ____________ than on actually finding them.”
killer asteroids
The gas in the solar nebula began at a temperature of about
2000 K
terrestrial planets
planets closest to the Sun
If we could capture the spectrum of an exoplanet, we may find evidence for life on that planet in the form of
biosignatures
How many asteroids (that we know of) are on a potential collision course with Earth
300 - 500
Which of the following parts of the formal definition of a planet does Pluto fail to meet
It has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit
During the Tunguska Event, people were thrown 20 feet through the air, even though they were ________ away from the explosion
40 miles
Which of the following planets in our solar system have rings
Uranus
Jupiter
Saturn
Neptune
An explosion the size of the Tunguska Event is likely to happen every
few centuries
A planet will keep a large atmosphere if it
is cold or has a ton of gravity
As the solar nebula cooled, which compounds were the first to condense from a gas to a solid
metals
Pluto was discovered
1930
Condensation sequence
different mineral compounds condense at different temps
Planetesimals
small, solid bodies that formed in primordial Solar System
Doppler method
detecting exoplanets from ground based telescope
Doppler effect
change in the wavelength of radiation due to relative motion between the source and the observer along the line of sight
Jupiter’s atmosphere is known from
Voyager, Hubble Space Telescope, and Galileo probe mission
