Quiz: Can You Pass The Astronomy Test?
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- 1.Which of the following observations indicates that conditions on Mars may have been suitable for life in the past?
- A.
There are very large extinct volcanoes on Mars.
- B.
There is a very deep and long canyon that extends across Mars.
- C.
There are dried-up riverbeds on Mars.
- D.
Mars has polar caps made of "dry ice."
- E.
Mars has two small moons.
- 2.Which is the densest planet in the solar system?
- A.
Mercury
- B.
Venus
- C.
Earth
- D.
Mars
- E.
Jupiter
- 3.What are the main constituents of the jovian planets?
- A.
Rocky minerals and water, as on Earth
- B.
Hydrogen and helium
- C.
Ammonia and methane
- D.
Ammonia and water
- E.
Nitrogen and methane
- 4.Why did the solar nebula heat up as it collapsed?
- A.
Nuclear fusion occurring in the core of the protosun produced energy that heated the nebula.
- B.
As the cloud shrank, its gravitational potential energy was converted to thermal energy.
- C.
Radiation from other nearby stars that had formed earlier heated the nebula.
- D.
The shock wave from a nearby supernova heated the gas.
- E.
Collisions among planetesimals generated friction and heat.
- 5.Why did the solar nebula flatten into a disk?
- A.
The interstellar cloud from which the solar nebula formed was originally somewhat flat.
- B.
The force of gravity pulled the material downward into a flat disk.
- C.
As the nebula cooled, the gas and dust settled onto a disk.
- D.
It flattened as a natural consequence of collisions between particles in the nebula, changing random motions into more orderly ones.
- 6.According to our theory of solar system formation, why do all the planets orbit the Sun in the same direction and in nearly the same plane?
- A.
The original solar nebula happened to be disk-shaped by chance.
- B.
Any planets that once orbited in the opposite direction or a different plane were ejected from the solar system.
- C.
The laws of conservation of energy and conservation of angular momentum ensure that any rotating, collapsing cloud will end up as a spinning disk.
- D.
The Sun formed first, and as it grew in size it spread into a disk, rather like the way a ball of dough can be flattened into a pizza by spinning it.
- E.
Luck explains it, as we would expect that most other solar systems would not have all their planets orbiting in such a pattern.
- 7.What percentage of the solar nebula's mass consisted of hydrogen and helium gases?
- A.
0.5 percent
- B.
5 percent
- C.
50 percent
- D.
98 percent
- E.
100 percent
- 8.What percentage of the mass of the solar nebula consisted of elements other than hydrogen and helium?
- A.
0 percent
- B.
0.1 percent
- C.
2 percent
- D.
20 percent
- E.
80 percent
- 9.What kind of material in the solar nebula could remain solid at temperatures as high as 1,500 K, such as existed in the inner regions of the nebula?
- A.
Rocks
- B.
Metals
- C.
Silicon-based minerals
- D.
Hydrogen compounds
- E.
Molecules such as methane and ammonia
- 10.Which of the following has not been detected around other stars in the Galaxy?
- A.
A collapsing nebula of gas
- B.
Flattened, spinning disks
- C.
Jovian planets
- D.
Terrestrial planets
- E.
Strong stellar winds
- 11.Which of the following are relatively unchanged fragments from the early period of planet building in the solar system?
- A.
Asteroids
- B.
Kuiper belt comets
- C.
Oort cloud comets
- D.
All of the above
- 12.According to our theory of solar system formation, why do we find some exceptions to the general rules and patterns of the planets?
- A.
Our theory is not quite correct because it cannot explain these exceptions.
- B.
Most of the exceptions are the result of giant impacts or close gravitational encounters.
- C.
The exceptions probably represent objects that formed recently, rather than early in the history of the solar system.
- D.
The exceptions probably represent objects that were captured by our solar system from interstellar space.
- E.
The exceptions exist because, even though our theory is as correct as possible, nature never follows rules precisely.
- 13.Based on our current theory of Earth's formation, the water we drink comes from
- A.
Ice that condensed in the solar nebula in the region where Earth formed.
- B.
Chemical reactions that occurred in Earth's crust after Earth formed.
- C.
Chemical reactions that occurred in Earth's core after Earth formed.
- D.
Material left behind during the giant impact that formed the Moon.
- E.
Comets that impacted Earth.
- 14.The heavy bombardment phase of the solar system lasted
- A.
Several million years.
- B.
Several tens of millions of years.
- C.
Several hundreds of millions of years.
- D.
About a billion years.
- E.
To the present time.
- 15.The age of the solar system can be established by radioactive dating of
- A.
The oldest rocks on Earth.
- B.
The oldest rocks on the Moon.
- C.
The oldest meteorites.
- D.
The atmosphere of Mars.
- E.
It hasn't been done yet, but the age of the solar system could be obtained from a sample of Io's surface.
- 16.The first planets around other Sun-like stars were discovered
- A.
By Huygens, following his realization that other stars are Suns.
- B.
By Galileo following the invention of the telescope.
- C.
At the turn of last century.
- D.
About a decade ago.
- E.
At the turn of this century.
- 17.Approximately how many other planetary systems have been discovered to date?
- A.
Ten
- B.
A few hundred
- C.
A few thousand
- D.
Tens of thousands
- E.
Millions
- 18.What is astrometry?
- A.
Measuring distances to stars
- B.
Searching for planets around stars
- C.
Measuring the positions of stars on the sky
- D.
Measuring the velocities of stars via the Doppler effect
- E.
Using metric units for distance (e.g. meters rather than light years)
- 19.Which planet search technique is currently best suited to finding Earth-like planets?
- A.
Doppler
- B.
Astrometric
- C.
Transit
- D.
Gravitational lensing
- E.
Combining all the above
- 20.Which planet search technique is currently best suited to finding Earth-like planets?
- A.
Doppler
- B.
Astrometric
- C.
Transit
- D.
gravitational lensing
- E.
combining all the above
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