Download Astro 1 Levine Homework Solar System

Astro 1
Levine
Name:_____________________________________
Homework Solar System
Score: __________/21
Questions are 3 points unless otherwise specified.
1. If you were exploring a planet in the habitable zone of a star other than the Sun and
discovered oxygen in the atmosphere, what might you conclude about the presence or
absence of life on the planet?
2. Why isn’t Pluto a planet? What is the one key thing that causes it to be classified as a dwarf
planet rather than a planet?
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Astro 100
Levine
Homework Solar System
3. What would have had to be different in the history of Venus and Mars for these planets
to be more like Earth? (6 points)
Venus:
Mars:
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Astro 100
Levine
Homework Solar System
4. The Cassini mission is conducting some final flybys of Enceladus. Research the October,
November and December flybys here: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/flybys/ and read
up on Enceladus here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enceladus .
What do you find most interesting or surprising about Enceladus?
5. The New Horizons mission recently flew by Pluto and took the first up-close images of
the dwarf planet. Read about some of the discoveries here: http://www.nasa.gov/imagefeature/homing-in-on-nix-plutos-small-satellite
What do you find most interesting or surprising about Pluto?
6. The Dawn mission is currently investigating Ceres, the dwarf planet in the asteroid belt.
You can explore the Dawn mission and its investigation of Ceres here: http://
dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/
What do you find most interesting or surprising about Ceres?
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