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Planets Midterm Study Guide
Planets Midterm Study Guide
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Questions
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Answers
1
The more massive the star, the shorter its lifespan
False
True
2
The major way in which we currently discover exoplanets is using indirect methods
False
True
3
The gravitational effect of a planet on a star allows us to measure the planet mass
False
True
4
Mars is commonly known as the god of...
The underworld
War
Agriculture
Love
5
Pluto is classified as a dwarf planet
False
True
6
The luminosity of the Sun increases with time
False
True
7
A city planet is called a ____
Metropolis
Necropolis
Ecumenopolis
Krapopolis
8
From Earth we see Venus go through phases similar to the Moon
False
True
9
The drake equation is used to estimate the number of civilizations in the universe
True
False
10
How many moons does Mars have?
2
1
0
4
11
The planet of Venus was named after the goddess of war
False
True
12
What is the final variable in the Drake equation?
The length of time that civilization would survive
Fraction of stars with planets
Fraction of habitable planets that develop life
Average number of habitable planets per star
13
What is the largest planet in the Solar System
Jupiter
Neptune
Saturn
Earth
14
A serious problem of Arrakis (Planet from Dune) orbiting Canopus, a star 8x more massive than the Sun, is ____
The star is too bright
The star is too far away
The lifetime of the star is very short
The star should not exist
15
The origin of the asteroid belt is the gap between mars and Jupiter
True
False
16
Observations of other planetary systems have shown that the distribution of planets in the solar system is normal
True
False
17
The climate of water worlds would be more dependent on latitude then for the Earth
True
False
18
What message is attached to both the Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft?
Picture of the spacecraft
Popular music on Earth
Distances to pulsars
Messages from all countries
19
E=mc2 relates to energy, mass, and speed of light
False
True
20
Approximately what percentage of energy received from the sun makes it to Earth's Surface?
20%
0%
100%
50%
21
Venus may have had surface liquid water in the past
False
True
22
What would happen if Mars were moved to the orbit of the Earth?
?
?
?
It would lose a vast majority of its atmosphere
23
The highly successful Soviet Venus program that sent landers to the surface was called "Vanera"
False
True
24
Why is Pluto no longer classified as a planet?
It is too small
It is too far away from the Sun
It has not cleared its neighborhood
NASA hates Pluto
25
The giant wave portrayed in interstellar was likely caused by ___
The rotation of the planet
The tidal forces from its moon
Tidal forced from the black hole it orbits
Massive Earthquakes
26
Direct detection is responsible for most of the currently known exoplanets
True
False
27
Place these in order of brightest to lowest in the sky
Moon, Venus, Mars, Sun
Mars, Moon, Venus, Sun
Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars
Sun, Venus, Mars, Moon
28
Within our solar system, the size gap between terrestrial and gas giant planets exist between...
Venus and Saturn
Mercury and Triton
Mars and Uranus
Earth and Neptune
29
Exoplanets are planets in our solar system
False
True
30
The major lesson learned from the Kepler mission is that rocky planets are more common than giant planets
True
False
31
Exoplanets are named in order of time of discovery
False
True
32
Mars is hotter than Earth
False
True
33
When a planet transits its star, we measure the size of the planet
False
True
34
The main result from the Kepler mission is that giant planets are more common than rocky planets
True
False
35
If a person were to stand on Kepler-22b, they would be heavier than if there were on Earth
True
False
36
Direct imaging observations are best carried out from space
True
False
37
Venus most frequently appears in the night sky right after sunset or right before dawn
True
False
38
At the present point in time, Earth's radio transmissions have traveled a distance of ___
100 light years
The length of the milky-way galaxy
100,000 miles
1,000,000 parsecs
39
The Expanse is a sci-fi movie that has the most accurate representation of Venus
True
False
40
Challenges with terraforming Mars include...
Low surface gravity
All of the Above
Low levels of sunlight
Atmospheric Erosion
41
What is the primary ingredient for a planet to be habitable?
Presence of a moon
Liquid water
Geological activities
Rotational axis tilt
42
Earth's ability to recycle carbon from its atmospheric into its interior is enabled by...
Plate tectonics
UV light from the Sun
Tidal effects
Climate change
43
If we moved Mars to the orbit of the Earth, it would lose the vast majority of its atmosphere
False
True
44
Ideas about possible life on the surface of Venus persisted until about 1995
True
False
45
The causes of gaps in the asteroid belt are from the orbital resonances with Jupiter
True
False
46
The primary cause of Earth's sessions is because its orbit is slightly elliptical
True
False
47
Almost all large bodies orbit the Sun in different direction
True
False
48
If a planet has substantially more water than Earth, then it means that the planet is even more likely to have life
True
False
49
Drake Equation Variable: R* = rate of star formation in galaxy
True
False
50
A significant disadvantage of stars more massive than the Sun for habitability is that they are relatively short-lived
True
False
51
Neptune is the largest planet in the solar system
True
False
52
If we placed a starshade between the Sun and Venus, the temp. would drop to allow CO2 to condense into liquid and rain
True
False
53
The primary requirement for planetary habitability is surface liquid water
False
True
54
Why is Jupiter important for Earth maintaining life over its history?
Jupiter reduces the amount of large impacts on Earth
Jupiter helps regulate Earth's climate by influencing atmospheric condition
Jupiter increases the amount of large impacts on Earth
Jupter serves as a secondary light and heat source for Earth
55
An exoplanet is a planet outside of our solar system
True
False
56
The parsec is a unit of length used to measure large distances
True
False
57
The surface pressure on Venus is equivalent to an ocean depth of almost 1,000 meters
False
True
58
The architecture of the TRAPPIST-1 system is exceptional because...
Three planets could have liquid water
All of these are correct
The TRAPPIST-1 star is much fainter than the sun
The entire system would fit within the orbit of Mercury
59
The variables in the Drake Equation are increasingly well known from left to right in the equation
True
False
60
The Fermi Paradox speculates on why we have not yet encountered another intelligent species
True
False
61
An example of an exoplanet is TRAPPIST. It is the name of the star, but what determines the letter that is given
How far the planet is from the star
The size of planet
The order of discovery
The number of moon the planet has
62
What causes the gaps in the asteroid belt?
Tractor beams from mining vessels
Orbital resonances with Jupiter
Gravitational influence of Earth and Mars
Collisions with each other
63
The surface temp. on Venus is approximately 850 degrees F.
True
False
64
The major scientific problem with the intro scene for The Martian is the pressure exerted by the wind is too strong
True
False
65
Venus has a much stronger magnetic field than the Earth
True
False
66
What is an orrery?
A model of the solar system
A type of space telescope
A phase of the moon
A type of planet
67
Which planet in the solar system is tilted on its side?
Pluto
Uranus
Jupiter
Mercury
68
Drake Equation Variables: Fp = fraction of stars with planets (1.0)
True
False
69
Almost all large bodies orbit the Sun in a clockwise direction
True
False
70
What is the main planetary property that we measure with the transit method?
The type of clouds that the planet has
Mass
Radius
Rotation period
71
A planet in the habitable zone means the planet is habitable
True
False
72
What is the largest planet in the solar system ?
Jupiter
Mercury
Saturn
Pluto
73
The methods that has discovered the most exoplanets is the transit methods
False
True
74
An alien megastructure could be detected by its unique signature as it passes in front of its star
True
False
75
Why are desert planets so popular in SciFi movies?
Deserts are extreme and unfamiliar to most people
It is a harsh environment which allows for character development
It provides an interesting backstory for the evolution of a planet
All of the Above
76
Many of the planetary systems found have planetary orbits that would fit inside the orbit of Mercury
False
True
77
Our solar system consists of four giant planets close to the Sun and four terrestrial planets farther from the Sun
False
True
78
The astrometric methods is difficult because of the Earth's atmosphere
True
False
79
Which of the following is a factor that affects habitability...
Abundance of bio-essential elements
Climate stability
Substantial Moon
All of the Above
80
Mercury is the biggest planet
False
True
81
A dyson sphere is a megastructure that, in theory, would capture all the energy from a ___
Planet
Galaxy
Star
Power Plant
82
What is the smallest gas planet?
Jupiter
Uranus
Neptune
Saturn
83
Why is water important for life?
Water is a neutral solvent in which biochemical reactions can take place
Water extremely common
All of the above
Water can be a liquid state at reasonably high temps enabling faster rates
84
The Arecibo Message sent a signal to Proxima Centauri that was written in Latin
False
True
85
War of the Worlds depicts Earth being invaded by...
Martians
Plutonians
Jupiterians
Venusians
86
Drake Equation Variable: N(e) = average number of habitable planets per star (0.5)
True
False
87
The smaller the planet, the less gravity
True
False
88
Earths water primarily originated from ___
Neither A nor B
Material it gathered during its formation
Both A and B
Deposits from comets and other impactors
89
What is a potential disadvantage of using nuclear weapons to release the polar cap CO2 on Mars into its atmosphere?
It only raises the average temp. by 10 degrees
All of the Above
It may inadvertently remove evidence of past life on Mars
There may be substantial nuclear fallout
90
What is the nearest star to the sun (Our nearest stellar neighbor)
?
?
?
Proxima Centeuri
91
What is Terraforming?
Turning base metals into gold
Modifying a planet's orbit
Modifying a planet so that it is able to support life
Artificially creating earthquakes
92
Percival Lowell popularized the idea of intelligent life on Mars
False
True
93
Compared with the Earth, Venus is about double the size of Earth
True
False
94
Ideas about life on other planets existed for a few thousand years
False
True
95
The approximate maximum size of a terrestrial (rocky) planet is twice the size of Earth
True
False
96
How many planets have been discovered around other stars?
100-1000
1000-5000
5000+
1-100
97
The Habitable Zone is the region around a star where planets are guaranteed to have life
False
True
98
Present day atmospheric pressure on Mars is __ of the atmospheric pressure on Earth
20%
<1
50%
10%
99
Direct exoplanet detection methods use light reflected from or emitted by the planet
False
True
100
A fundamental problem that science fiction movies have to solve is doing interstellar travel in a certain amount of time
False
True
101
The tilt of Mars' rotational axis is approximately the same as Earth's
False
True
102
Ideas about life on the surface of Venus persisted up until the...
1950s
1980s
1970s
1960s
103
The Fermi paradox is based on the apparent contradiction between number of space civilizations and lack of contact
False
True
104
The general cause of why intelligent species may not progress to become space-faring is know as "The Great Filter"
True
False
105
The dominant factor that serves as an explanation for the Fermi paradox is...
The giant barrier
Theory of evolution
The great filter
The colossal question
106
The high temps, at the surface of Venus are caused by a runaway greenhouse
True
False
107
The Astronomical Unit (AU), the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, is mostly used in The Solar System
False
True
108
Average temp of Earth is around 50-60 degrees
True
False
109
The present-day atmospheric pressure on Mars is less than 1% of the atmospheric pressure on Earth
False
True
110
We can see phases of Venus through a telescope because Venus is closer to the Sun than the Earth
True
False
111
A substantial moon can enhance planetary habitability through tidal effects and tidal pools
False
True
112
Approximately 70% of the Earth's surface is covered in oceans
False
True
113
We currently observe strong evidence of plate tectonics on Venus
True
False
114
Earth is the largest terrestrial planet
False
True
115
Challenges to terraforming Mars are...
Low surface gravity
Low levels of sunlight
Atm erosion
All of the above
116
Its 9pm, you look up in the sky and see a moon with half its face bright and half dark. It is in its third quarter
True
False
117
The primary component in the Venusian atmosphere is Carbon Dioxide
False
True
118
Within out Solar System, the size gap between terrestrial and gas giants exist between Earth and Neptune
False
True
119
You can see a crescent moon at midnight
False
True
120
The first picture returned from the surface of another planet occurred on Mars
False
True
121
The number of known exoplanets now number in the thousands
True
False
122
How many moons does Venus have?
2
1
0
3
123
A giant planet in a planetary system can change the rate of impacts on rocky planets
True
False
124
The velocity of Voyager 2 is traveling (15km/s), how long will it take the spacecraft to reach Alpha Centauri
False
True
125
What is approximately the maximum size of a terrestrial/rocky planet?
The size of Earth
Twice the size of Earth
10x the size of Earth
5x the size of Earth
126
Earth is the terrestrial body you would weigh the least on
True
False
127
Runaway greenhouse occurs when greenhouse gasses produce a positive a positive feedback loop
False
True
128
The climate of a city planet would be characterized by heavy rainfall and storms
True
False
129
Astrometry and Doppler techniques can be used to detect planets when...
The planet passes in front of the star
The planet reflects light from the star
The planet makes the background star brighter
The planet causes the star to wobble
130
The moon is bright because it reflects light from the sun
False
True
131
The TRAPPIST-1 system is primarily special because it has 3-4 terrestrial planets in the habitable zone
True
False
132
The brightness of a star affects a planet when it transits the star
False
True
133
Mars is __ the size of Earth
2x
1/2
1/4
The Same
134
On which solar system body would you weigh the least?
Pluto
Mars
Mercury
Venus
135
The more planets in the system, the easier days are to interpret
False
True
136
The purpose of the Drake equation is to provide a precise number of planets with life that want to communicate with us
True
False
