NAME _______________________________________________________________________
Astronomy 121
TuTh class
FINAL
Sign the test form and the Scantron form. Include your student identification
number on the Scantron form and bubble-in the appropriate circles on the
Scantron form. When you are finished with the exam, hand in both the Test form
and the Scantron form at the front desk.
100 Multiple Choice Questions at
2 points per question. Select the best answer
1. The Helio-centric model for the Solar System
was first proposed by _____ .
a. Newton
b. Copernicus
c. Kepler
d. Erastosthenes
*e. Aristarchus
2. Of the following, which was the greatest contribution to modern thinking made by the Greeks?
a. They showed that the planets orbited about the Sun.
b. Their rich mythology served as the basis for the naming of constellations.
c. Their ability to make precise astronomical observations.
*d. Their development of scientific inquiry and model building.
e. Their strong belief in mysticism as the explanation for why things happen in the universe.
3. Yesterday I went outside and saw star Z rise at precisely 10 p.m.
One month from now, around when will star Z rise?
*a. at 8 p.m.
b. at 6 p.m.
c. at midnight
d. around 10 p.m.
e. at 2 a.m.
4. High tide occurred around noon yesterday. What was the rough phase of the Moon?
a. new moon
b. first quarter or third quarter
c. full moon
*d. full or new moon
e. third quarter
5. Planetesimals form from _____ .
*a. the collision and coalescence of dust particles
b. the merging of protoplanets
c. the capture of gas from the Solar Nebula by dust particles
d. the capture of gas from the Solar Nebula by protoplanets
6. The path the Sun follows through the stars is _____ .
a. called the line-of-nodes
*b. known as the ecliptic
c. referred to as the Saros cycle
d. parallel to the Celestial Eqauator
e. exhibits retrograde episodes every leap year
7. What day of the year has the most hours of daylight for an observer
in Canberra, Australia?
a. the summer solstice
*b. the winter solstice
c. the vernal equinox
d. the autumnal equinox
e. January 1
8. The Greek credited with taking the Geo-centric model to its pinnacle is _____ .
a. Aristotle
b. Aristarchus
c. Erastosthenes
*d. Ptolemy
e. Hipparcos
9. If a total Lunar eclipse will occur next week, what is the
approximate phase of the Moon today?
a. new
*b. first quarter
c. full
d. third quarter
e. waxing gibbous
10. The daily paths followed by stars seen by an observer situated at the equator
of the Earth are best described as _______ .
a. circles inclined at an angle of 23.5o to the horizon
b. circles centered on the zenith of the observer
c. ellipses that make angles of 45o with the horizon
d. semi-circles centered on the East point on the horizon
*e. semi-circles centered on the north and south point on the horizon
11. The cause of the annual seasonal variations in Eugene is _____ .
a. the variation in the directness (angle) with which sunlight strikes the ground
b. the variation in the hours of daylight
c. the varying distance of the Earth from the Sun
*d. only a & b
e. a, b, & c
12. Retrograde motion is _______ .
a. the reversal of the Sun's motion through the stars at the solstices
*b. the reversal of the motion of a planet through the stars
c. the switching of the hours of daylight and darkness on the equinoxes
d. the shifting of a star's position due to the revolution of the Earth
about the Sun
13. The key to understanding the large difference between
the Jovian planets and the Terrestrial planets is _____ .
*a. noting that water was able to exist in solid form (ice) starting around
the orbits of the Jovian planets
b. noting that the outer Solar System contains more hydrogen than does the
inner Solar System
c. the ability of rocky material to be in solid form only around the orbits
of the Jovian planets
d. that there was no gas in the inner Solar System
e. We do not understand why the Jovian planets are so different from the
Terrestrial planets.
14. Kepler's first law of planetary motion says that _____ .
a. a planet moves more rapidly in its orbit when it is near the Sun than when it is far from the Sun
b. the Sun sits at the center of planetary orbits
c. a planet that moves slowly in its orbit, has a smaller orbit than one that
moves more quickly in its orbit
d. planets close to the Sun have shorter orbital periods than do those far from the Sun
*e. planets move in elliptical orbits
15. Kepler's Second law of planetary motion says that ______ .
*a. a planet moves more rapidly in its orbit when it is near the Sun than when it is far from the Sun
b. the Sun sits at the center of planetary orbits
c. a planet that moves slowly in its orbit, has a smaller orbit than one that
moves more quickly in its orbit
d. planets close to the Sun have shorter orbital periods than do those far from the Sun
e. planets move in elliptical orbits
16. Eclipses _____ .
a. occur when the line-of-nodes points toward the Sun
b. occur roughly every six months
c. can only occur when the Moon is new or full
d. only a & b
*e. a, b, & c
17. The annual motion of celestial objects is caused by _______ .
*a. the Earth's revolution about the Sun.
b. the Earth's rotation on its axis.
c. the motion of the Moon about the Earth.
d. the precession of the Earth's axis of rotation.
18. On the Autumnal Equinox, the Sun _____ .
a. reaches its farthest point south of the Celestial equator
b. crosses the Celestial equator moving northward
c. reaches its highest point north of the Celestial equator
*d. crosses the Celestial equator moving southward
e. circles parallel to the horizon for an observer at the equator
19. Compared to the Terrestrial planets, Jovian planets
are, on average, _____ .
a. more dense and more massive
*b. less dense and more massive
c. more dense and less massive
d. less dense and less massive
20. What phenomenon accounts for the 26,000 year wobble which shifts the location of
the North Celestial Pole among the stars?
a. rotation
b. epicycles
c. micro-lensing
d. tidal forces
*e. precession
21. According to Copernicus, retrograde motion _____ .
a. could only be understood if the stars were very close to the Earth
b. was due to the epicyclic motion of the planet
*c. could occur when a faster moving inner planet caught up and passed a
slower moving outer planet
d. occurred because of the slow drift of the Earth's rotation axis caused by
precession
e. could not be easily understood in a helio-centric model
22. The magnetic field of a planet gives strong clues to _______ .
a. the age of the planet
b. the orbital period of the planet
*c. whether a planet is hot enough to be liquid in its interior
d. the chemical composition and mass of the atmosphere of the planet
e. the internal chemical composition of the planet
23. Last night Mars was on the Celestial Meridian at midnight. When will Mars next
be on the Celestial Meridian at midnight?
a. in around six months
b. in exactly one year
c. in around 1.88 years
*d. in around 2.1 years
e. in around 18.3 years
24. The Titius-Bode Relation led to the discovery of _____ .
a. the Moon
b. comets
*c. asteroids
d. Neptune
e. Pluto
25. Our understanding of the motion of the planets in our Solar System was
finally considered complete after _____ .
a. Tycho had amassed his large and accurate set of observations
b. the numerous discoveries made by Galileo using his telecope
c. Kepler found his three laws of Planetary Motion
*d. Newton formed his three laws of motion and his law of gravity
e. Copernicus proposed his helio-centric theory for the Solar System
26. Jovian planets _____ .
a. only started to form after the formation of the Terrestrial planets had
finished
b. were formed by the merger of millions of Pluto-like planets and comets
*c. formed beyond where water froze in the Solar Nebula
d. are thought to be mainly water ice and ammonia
e. formed after a large comet struck Venus
27. A circumpolar star is a star _______ .
*a. which doesn't rise or set over the course of a day
b. which can be seen only from the North Pole or South Pole
c. which circles about the North Celestial Pole during the course of a day
d. which only appears to an observer on the Equator of the Earth
e. which shows a relatively small annual trigonometric parallax
28. A comparison of the atmospheric pressures of Venus and the Earth yields _______.
a. the relative densities of the cores of the planets
b. the relative ages of the planet
*c. the relative masses of the planets
d. the temperatures of the gas molecules in the atmospheres of the planets
e. the relative masses of the atmospheres
29. When first proposed, the Copernican model was not accepted
by the scientific community because _____ .
a. of strong (and arbitrary) opposition by the scientific establishment
b. of strong opposition by the religious establishment
*c. it did not agree with the current data on the motions of the planets any
better than did the Ptolemaic model
d. the seasons varied on a period of one year
e. the observed annual trigonometric parallax was smaller than expected
30. Suppose that you are on a strange planet. You notice that the daily
motion of the stars is around a fixed point 60o above the horizon.
Your latitude on this planet is _____ .
a. 0o
b. 30o
c. 44o
*d. 60o
e. 90o
31. The Solar day differs from the sidereal day because _______ .
a. the Earth's and the Moon's rotation periods are the same.
b. the rotation axis of the Earth is slowly precessing.
*c. the Earth orbits around the Sun.
d. the Moon is slowing down the Earth's rotation.
e. the rotational and orbital periods of the Earth are identical.
32. If an observer sees all of the Celestial Sphere
over the course of a year, at which of the following locations might
the observer be located?
a. the North Pole
b. Eugene, OR (or near Eugene, OR)
*c. the equator
d. near Santiago, Chile (latitude = 30o S)
e. any of the above sites.
33. You are near the equator of the Earth. The third quarter Moon is rising.
Roughly, what time is it?
a. noon
b. sunset
*c. midnight
d. sunrise
e. 3 pm
34. The Greeks believed that the Earth was spherical in shape because _______ .
a. the stars always rose in the east and set in the west
b. the full Moon was round
c. the phases of the Moon varied periodically
d. the Solar Day differed from the Sidereal Day
*e. the shadow which covered the Moon during Lunar eclipses was curved
35. The morning and evening stars are not stars; they are
_______ .
a. actually comets
b. actually just the Moon
c. actually the Sun when it is near the Vernal Equinox
*d. the planets Mercury and Venus
e. Wait, Mercury is always the morning star and Venus is always the
evening star
36. A feature common to all of the Jovian planets is that _______ .
a. their atmospheres are primarily water
b. they are all large; larger than Jupiter
*c. they are mainly hydrogen and helium
d. they all orbit about the Sun in the clockwise sense as viewed from the
North Celestial Pole
e. they are all bluish in color
37. Which of the following facts must any theory for the formation of
the Solar System explain?
a. the orbital properties of the planets
b. the existence of three general classes of planets
c. the chemical composition of the Jovian planets
d. only a & b
*e. a, b, & c
38. The density of a planet gives strong clues to the _______ .
a. the age of the planet
b. the orbital period of the planet
c. whether a planet is hot enough to be liquid in its interior
d. the chemical composition and mass of the atmosphere of the planet
*e. the internal chemical composition of the planet
39. To which of the following situations may Kepler's 3rd law
of planetary motion be applied?
a. the tides on the Earth
*b. the motion of a comet about the Sun
c. the motion of a spinning top
d. micro-lensing
e. all of the above.
40. A newly discovered comet has an orbital period of 8 years. What is
the size of its orbit?
a. 1 astronomical unit
*b. 4 astronomical units
c. 8 astronomical units
d. 16 astronomical units
e. 64 astronomical units
41. Astronomers have discovered ________ .
*a. more than one-hundred and fifty planets outside our Solar System
b. that almost all planetary systems contain planets hospitable for life
c. many Terrestrial-like and Jupiter-like planets
d. that planetary systems are rare in our galaxy
e. that all of the new planetary systems have Kuiper belts
42. For the current atmospheric conditions on Mars, _______ .
*a. liquid water cannot exist on Mars's surface
b. an extensive Ozone layer should form in the Martian stratosphere
c. water cannot exist on the surface of Mars, in any form
d. one expects that life could exist on the nightside of the planet
e. one expects that there will be an underabundance of small craters on Mars
43. When Mars was young, its climate was believed to be similar
to the current climate of the Earth. Its atmosphere subsequently evolved
to its current inhospitable state. Current wisdom says that this change
occurred because _______ .
a. a large object struck Mars that caused its atmosphere to boil-off
*b. Mars lacks large-scale plate tectonics
c. intense volcanism boiled-off its atmosphere
d. rapid cooling of the interior of Mars froze the oceans
e. of the depletion of the Martian ozone layer
44. Outflow Channels ______ .
a. are evidence for the existence of an early tropical climate on Mars
*b. are evidence for sudden catastrophic floods on Mars
c. are evidence for active volcanism in the northern hemisphere of Mars
d. are evidence for high mountain lakes on Mars
e. are evidence for ancient canals on Mars
45. The troposphere is ________ in the Earth's atmosphere.
a. where we find the ionosphere
*b. where the weather is generated
c. where the Ozone layer is located
d. one of the layers where the temperature increases as you move up in
altitude
e. the outermost layer
46. Oceanic crustal plates _____ .
a. are the youngest part of the surface of the Earth
b. cover about 55 % of the surface of the Earth
c. are subducted when they collide with a continental plate
d. can be created near rift zones
*e. All of the above are correct
47. A comparison of the atmospheric pressures of Venus and the
Earth tells you _______.
a. the chemical compositions of the planets
b. the depth of the oceans on the planet
c. the escape velocities of the planets
*d. the masses of the atmospheres of the planets
e. whether an ozone layer exists around the planet
48. A transform fault is _____ .
*a. where a plate slides along another plate
b. a region where crust is created
c. a region where crust is destroyed
d. an uplift, like the coronae and arachnoids on Venus
e. the liquid part of a planet's core
49. The majority of Venus's surface is best described as _______ .
a. maria-like basins
b. highland regions
c. weird terrain
d. oceanic basins
*e. rolling plains
50. Oceanic plates on the Earth _______.
a. make up the bulk of the plastic portion of the asthenosphere
*b. are more dense than continental plates
c. are moved around by currents in the Earth's oceans
d. flow easily because they are molten iron
e. are found only near the poles of the Earth
51. If no Greenhouse Effect operated in our atmosphere,
_____ .
a. this would explain why the Earth was warmer in the
past, when the Sun was fainter
b. plate tectonic activity would slowly cease
*c. we would have an average surface temperature of -4 F
d. the ice at the North Pole would melt
e. we would quickly evolve to conditions like those found on Venus
52. Which of the following is not a product of plate tectonics?
a. the Himalayas
b. the mid-Atlantic ridge
c. the San Andreas fault (in California)
*d. the Grand Canyon
e. All of the above are products of Plate Tectonics
53. The Tharsis Bulge _______ .
*a. contains the largest volcano in the Solar System
b. lies for the most part below the sea level on Mars
c. is an ancient region similar to the highlands on the Moon
d. contains both heavily cratered and relatively uncratered regions
e. is strong evidence that, in the past, Mars showed extensive plate
tectonic activity
54. The light-colored regions on the Moon are _______ .
*a. highlands, the oldest and most heavily cratered regions on the Moon
b. ancient Lunar ocean basins
c. maria, lava-filled impact basins
d. large dust covered Lunar plains
e. mountain ranges produced during the era when plate tectonics
was active on the Moon
55. Which of the following statements about the surface of
Venus is NOT correct?
a. The surface of Venus is young, less than 1 billion years old
b. There is an underabundance of craters with diameter less than 30
km on Venus
c. The surface of Venus is covered primarily by rolling plains
d. The surface of Venus may show signs of recent geological activity
*e. All of the above are correct statements about Venus.
56. Venus is very dry today with no liquid water on its surface. What happened
to Venus's oceans (liquid water)?
a. The water exists as water vapor in the upper atmosphere of Venus.
b. The water escaped to space after Venus was struck by a Mars-sized object that
caused the oceans to boil
c. Venus was not born with any water; it was always dry.
*d. The water vapor rose to high altitudes where it was broken into hydrogen
and oxygen; the hydrogen escaped to space and the oxygen formed other
molecules and compounds
e. The water slowly seeped into the crust of Venus, where it formed a
permafrost layer and/or was incorporated into rocks in the mantle
of Venus
57. A significant source of the heat that melts the interior of a Terrestrial
planet is _____ .
a. radioactive decay
b. accretional heating
c. absorption of Solar ultraviolet radiation
*d. only a & b
e. a, b, & c
58. The key to understanding why Venus's current atmosphere is so
different from the current atmosphere of the Earth is _____ .
a. at birth, Venus was rich in carbon dioxide while the Earth was not
b. the Earth is more massive than Venus
*c. Venus is closer to the Sun than is the Earth
d. the day is longer on Venus than it is on the Earth
e. Venus does not exhibit active plate tectonics
59. The Earth's atmosphere is composed _____ .
a. primarily of carbon dioxide and water
b. primarily of water with trace amounts of carbon dioxide
*c. primarily of nitrogen but with a significant amount of oxygen
d. primarily of oxygen with trace amounts of carbon dioxide
e. primarily of oxygen with significant amounts of carbon dioxide and water
60. Evidence that the Moon showed geological activity in the past comes
from the ____ .
a. mountains in the highland regions
b. lack of maria on the farside of the Moon
c. existence of the continent-like highland regions
d. light color of the highland regions
*e. maria seen on the Moon
61. The portion of the northern Martian polar cap that remains in the
summer is composed of _____ while the seasonably variable
portion of the cap is
composed of _____.
a. water ice, water ice
b. carbon dioxide ice, carbon dioxide ice
*c. water ice, carbon dioxide ice
d. carbon dioxide ice, water ice
e. water ice and frozen hydrogen, water ice
62. In the Greenhouse Effect on Earth, carbon dioxide traps _____ in the
atmosphere
a. x-rays
b. ultra-violet radiation
*c. infrared radiation
d. visible light
e. microwaves
63. Of the following, which would you expect to show the most active geology
today?
a. Mercury
*b. Venus
c. the Moon
d. Mars
e. Pluto
64. The newly discovered planets _____ .
a. have conclusively shown that life is unique to our Solar System
b. orbit in nearly circular orbits about their stars
c. do not obey Kepler's Third Law of Planetary Motion
d. are conclusive evidence that life exists elsewhere in our galaxy
*e. are mainly Jupiter-like planets
65. Of the following, which best describes the planet
most likely to have an atmosphere?
*a. large mass, small radius, low temperature
b. low mass, small radius, low temperature
c. large mass, large radius, high temperature
d. low mass, large radius, high temperature
e. large mass, large radius, low temperature
66. If the Ozone layer around the Earth was to disappear, then _____ .
a. the water vapor in our atmosphere would be slowly lost
b. the amount of ultraviolet radiation at the Earth's surface
would strongly increase
c. the thermosphere would also likely disappear
*d. only a & b
e. a, b, & c
67. The density of the Moon is most similar to _____ .
a. that of Mercury
b. that of Pluto
c. that of Venus
*d. the crust of the Earth
e. the average density of the Earth
68. What theory of the Moon's origin is favored by most astronomers today?
a. The Moon formed as a separate object near Earth and at
about the same time.
b. The Moon formed far from the Earth and was subsequently captured.
c. The Moon was thrown off of a rapidly spinning young Earth leaving the
Pacific basin
*d. The Moon formed from material blasted off the Earth by the impact of a
Mars-sized body.
e. The Moon formed in the asteroid belt and was subsequently captured by
the Earth.
69. The cratering density in the Lunar highlands and maria
tells us that _____ .
a. the Moon was geologically active in the past
*b. the highlands are older than the maria
c. the cratering rate on the Moon has slowed down in the last billion years
d. large impacts like the dinosaur killer on the Earth, occur every 10
million years or so on the Moon
e. plate tectonic activity on the Moon continued until
the last billion years
70. The Moon has been geologically dead for the last _____ .
a. 4.5 billion years
*b. 3 billion years
c. 700-800 hundred million years
d. hundred thousand years
e. The Moon never showed geological activity
71. The current atmospheres of the Terrestrial planets are
most likely _______ .
a. the result of outgassing of materials trapped during the formation of the planets
b. the capture of many comets over the lifetime of the planets
c. the initial gases captured directly from the Solar Nebula 4.6 billion years ago
*d. probably a combination of a & b
e. probably a combination of a, b, & c
72. The Gaia Hypothesis says _____ .
a. Venus is uninhabitable because of the Greenhouse Effect
b. the Earth is habitable because of the ionosphere and mesosphere
c. tidal forces led to the development of life on the Earth
*d. the Earth is habitable because of life
e. life is possible because the Earth is habitable
73. In our Solar System, _____ .
a. the Earth (and all of the other planets) orbit about the Sun
b. the Earth orbits about the Sun; the other planets orbit the center of
mass of the Solar System
c. the Sun is stationary at the center of the Solar System
*d. the Sun orbits about the center of mass of the Solar System
e. the Earth actually orbits about the Moon, not the Sun
74. Active geology on a planet _____ .
a. is due to the existence of a lithosphere
b. is due to a differentiated interior
c. requires that the planet have a moon
d. occurs in smaller planets, in general
*e. is due to a hot interior
75. The oldest rocks on the Earth are a little more than ______ old, according to radioactive age dating.
a. 46,000 years
b. 200,000 years
c. 200 million years
*d. 4 billion years
e. 460 billion years
76. The Condensation Theory (as described in lecture) contains natural
explanations for _____ .
a. the basic orbital regularities of the planets
b. why there are Terrestrial and Jovian planets
c. why Jupiter and Saturn are the most massive planets
d. the chemical make-up of the Terrestrial planets
*e. all of the above
77. When we refer to chemical differentiation, we talk
about the process _____ .
a. which explains why the Terrestrial planets formed closer to the
Sun than did the
Jovian planets
b. which explains why Venus is so dry
c. which explains why the lithosphere sits on top of the asthenosphere
*d. which explains why the Earth's core is composed of iron and nickel and
the outer layers
are rocky silicate material
e. which explains why the Moon is so similar to the Earth
78. Of the following, which best describes the
formation of Lunar maria?
a. melting and crust solidification followed by impacts
b. massive volcanism and the subsequent cooling of the crust
*c. large impacts followed by lava flows
d. massive volcanism followed by large impacts
e. uplifts and subsequent collapses of the lunar crust
79. Plate tectonic activity is thought to be driven by _____ .
a. strong, high atmosphere winds
b. deep ocean currents
c. large earthquakes
d. volcanism
*e. convection
80. Of the following statements about Mars, which is correct?
a. there has never been liquid water on Mars
b. space probes have found pools of water beneath the Martian surface
c. there are large lakes near the North pole of Mars
*d. water ice probably exists in a permafrost layer below the surface of
Mars
e. It appears that Mars never had water in any form over its entire history
81. The belts of Jupiter are best described as _____ .
*a. sinking regions with low pressure
b. rising regions of gas with high temperature
c. turbulent, circulating regions in Jupiter's southern hemisphere
d. narrow dark regions that separate the white ovals from the zones
e. haze in Jupiter's upper atmosphere
82. The three cloud layers of Jupiter are composed of ______ .
a. water ice, methane, and carbon dioxide
b. hydrogen, helium, and water
c. ammonia, sulfuric acid, and water
*d. ammonia, ammonium hydrosulfide, and water
e. methane, ammonium hydrosulfide, and water
83. The most massive planet in our Solar System is _____ .
a. Earth
b. Venus
c. Uranus
*d. Jupiter
e. Saturn
84. How does the heat Jupiter radiates to space compare to the energy
it receives from the Sun?
a. They are equal, as you would expect for a planet
b. Jupiter's belts absorb Solar infrared radiation and so are cooler; Jupiter
radiates less energy than it receives from the Sun
*c. Jupiter radiates back into space about twice what it receives from the
Sun
d. Jupiter radiates more than 100 times what it receives from the Sun;
Jupiter is actually a faint star
85. Jupiter is noticeably flattened in shape because ____ .
a. It has a very strong magnetic field
b. It has a very high mass
*c. It rotates very rapidly
d. It has many large moons
e. It has a large core of liquid, metallic hydrogen
86. Of the following planets, which radiates the most energy compared
to what it receives from the Sun?
a. Venus
b. Earth
c. Mercury
d. Jupiter
*e. Saturn
87. Very few heavy elements are observed in the atmosphere of Jupiter.
Why do you suppose that this is true?
a. They evaporated away
b. There were no heavy elements in the vicinity of Jupiter when the Solar
System formed
c. There are very many heavy elements, we just can't detect them
*d. They have sunk to the center of Jupiter
88. I am in the southern hemisphere of the Earth. I throw a rock straight up
into the sky. The rock ______ .
a. continues to fly straight up away from the Earth
b. spirals upward in the counter-clockwise sense away from the Earth
c. spirals upward in the clockwise sense away from the Earth
*d. deflects to the west as it climbs
e. speeds up as it climbs because of the centrifugal force
89. The different colors of the belts and zones on Jupiter and Saturn
arise because _____ .
a. of chemistry that is thought to involve sulfur and sulfur compounts
takes place in the clouds
b. the clouds form at different height and thus at different temperatures
c. the clouds are slowly condensing and forming large storm centers
*d. only a & b
e. a, b, & c
90. The observed belt and zone structure of Saturn's atmosphere is more
muted than
Jupiter's belts and zones because _____ .
a. Saturn does not have a strong magnetic field
b. Saturn has an extensive ring system
*c. Saturn has a thicker cloud layer (atmosphere)
d. Jupiter has a layer of obscuring haze in its upper atmosphere
e. Saturn has a different chemical composition compared to Jupiter
91. The Great Red Spot on Jupiter is probably _____ .
a. the dust plume from a volcano
b. the interaction of the Jovian winds with a tall mountain
c. the plume produced by the impact of a large comet
*d. a meteorological condition like a storm in the atmosphere
e. a region with an anomalous chemical composition
92. The source of the excess heat radiated by Saturn is(are) _____ .
*a. helium rain
b. Saturn was born hot and is still cooling today
c. radioactive heating
d. only a & b
e. a, b, & c
93. Kepler's Second Law of Planetary Motion _____ .
a. is that planets have elliptical orbits
*b. is a restatement of the law of Conservation of Angular Momentum
c. explains why Jupiter and Saturn are more massive than Uranus and Neptune
d. explains why Jovian planets have many moons while
Terrestrial planets do not
e. is needed for our explanation of the seasons on Earth
94. The Great Red Spot sits in the southern hemisphere of Jupiter and rotates
in the counter-clockwise sense. These imply that it _____ .
a. is at a lower pressure than the surrounding atmosphere
*b. is at a higher pressure than the surrounding atmosphere
c. is at the same pressure as the surrounding atmosphere
d. actually straddles the equator of Jupiter
e. is the top of a volcano rising out of Jupiter's cloud layer
95. Uranus and Neptune are much less massive than Jupiter and Saturn because
_____ .
a. they formed outside the Solar System and were subsequently captured
b. they formed near Venus but then migrated outward
*c. the Sun turned-on before they completed their formation process
d. the Solar Nebula was frozen beyond where Jupiter and Saturn formed
e. Jupiter and Saturn used up all of the gas in the Solar Nebula
96. The atmosphere of Saturn is composed primarily of _____ .
a. methane and helium
b. hydrogen and carbon dioxide
c. helium and water
*d. hydrogen and helium
e. helium and water
97. Saturn's bands, ovals, and flow patterns are driven by _____ .
*a. convective motions and rotation
b. the Greenhouse effect
c. its liquid metallic hydrogen interior
d. radioactive heating in its atmosphere
e. tides raised by its largest moons
98. The large magnetic fields of Jupiter and Saturn are _____ .
a. due to their rotating molten iron cores
b. due to their belt and zone atmospheric structure
c. the result of their large cores of Terrestrial-like material
*d. due to the layer of rotating liquid metallic hydrogen in their interior
e. caused by the large lightning bolts observed in their atmospheres
99. The atmosphere of Saturn contains one-half the amount of helium that is
found in the atmosphere of Jupiter. Why?
a. The helium is there, it just cannot be seen because Saturn in cooler
b. Saturn formed in the Solar Nebula where it was cooler and so had less
helium at birth
c. Jupiter is actually a small star and so has a different structure than Saturn
*d. Saturn's helium has rained out of its atmosphere
e. Much of Saturn's helium has escaped to space because of Saturn's thick atmosphere
100. What material is thought to lie in the high pressure, hot core of Jupiter?
a. A sea of liquid metallic hydrogen
*b. A massive core of Terrestrial-like material
c. Gaseous hydrogen and helium
d. A sea of liquid water
e. A solid, core made of uranium and lead