BCC Solar System Planets and Moons Questions

Question 11 pts

Where has frozen water has been discovered on the Moon?

Group of answer choicesAt the bottom of all the craters we see on the side facing us

In the highlands, but only on the side of the Moon facing away from Earth

Deep inside craters in the regions near the Moon’s poles

In the maria, regions of the Moon that are water filled seas

You can’t fool me, no water has ever been found on the Moon in any form

Flag question: Question 2Question 21 pts

The lunar highlands are made mostly of rocks that

Group of answer choicesfell on to the Moon from space

were recently expelled by volcanoes from the deep interior of the Moon

rose to the top as the Moon cooled from a molten state early in its history

that were pushed upwards due to active plate tectonics on the Moon

don’t have a good scientific explanation yet

Flag question: Question 3Question 31 pts

What makes astronomers think that impact rates for the Moon must have been higher earlier than 3.8 billion years ago?

Group of answer choicesall the radioactive rocks found on the Moon so far give ages much younger than that, so the Moon must have formed less than 3.8 billion years ago

we see many more craters on the Moon that have been eroded by wind and rain

all the large craters on the Moon come in pairs, while all recent craters are single

there are ten times more craters on the older highlands than the younger maria

the ancient sea basins on the Moon, whose water has since evaporated, show a lot more cratering

Flag question: Question 4Question 41 pts

According to the giant impact hypothesis about the formation of the Moon, why did the Earth not break apart into many pieces when the giant impact happened?

Group of answer choicescosmic impacts are always so slow, the bodies involved never break into pieces

the impactor was about the size of Mars or smaller, so it ejected material from the Earth but did not break it

the impactor was made of such light material (mostly gas and liquid) it could not break the Earth apart

there were more than a dozen small impactors, all hitting one after another

the Earth did break apart into many pieces, which then re-formed into a planet

Flag question: Question 5Question 51 pts

Which of the following statements about temperature changes on Mercury is correct?

Group of answer choicesit is always hot everywhere on Mercury, because the planet is so close to the Sun

it is always cold all over Mercury, because the planet has no significant atmosphere

one side of Mercury is always extremely hot, while the other side is about the same temperature as Los Angeles on Earth

the difference in temperature between Mercury’s daylight side and its night side is the greatest difference of any planet in the solar system

we suspect Mercury must be warm, but we have not been able to measure any temperatures on the planet with our instruments

Flag question: Question 6Question 61 pts

Why does Mars have an overall reddish color when we see its surface from afar?

Group of answer choicesThis is an optical illusion caused by the Earth’s atmosphere scattering the colors of light differently

Mars is completely cloudy, and its clouds are made of red materials

The material of Mars’ surface contains a lot of iron oxide, the same chemistry that makes rusting metals look reddish

the giant volcanoes on Mars are constantly spewing out reddish lava

The martians are constantly at war, and spilling a lot of red blood

Flag question: Question 7Question 71 pts

Why are there no smaller craters on the surface of Venus, only bigger ones?

Group of answer choicesBecause Venus is so close to the Sun, the Sun’s gravity pulls all smaller chunks of material into the Sun before they can reach Venus

The seas and lakes of Venus erode away all the smaller craters when they flood

In Venus’ thick atmosphere all smaller chunks of material burn up before they can reach the surface

Venus is so hot that smaller craters generally melt in the heat, becoming smooth surface

This is an unsolved mystery in astronomy; no one knows

Flag question: Question 8Question 81 pts

A crucial difference that helps explain why Venus is so hot and the Earth isn’t is that:

Group of answer choiceson Venus, there was eventually no ocean to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

on Venus, the rocks have enormous amounts of radioactivity, heating up the environment (and also making life impossible)

on Venus, the life forms give off more heat than they absorb

on Earth, there is additional argon, which exerts a tremendous cooling effect

there are no volcanoes on Venus, but many on Earth, producing extra heat

Flag question: Question 9Question 91 pts

The canals that late 19th and early 20th observers thought they saw on Mars turned out to be:

Group of answer choicesoptical illusions

enormous cracks caused by extensive plate tectonics on Mars

very narrow oceans of water

huge chains of thousands of large volcanoes

built by the same race of ancient martian engineers who constructed the “face on Mars”

Flag question: Question 10Question 101 pts

What makes astronomers believe that Mars once had rivers and running water?

Group of answer choicesthere is a grand canyon system about 2,500 mi long on its surface (all of it made by running water)

the volcanoes today show evidence of water coming from their highest points and running down (implying this would have happened even more long ago)

Images from orbiting spacecraft reveal ancient channels that look like dried-up river beds on Earth (and our rovers show geological formations made by running water)

giant basins (like Hellas) show evidence of being filled with frozen water that was once probably a sea

you can’t fool me, there is no evidence at all that Mars ever had any water

Flag question: Question 11Question 111 pts

Which of the following is NOT a correct statement about the ways the jovian planets differ from the terrestrial planets?

Group of answer choicesthe jovians are larger

all the jovians have satellites around them and none of the terrestrials do

the jovians are made mostly of liquid and gas

the jovians are typically colder and further from the Sun

the jovians have rings while the terrestrials do not

Flag question: Question 12Question 121 pts

The primary clouds in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn are composed of:

Group of answer choiceswater vapor

iron and nickel

frozen ammonia crystals

metallic hydrogen

frozen alcohol (ready to make cocktails)

Flag question: Question 13Question 131 pts

The Red Spot of Jupiter is:

Group of answer choicesvariable in size

a high pressure storm system in the atmosphere

made of a reddish colored material (but we don’t know what gives it the reddish color)

long-lived (observed since the 1600’s)

All of these answers

Flag question: Question 14Question 141 pts

The planet that orbits “on its side” (i.e. has its rotation axis perpendicular to the plane of its orbit) is:

Group of answer choicesUranus

Neptune

Pluto

Jupiter

Saturn

Flag question: Question 15Question 151 pts

By far the most abundant element in the giant (jovian) planets is:

Group of answer choiceshelium

hydrogen

oxygen

nitrogen

silicon

Flag question: Question 16Question 161 pts

The majority of the moons orbiting the outer (jovian) planets are:

Group of answer choiceslarge moons, roughly the size of Pluto or Mercury

small moons orbiting in the same direction that their planet turns

much warmer than the planet they orbit

small moons orbiting in a retrograde direction (opposite to the direction their planet turns and orbits)

not in good working order, since they were made in Bayonne, New Jersey

Flag question: Question 17Question 171 pts

What evidence can you give that shows the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa must be relatively young?

Group of answer choicesthere are thousands of active volcanoes on Europa’s surface

we see very few craters compared to the surfaces of Callisto and Ganymede

radioactive rocks from Europa that have been brought back to Earth by our probes show that Europa is a young moon

the interior of Europa is made of metals like iron and nickel

Europa was not orbiting Jupiter when Galileo observed its moons, but now it is

Flag question: Question 18Question 181 pts

Which of the following statements about the geysers on the moon Triton is true?

Group of answer choicesthey are caused by the impact of small comets on Triton’s fragile surface

the geysers are sulfur volcanoes which stick out of Triton’s crust

they involve plumes of nitrogen on the sunlit side of Triton

they are caused by collisions with the rings of Neptune

they are only visible when it is winter on Triton

Flag question: Question 19Question 191 pts

Which of the following statements about Charon is FALSE?

Group of answer choicesit takes the same amount of time to rotate and revolve

it keeps the same face toward Pluto

it takes the same time to go around Pluto as Pluto takes to rotate

it has a significant atmosphere

it has a retrograde orbit (revolves in a direction opposite to the sense that most satellites in the solar system revolve)

Flag question: Question 20Question 201 pts

Which of the following statements about Saturn’s rings is TRUE?

Group of answer choicesThere is really only one ring, which looks unbroken from Earth

The structure of the rings is completely independent of Saturn’s moons

The rings are made of billions and billions of individual “moonlets” (small chunks)

The rings are made of particles no bigger than the particles that make up smoke

If the rings were put on Earth, they would stretch from about New York to Boston