Download Quiz # 8

Summer 2011
Introductory Astronomy
Quiz 8
Name: __________________________
1. A major feature of the atmosphere of Mars is
A) very dense clouds shrouding most of the planet.
B) very high temperatures and pressures.
C) occasional strong winds and dust storms.
D) a chemical mixture very similar to that of the Earth.
2. How have we obtained samples of Martian rocks?
A) Astronauts have collected rocks and returned them to Earth.
B) We have not yet been able to obtain any Martian rocks.
C) Rocks were blasted off Mars by impacts and landed on Earth as meteorites.
D) A robotic rover collected rocks for return by its lander.
3. The polar caps on Mars are most probably made up of
A) volcanic outflows of light-colored lava and dust similar to that produced by Earth-based volcanoes
(such as Mount St. Helens).
B) sulfur dioxide and sulfur compounds.
C) light-colored dust, blown there by the Martian dust storms.
D) water and carbon dioxide ices.
4. What significant evidence is there for the idea that large quantities of water once flowed on the planet
Mars?
A) network of relatively straight canals linking polar and equatorial regions
B) clouds and frost that formed above and around the Viking spacecraft
C) frozen, dust-covered lakes inside ancient craters
D) deep, winding canyons and flood plains
5. The inner planets, in order of increasing planetary radius, are
A) Mercury, Venus, the Earth, and Mars.
B) Mercury, Mars, Venus, and the Earth.
C) Mercury, the Earth, Venus, and Mars.
D) Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the Earth.
6. What characteristic features are seen on the visible surface of Jupiter?
A) light and dark bands parallel to the equator
B) large volcanoes and a long, deep rift valley
C) bluish-green, almost featureless cloud layer
D) almost featureless white cloud surface
Summer 2011
Introductory Astronomy
Quiz 8
7. The Great Red Spot is
A) the top of a massive mountain penetrating through Jupiter's clouds.
B) a temporary storm in Jupiter's atmosphere, lasting a few months.
C) a large, long-lived storm system in Jupiter's atmosphere.
D) the colored polar cap of Jupiter.
8. The rotation period of Jupiter is
A) relatively short, on the order of 10 hours.
B) very short, on the order of 1 hour.
C) very long—several weeks—because of its great size and mass.
D) long, on the order of several days.
9. The internal structure of the two largest Jovian planets (from the center outward) is a(n)
A) iron-nickel core (from which the Jovian magnetic field arises), a semifluid rocky mantle, and a
solid rocky crust covered by a thin atmosphere.
B) rocky core covered by a very thick gaseous hydrogen and helium layer.
C) rocky core, a liquid “ice” layer, a liquid metallic hydrogen and helium layer, and an ordinary
hydrogen and helium gaseous layer.
D) rocky core, a liquid methane mantle, and a gaseous methane atmosphere.
10. In what form is the hydrogen in the interior of Jupiter?
A) liquid metallic hydrogen, electrically conducting
B) gaseous molecular hydrogen (H2) electrically conducting
C) solid hydrogen, compressed to this state by the very high pressures
D) gaseous hydrogen because the pressures are never sufficient to condense it into liquid
Summer 2011
Answer Key
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C
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D
D
B
A
C
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C
A
Introductory Astronomy
Quiz 8