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Space exploration 3010 > Exam 3 > Flashcards

Exam 3 Flashcards

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1
Q

Why is jupiter called the king of the planets?

A

Because it’s the largest planet in the solar system

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2
Q

How does Jupiter’s diameter and mass compare to the Earth’s?

A

Diameter: 11x Earth’s diameter
Mass: 300x Earth’s mass

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3
Q

How many flybys have visited jupiter?

A

7 flybys
- Pioneer 10
- Pioneer 11
- Voyager 1
- Voyager 2
- Ulysses
- Cassini
- New horizons

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4
Q

How many orbiters have visited jupiter?

A

2 orbiters
- Galileo
- Juno

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5
Q

How many probes have visited jupiter?

A

1 probe
- Galileo probe

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6
Q

What are the five spacecrafts leaving the solar system?

A
  • Pioneer 10
  • Pioneer 11
  • Voyager 1
  • Voyager 2
  • New horizons
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7
Q

How did the five spacecrafts achieve escape velocity?

A

By utilizing gravity assist

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8
Q

How long does it take Jupiter to orbit the sun?

A

12 Earth years

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9
Q

What causes the coriolis effect on jupiter?

A

It’s large size and rapid rotation

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10
Q

What kind of winds cause Jupiter’s atmospheric vortices to form?

A

Sheer winds

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11
Q

When was Jupiter’s great red spot discovered?

A

1600’s

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12
Q

How is jupiter’s powerful magnetic field generated?

A

Convection with metallic hydrogen, rapid rotation

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13
Q

What are jupiter’s rings made of?

A

Rock dust, radiation from the sun.

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14
Q

How many flybys have visited saturn?

A

4
- Pioneer 11
- Voyager 1
- Voyager 2
- Cassini-Huygens

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15
Q

How may orbiters have visited saturn?

A

2
- Cassini-Huygens
- Juno

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16
Q

How many probes have visited saturn?

A

4
- Pioneer 11
- Voyager 1
- Voyager 2
- Cassini-Huygens

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17
Q

How does saturns density compare to the density of other planets?

A

It’s the least dense.

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18
Q

How long does it take for saturn to orbit the sun?

A

29.4 Earth Years

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19
Q

Why doesn’t Saturn have cloud bands like Jupiter?

A

Cloaked by clouds formed from frozen ammonia gas. Smog or haze that cannot be seen through.

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20
Q

What is the overall diameter of Saturn’s rings? How does this compare to the distance between the Earth and the Moon?

A

Diameter: 240,000
Saturn and its rings would just in the distance between Earth and the Moon.

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21
Q

In what year will Saturn’s rings next appear edge on and be difficult to see as viewed from Earth?

A

2025

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22
Q

What causes the gaps in saturns rings?

A

Resonance with moons (Enceladus 1-3, Mimas 1-2)
Shepherding moons (moonlets)

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23
Q

What happens to an object that is held together by gravity if it crosses a planet’s Roche limit?

A

If something gets that close the tidal forces will tear it apart if it’s held together by gravity.

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24
Q

How many missions have visited Uranus? Name them.

A

Voyager 2

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25
How does Uranus’s diameter and mass compare to the Earth’s?
Diameter: 4x Earth's Mass: 15x Earth's
26
Why are seasons extreme on uranus?
The equator is nearly at a right angle to its orbit with a tilt of 97.77 degrees.
27
How long does it take Uranus to orbit the Sun?
84 Earth Years
28
How many missions have visited Neptune? Name them.
Voyager 2
29
How long does it take Neptune to orbit the Sun?
165 Earth years
30
Which astronomer first observed Neptune?
Johann Gottfried Galle
31
How does Neptune’s diameter and mass compare to the Earth’s?
Diameter: 3.9X earths Mass: 17X earths
32
Is the Great Dark Spot a permanent feature on Neptune like the Great Red Spot is on Jupiter?
Not a permanent feature, may come back, may not.
33
What did the Hubble Space Telescope see when it looked for it in 1994?
That the southern dark spot had disappeared.
34
Which spacecraft is currently the farthest from Earth?
Voyager 1
35
How long would it take for Pioneer 10 to reach Alpha Centauri (the closest star system to the Earth) if it were headed that way?
40,000 years
36
Who was the US president when the two Voyager missions launched in August and September of 1977?
Jimmy carter
37
When one of them flew by Uranus in January of 1986? When Neptune was reached in August of 1989?
August 25th 1989
38
Chapter 12 Who discovered the first moons in the Solar System other than our Moon?
Galileo Galilei
39
How many large moons are there?
Seven
40
How many medium moons are there
13
41
How many moons have been discovered around Jupiter?
95
42
How many moons have been discovered around Saturn?
146
43
How many moons have been discovered around Uranus?
28
44
How many moons have been discovered around Neptune?
16
45
How can you tell if a moon is a captured asteroid or a comet?
If its non-spherical, or looks like a potato.
46
Which moon is the most volcanically active world in the Solar System.
Jupiter's moon IO
47
Which three things cause Io to be so hot?
Tidal heating, radiogenic heating, and lack of an atmosphere.
48
Which moon is the smoothest known object in the Solar System?
Europa
49
Which moon is the largest in the Solar System?
Ganymede
50
Which moon has a substantial atmosphere?
Titan
51
Which mission carried a probe to explore Titan?
Cassini Huygens project
52
What liquids are found on Titan?
Methane and ethane (liquid natural gas)
53
What are the tumbled rocks imaged by the Huygens probe made of?
Organic molecules nitrogen with traces of methane
54
Which moon is the only large irregular moon?
Triton
55
Which two-faced moon is much darker on its leading hemisphere than on its trailing hemisphere?
Iapetus
56
Which moon has smaller moons in both its L4 & L5 Lagrange points? Name them.
Telesto and calypso
57
Which moon is the smallest known geologically active moon in the Solar System?
Enceladus
58
Which relatively small moon is a prime candidate for life?
Mimas
59
Which moon has the greatest variation in topography anywhere in the Solar System?
Io
60
Which moon is called the Death Star Moon?
Mimas
61
Which moon’s temperature map gave it the nickname Pac Man Moon?
Tethys
62
Which small moon is the reddest Solar System object?
amalthea
63
Which two co-orbital moons trade orbital locations every four years?
Janus and Epimetheus
64
Which moon is the only regular moon that is not tidally locked to its planet?
Hyperion
65
Which moon gave a passing spacecraft a 200 V shock?
Cassini, from hyperion
66
Name the three ‘ravioli’ moons. What gives them their strange shape?
Phobos, Deimos, and epimetheus The shape is influenced by their relatively low gravity and their formation process. They are likely captured objects.
67
Which planet does ariel orbit?
Uranus
68
Which planet does callisto orbit?
jupiter
69
Which planet does dione orbit?
saturn
70
Which planet does Enceladus orbit?
saturn
71
Which planet does europa orbit?
jupiter
72
Which planet does ganymede orbit?
jupiter
73
Which planet does io orbit?
Jupiter
74
Which planet does Oberon orbit?
Uranus
75
Which planet does proteus orbit?
neptune
76
Which planet does titan orbit?
saturn
77
Which planet does triton orbit?
neptune
78
Which planet does umbriel orbit?
Uranus
79
What is the diameter of the nucleus of a typical comet?
10-20 km
80
In which direction do comet tails point?
away from the sun
81
How long are the periods of short-period comets?
up to 200 years
82
Are great comets usually short period or long period comets?
they can be either, usually long period
83
Given the provisional name of a comet, identify the type of comet and the year and month it was discovered.
p/: periodic short term c/: non periodic long term D/: periodic comet that bro,e up or was lost a/: wrongly designated as a comet i/:interstellar objct Year discovered, letter indicating ½ month of discovery (skips I)
84
How many interstellar objects have been discovered? Name them
2, Oumuamua, 2I/Borisov
85
How many comets have been visited by spacecraft?
2, comet halley, comet tempel 1
86
Which mission returned a sample of comet dust to Earth?
NASA's stardust mission
87
Which mission followed a comet in its orbit to see how it changed in time?
Rosetta mission
88
Where do short period comets come from?
kuiper belts
89
Where do long period comets come from?
oort cloud
90
What is the total mass of the Kuiper belt compared to the Earth’s?
10% of earths
91
What part of the Kuiper belt is the principal source of comets?
classical kuiper belt
92
How does Pluto’s diameter and mass compare to Earth’s?
Diameter: 1/5 1/5 mass
93
How long does it take for Pluto to orbit the Sun?
248 earth years
94
How many dwarf planets in the Kuiper belt do we presently have? Name them.
5 Pluto, Haumea, makemake, eris, gonggong
95
Why does Haumea have such an unusual shape?
Ellipsoid shape, equators twice the radius as poles
96
What is the shape of the Inner Oort Cloud? What are its approximate boundaries?
Donut shaped, 2,000 AU to 20,000 AU
97
What is the shape of the Outer Oort Cloud? What are its approximate boundaries?
Spherical shell, 2,000 AU to 50,000 AU
98
What can change the orbit of a comet?
Interstellar gas cloud Supernova shock wave Passing star Dense part of the milky way

Space exploration 3010 (4 decks)

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