Download Quiz Comets

file:///F|/Astronomy/CometsMeteorsAsteroidsPracticeQuiz.txt
TAKEN FROM HORIZONS 7TH EDITION CHAPTER 19 TUTORIAL QUIZ
-----------------------------------------------------------------------1.
Which of the following statements regarding comets is FALSE?
a. They are usually visible for less than a minute as they move across
the sky.
b. Their tails always point away from the Sun.
c. They often have more than one tail.
d. The solid nucleus of a comet has been photographed.
answer: a
-----------------------------------------------------------------------2.
Meteor showers occur when
a. asteroids break up in Earth's atmosphere.
b. Earth's motion through the galaxy takes it through a swarm of stars.
c. Earth passes through debris from a disintegrating comet.
d. the heads of comets collide with Earth's atmosphere.
answer: c
-----------------------------------------------------------------------3.
If examination of a meteorite shows that it cooled off slowly after its
formation, we assume that it
a. came from deep within an object of much greater size and mass.
b. came from the Oort Cloud.
c. originated on Pluto, the most distant object in the solar system.
d. remained close to the Sun prior to falling to Earth.
answer: a
-----------------------------------------------------------------------4.
Which of the following statements about the solar system is TRUE?
file:///F|/Astronomy/CometsMeteorsAsteroidsPracticeQuiz.txt (1 of 8)8/12/2005 9:06:22 AM
file:///F|/Astronomy/CometsMeteorsAsteroidsPracticeQuiz.txt
a. The tails of comets are consequences of the Sun's emission of
radiation and solar wind.
b. The chemical composition of all asteroids is pretty much the same.
c. Since asteroids are so small, they lack sufficient gravity to orbit
one another.
d. Although there may be objects orbiting the Sun beyond Pluto's orbit,
none has been detected.
answer: a
-----------------------------------------------------------------------5.
If a ________ hits Earth's atmosphere and does not burn up as a
________, it can fall to Earth's surface and be found as a ________.
a. comet/meteor/meteorite
b. meteor/meteorite/comet
c. meteoroid/meteor/meteorite
d. meteorite /comet/meteoroid
answer: c
-----------------------------------------------------------------------6.
A close-up look at the asteroid Ida provides reliable evidence that
a. liquid water once existed on the surface.
b. asteroids frequently collide with one another.
c. active volcanoes exist outside of Earth.
d. asteroids have rounded shapes like the planets.
answer: b
-----------------------------------------------------------------------7.
Comets differ from most other objects in the solar system in that they
a. can never be seen without a very powerful telescope.
b. frequently orbit the Sun away from the plane of the ecliptic.
c. are not gravitationally bound to the Sun.
d. contain water.
answer: b
file:///F|/Astronomy/CometsMeteorsAsteroidsPracticeQuiz.txt (2 of 8)8/12/2005 9:06:22 AM
file:///F|/Astronomy/CometsMeteorsAsteroidsPracticeQuiz.txt
-----------------------------------------------------------------------8.
How can it be argued that meteorites that fall to Earth's surface
originate in the asteroid belt?
a. It can't. Astronomers believe that they come from disintegrating comets.
b. The orbits of meteorites that fall to Earth suggest their origin in
the asteroid belt.
c. Astronomers have observed asteroids exploding, and pieces falling to
Earth.
d. Their chemical composition is identical to asteroids that have been
returned to Earth.
answer: b
-----------------------------------------------------------------------9.
Astronomers are interested in comets primarily because
a. they tell us about conditions in the solar nebula from which planets
formed.
b. a collision with one would pose a major threat to continued life on
Earth.
c. they are the most likely place where extraterrestrial life might be
discovered.
d. they tell us about conditions in interstellar space.
answer: a
-----------------------------------------------------------------------10.
The detection of a Widmanstätten pattern of bands in a meteorite
suggests that
a. it is a Stony Meteorite.
b. it was blasted off another planet by a collision.
c. it cooled very gradually and is an Iron Meteorite.
d. bits of glassy rock are contained within the Meteorite.
answer: c
-----------------------------------------------------------------------11.
file:///F|/Astronomy/CometsMeteorsAsteroidsPracticeQuiz.txt (3 of 8)8/12/2005 9:06:22 AM
file:///F|/Astronomy/CometsMeteorsAsteroidsPracticeQuiz.txt
Chemical composition suggests that it was never heated to a very high
temperature:
a. Widmanstätten pattern.
b. iron meteorites.
c. achondrites.
d. carbonaceous chondrites.
answer: d
-----------------------------------------------------------------------12.
The "shooting stars" we observe in the sky
a. do not occur in any particular pattern, but are randomly distributed
in the sky.
b. are, by and large, the debris of comets hitting Earth's atmosphere.
c. are caused by small particles that eventually fall to Earth's surface
and are found as meteorites.
d. are called meteoroids by astronomers.
answer: b
-----------------------------------------------------------------------13.
Carbonaceous chondrites, which reveal the presence of volatile
substances, probably came from
a. small planetesimals at some distance from the early Sun.
b. active volcanoes on the early Earth.
c. collisions between two large planetesimals.
d. large planetesimals close to the early Sun.
answer: a
-----------------------------------------------------------------------14.
Finding meteorites that originate in comets is extremely rare because
a. being physically weak, they would vaporize in the atmosphere.
b. being very fragile, it would weather very rapidly on Earth's surface.
c. both being very fragile, it would weather very rapidly on Earth's
file:///F|/Astronomy/CometsMeteorsAsteroidsPracticeQuiz.txt (4 of 8)8/12/2005 9:06:22 AM
file:///F|/Astronomy/CometsMeteorsAsteroidsPracticeQuiz.txt
surface and being physically weak, they would vaporize in the atmosphere.
d. none of these choices. They are very commonly found.
answer: c
-----------------------------------------------------------------------15.
The largest asteroid is
a. named Pallas.
b. about one-third the diameter of our Moon and is named Ceres.
c. about the size of Mars.
d. irregular in shape, unlike the spherical shapes of the terrestrial
planets.
answer: b
-----------------------------------------------------------------------16.
The suspected irregular shapes of the asteroids has been verified by
a. close-up photographs taken by passing satellites.
b. photographs taken as some asteroids have passed in front of the Sun.
c. use of radio telescopes.
d. none of these choices. There is still no confirming evidence.
answer: a
-----------------------------------------------------------------------17.
The densities of some asteroids have been determined by
a. satellite probes that have crash-landed and sampled surface material.
b. studying the energy emitted as they have collided with one another.
c. none of these choices. The densities of asteroids are unavailable
until we visit them.
d. knowing their masses and sizes.
answer: d
-----------------------------------------------------------------------18.
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
file:///F|/Astronomy/CometsMeteorsAsteroidsPracticeQuiz.txt (5 of 8)8/12/2005 9:06:22 AM
file:///F|/Astronomy/CometsMeteorsAsteroidsPracticeQuiz.txt
a. According to estimates, asteroids appear to consist of solid rock.
b. All asteroids, by definition, lie in the asteroid belt.
c. Most asteroids are spherical like planets.
d. Asteroids are capable of having a moon.
answer: d
-----------------------------------------------------------------------19.
The composition of asteroids is
a. determined by recording their colors and spectra.
b. very similar to that of comets.
c. essentially volcanic lava.
d. such that they totally vaporize if they attempt to penetrate Earth's
atmosphere.
answer: a
-----------------------------------------------------------------------20.
The color of ________ suggests a composition identical to carbonaceous
chondrites found on Earth.
a. S-type asteroids.
b. C-type asteroids.
c. the asteroid Vesta.
d. comets.
answer: b
-----------------------------------------------------------------------21.
The presence of C-type asteroids in the outer asteroid belt suggests that
a. asteroids are the remains of material that failed to form into a planet.
b. they were "pushed" there by the force of the solar wind over the
course of billions of years.
c. none of these choices. They are found in the inner asteroid belt.
d. they are remnants of a moon-sized planet that broke into smaller
particles early in the history of the solar system.
file:///F|/Astronomy/CometsMeteorsAsteroidsPracticeQuiz.txt (6 of 8)8/12/2005 9:06:22 AM
file:///F|/Astronomy/CometsMeteorsAsteroidsPracticeQuiz.txt
answer: a
-----------------------------------------------------------------------22.
According to the Dirty Snowball Model, comets
a. none of these choices. The dirty snowball model relates to asteroids, not comets.
b. consist of various liquids, but mostly water.
c. have a small, solid nucleus from which the gases of the coma are
derived.
d. consist of a solid coma and gaseous tail(s).
answer: c
-----------------------------------------------------------------------23.
The curved appearance of a cometary tail is
a. the behavior of gas particles affected by magnetic fields.
b. related to a Type I tail.
c. an illusion created by the curvature of space.
d. the result of Kepler's laws of motion in action.
answer: d
-----------------------------------------------------------------------24.
Particles from the head of a comet
a. have been collected by high-flying aircraft.
b. frequently collide with planets and moons in the solar system to form craters.
c. are highly magnetic.
d. are typically no larger than golfballs.
answer: a
-----------------------------------------------------------------------25.
Which of the following are suspected to be members or ex-members of the
Kuiper Belt?
a. short-period comets.
b. all of these choices.
file:///F|/Astronomy/CometsMeteorsAsteroidsPracticeQuiz.txt (7 of 8)8/12/2005 9:06:22 AM
file:///F|/Astronomy/CometsMeteorsAsteroidsPracticeQuiz.txt
c. icy moons of the outer solar system such as Triton and Charon.
d. Pluto.
answer: b
------------------------------------------------------------------------
file:///F|/Astronomy/CometsMeteorsAsteroidsPracticeQuiz.txt (8 of 8)8/12/2005 9:06:22 AM