AST 1002
Test 2, Spring 2008

1
QQ The cratering history of Mercury seems to be 
AA S 1 (1) basically the same as the Moon's, with early 
bombardment by small objects and late bombardment by 
larger bodies forming impact basins
(2) very different from the Moon's, with bombardment at a 
constant rate by all sizes of objects
(3) erased by the solar wind's powerful erosion 
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

2
QQ The orbital Doppler or radial velocity method of 
detecting exoplanets entails looking for 
AA S 1 (1) radial velocity variation of the central star 
as it moves around the center of mass of the system
(2) radial velocity variation of the exoplanet as it 
orbits the central star
(3) a dimming of the light from the central star as the 
exoplanet passes in front of it (in other words, as it 
transits)
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

3
QQ The rocky part of Earth's interior extending from its 
core nearly to its surface is termed its 
AA S 1 (1) mantle 
(2) lithosphere
(3) crust
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

4
QQ Which of the following processes is the main source 
of heat in the Earth's interior at the present time?
AAS 1 (1) radioactivity
(2) accretion
(3) differentiation
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

5
QQ Venus has virtually no magnetic field because it 
AA S 1 (1) is rotating extremely slowly 
(2) is rotating in the retrograde direction 
(3) has no electrically conducting liquid in its 
core, which has solidified
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

6
QQ The terrestrial planet(s) which has/have plate 
tectonics operating at the present time is/are 
AA S 1 (1) Earth only 
(2) Earth and Venus
(3) Mars, Earth, and Venus
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

7
QQ Which of the following makes it likely that 
a gas will be missing from a planet's atmosphere 
as a result of the thermal escape process?
AA S 1 (1) low escape velocity
(2) high molecular mass
(3) low temperature
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

8
QQ Which of the following planets has the weakest 
greenhouse effect?
AA S 1 (1) Mars
(2) Earth
(3) Venus
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

9
QQ If we arrange the terrestrial planets in order 
of increasing geological activity, we have 
AA S 1 (1) Mercury, Mars, Venus, Earth
(2) Earth, Venus, Mars, Mercury 
(3) Mars, Mercury, Venus, Earth
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

10
QQ Starting at the center, the interior of Saturn 
probably consists if 
AA S 1 (1) a small solid core, a liquid metallic 
hysdrogen zone, a liquid molecular hydrogen zone, 
and an outer gaseous hydrogen zone
(2) a metal inner core, a rock outer core, a 
liquid molecular hydrogen zone, and an outer gaseous 
hydrogen zone
(3) a solid rock and metal core, a mantle of 
hydrogen compounds, and an outer gaseous hydrogen 
zone
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

11
QQ The Great Red Spot on Jupiter is a giant  
AA S 1(1) high-pressure storm (anticyclone) 
(2) plume of volcanic gases from deeper down 
in Jupiter's atmosphere 
(3) scar from the impact of a large comet not 
long ago 
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

12
QQ The giant volcanoes on Mars, like Olympus 
Mons, as well as those on Venus are examples 
of 
AA S 1 (1) shield volcanoes like the 
Hawaiian Islands volcanoes here on Earth
(2) stratovolcanoes like the ones along 
the Cascades chain on Earth (Mt. St. Helens)
(3) cinder cone volcanoes like Sunset 
Crater on Earth
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

13
QQ The term albedo denotes 
AA S 1 (1) the fraction of sunlight reflected 
by a body
(2) the fraction of sunlight absorbed by a 
body
(3) the cloudiness of a planet's atmosphere 
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

14
QQ Which of the following is not a 
reason for the difference in appearance 
between Jupiter and Saturn (belts and zones)?
AA S 1 (1) Saturn has a weaker magnetic field 
(2) Saturn is colder and has a haze layer that 
to some degree hides these features 
(3) the winds on Saturn are much stronger than 
on Jupiter, smearing out these features
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

15
QQ Io's intense volcanic activity is driven by 
heating due to tidal friction associated with 
its eccentric orbit.  Ordinarily we expect 
tidal friction to act in the direction of 
reducing orbital eccentricity.  Why is that 
not happening with Io?
AA S1 (1) Io is in orbital resonance with 
Europa and Ganymede, which acts to maintain 
a fairly large eccentricity
(2) Io's orbit is highly chaotic, which means 
the eccentricity can reach fairly large values
(3) Jupiter is flattened because of its rapid 
rotation, and the gravity of its bulge makes 
Io's orbit remain eccentric 
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

16
QQ Europa has a young surface, much like Io, 
because of 
AA S 1 (1) melting and refreezing of ices on 
and below its surface
(2) volcanoes erupting and covering the surface 
with sulfur and sulfur compounds 
(3) unexplained processes that deposit some 
dark material on the surface at frequent 
intervals
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

17
QQ Some of the jovian moons have volcanism, 
much as some of the terrestrial planets do.  
This can happen even for moons where tidal 
heating is not strong enough to melt rock 
because 
AA S 1 (1) ice geology can operate at the much 
lower temperatures of those moons 
(2) those bodies are heated by radioactivity
(3) impacts of smaller bodies can temporarily 
raise the temperature high enough to melt rock
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

18
QQ Saturn's rings are far more conspicuous 
than those of the other jovian planets largely 
because 
AA S 1 (1) the particles have ice surfaces 
that reflect light better than rock
(2) Saturn is closer to Earth than Uranus or 
Neptune
(3) they appear more nearly face-on than the 
others
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

19
QQ The small gaps in Saturn's ring system -- 
not the large gaps like the Cassini Division -- 
are caused by 
AA S 1 (1) small moons (gap moons) whose gravity 
"clears out" ring particles in the gap
(2) resonances with Mimas, the "Death Star" moon
(3) irregularities in Saturn's magnetic field
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

20
QQ The correct term to use for an object that 
impacts the surface of the Earth or some other 
body is 
AA S 1 (1) meteorite
(2) meteoroid
(3) meteor
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

21
QQ Chaos theory has turned out to be the 
underlying explanation for the 
AA S 1 (1) Kirkwood gaps 
(2) Hirayama families 
(3) Trojan asteroids
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

22
QQ The connection between the asteroids and 
most meteorites is strongly supported by 
AA S 1 (1) matches of reflection spectra of 
the different classes of meteorites with 
those of asteroids
(2) matches of the chemical composition of 
samples taken from asteroids with those of 
meteorites 
(3) the different cratering histories of 
objects at different distances from the 
Asteroid Belt
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

23
QQ An iron meteorite with the crystals 
known as Widmanstaetten figures is an 
example of a 
AA S 1 (1) processed meteorite
(2) primitive meteorite
(3) Martian meteorite 
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

24
QQ The type of meteorite that has been found 
to contain hydrogen compounds and organic 
molecules is the 
AA S 1 (1) carbonaceous chondrite
(2) stony 
(3) stony-iron 
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

25
QQ The type of comet tail that has a bluish 
color and an emission-line spectrum is the 
AA S 1 (1) gas or plasma tail
(2) dust tail 
(3) solid tail
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

26
QQ The shape of the type of comet tail that 
is pushed back by the solar wind is 
AA S 1 (1) straight away from the Sun with 
no flaring out (increase of width towards end)
(2) flaring out (increase of width towards 
end) and curving generally away from the Sun's 
direction but not exactly
(3) straight away from the Sun and tapering 
to a point at the end
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

27
QQ The comets we see which have large 
semimajor axes (25,000 AU) and high 
eccentricities (slightly less than 1) are 
the 
AA S 1 (1) comets from the Oort Cloud 
(2) comets from the Kuiper Belt
(3) escapees from Saturn's ring system
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

28
QQ The discoverer(s) of Neptune was/were 
AA S 1 (1) Galle and d'Arrest
(2) Adams and Leverrier
(3) Lowell
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

29
QQ Which of the following is not an 
energy source for the Sun at present but 
has been in the past and will be in the 
future?
AA S 1 (1) gravitational potential energy
(2) nuclear fusion
(3) chemical energy 
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

30
QQ The balance of forces at each point 
inside the Sun, gravity vs. pressure 
difference, is termed 
AA S 1 (1) hydrostatic equilibrium
(2) convection
(3) nuclear fusion
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

31
QQ The main process for transporting 
energy in the innermost region of the 
Sun's interior is 
AA S 1 (1) radiation
(2) conduction
(3) convection
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

32
QQ The Sun's energy is being produced by 
AA S 1 (1) fusion of hydrogen nuclei to 
form a helium nucleus
(2) fission of a helium nucleus into 
hydrogen nuclei
(3) fission of a uranium nucleus into 
various lighter nuclei
(4) NVA 
(5) NVA

33
QQ The Zeeman effect is used to 
measure 
AA S 1 (1) the magnetic field strength and 
polarity on the Sun's surface, including 
sunspots
(2) the motions of sunspots relative to 
the rest of the photosphere
(3) the chemical composition of sunspots
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

34
QQ Prominences are located in which layer 
of the Sun's atmosphere?
AA S 1 (1) corona
(2) chromosphere
(3) photosphere
(4) NVA
(5) NVA

35
QQ The "butterfly diagram" is a graph of 
AA S 1 (1) latitude of a sunspot vs. time
(2) magnetic field strength of a sunspot 
vs. time
(3) a sunspot's diameter vs. time, which 
is chaotic
(4) NVA
(5) NVA