Navigation » List of Schools » California State University Dominguez Hills » Science, Mathematics and Technology » SMT 314 – Introduction to Cosmology » Fall 2020 » Exam 2
Below are the questions for the exam with the choices of answers:
Question #1
A Is caused by the “backward” rotation of Venus about its own axis
B Was used by Galileo to explain the complete set of phases of Venus that he observed through his telescope
C Is caused by the change in perspective as Venus catches up with, and passes, Earth while both planets orbit the Sun
D Is caused by the gravitational tug of other planets on Venus
E Is caused by the motion of Venus along an epicycle whose center orbits the Sun
Question #2
A Neptune
B Jupiter
C Uranus
D Saturn
Question #3
A FALSE
B TRUE
Question #4
A less than an Earth day
B many Earth days
C less than an hour
D longer than an Earth day
Question #5
A planets with a rocky surface
B none of these choices
C planets that could have liquid water
D planets with an oxygen atmosphere
E all of these choices
F planets 1 AU from their star
Question #6
A older than
B younger than
C the same age as
Question #7
A TRUE
B FALSE
Question #8
A FALSE
B TRUE
Question #9
A Saturn’s rings rotate as a solid body, like a bicycle wheel and its spokes; all particles have the same orbital period.
B Jupiter’s volume is roughly 10 times Earth’s volume
C The giant planets consist mostly of hydrogen and helium,
D Of the four giant planets, only Saturn and Uranus have rings.
E Neptune and Uranus appear greenish blue because they are covered by a liquid water ocean
Question #10
A closer
B farther
C now way to tell with available data
D the same distance
Question #11
A Uranus
B Triton
C Venus
D Io
Question #12
A Mars
B Mercury
C Earth
D Venus
Question #13
A It’s orbit is not clear of other orbiting objects.
B If it was a distant planet, it would be a gas giant planet.
C It fell into Neptune when their orbits crossed.
D It doesn’t revolve about the Sun like planets.
Question #14
A randomly distributed throughout the solar system.
B between the Sun and Mars.
C among comets in the Oort cloud, beyond Neptune.
D tidally-disrupted icy rock debris between Mars and Jupiter.
Question #15
A astrometric measurements
B the Doppler-wobble method
C the transit method
D gravitational microlensing
E direct imaging
Question #16
A Europa
B Titan
C Io
D Callisto
Question #17
A the Moon experiences frequent volcanic eruptions that cause craters.
B the Moon is more distant than the Earth, causing incoming rocks to hit it first.
C the Moon has been around longer than the Earth and has been exposed to more periods of meteor bombardment.
D the Moon is much more deficient in iron relative to the Earth, causing craters to form more easily.
E the Moon experiences almost no erosion compared to the Earth, causing craters to remain much longer.
Question #18
A At any given location on Earth, there are two high tides each day – one caused by the gravitational pull of the Sun, and the other by the gravitational pull of the Moon.
B The orbital period of the Moon around the Earth and the rotation period of the Moon around its axis are equal.
C By observing the Moon long enough from Earth, night after night, we are able to draw a map of its entire surface.
D High tide occurs on the side of the Earth nearest to the Moon, while low tide occurs on the opposite side of the Earth.
E The same half of the Moon’s surface is perpetually dark (craters on that side never see sunlight), leading us to call it the “dark side of the Moon.”
Question #19
A FALSE
B TRUE
Question #20
A Formation of the Jovian Planets,Formation of the Terrestrial Planets,Formation of the protosun,Ignition of the Sun,Late Heavy Bombardment
B Ignition of the Sun,Formation of the protosun,Formation of the Jovian Planets,Formation of the Terrestrial Planets,Late Heavy Bombardment
C Formation of the protosun,Formation of the Jovian Planets,Formation of the Terrestrial Planets,Ignition of the Sun,Late Heavy Bombardment
D Formation of the protosun,Ignition of the Sun,Formation of the Jovian Planets,Formation of the Terrestrial Planets,Late Heavy Bombardment
Question #21
A Mercury,Asteroid Belt,Venus,Earth,Mars,Kuiper Belt,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune,
B Kuiper Belt,Mercury,Earth,MarsVenus,Jupiter,Uranus,Neptune,Saturn,Asteroid Belt
C Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Asteroid Belt,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune,Kuiper Belt
D Neptune,Saturn,Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Uranus,Kuiper Belt,Asteroid Belt
Question #22
A early solar system gas & dust
B a chunk broke off of the Earth
C a captured comet
D Sun ejecta
E a collision with a rogue planet
Question #23
A Mars
B Uranus
C Mercury
D Jupiter
E Venus
Question #24
A nitrogen
B methane
C hydrogen
D ammonia
E helium
Question #25
A Phobos
B Luna
C Io
D Triton
E Ariel
Question #26
A TRUE
B FALSE
Question #27
A Mars
B Earth
C Venus
D Uranus
Question #28
A They are the most massive of all the planets in the Solar System since they are mainly composed of heavy elements like iron.
B They generally have the thickest atmospheres of all the planets in the Solar System
C Despite their size, they rotate about their axis very rapidly, in fewer than 24 hours.
D They are the largest of all planets in the Solar System, with diameters up to nearly 1/10 the diameter of the Sun.
E They have many moons, probably due to their large gravitational fields.
Question #29
A Groupings of stars in the sky that are smaller than constellations.
B Objects smaller than comets; most between Mars and Jupiter.
C Any astronomical object.
D Meteorites falling on a radiant from the Perseid star cluster.
Question #30
A earthquake map
B Earth’s mantle consists of stacked rock plates
C lava erupts at random
D continents shifting over a convecting mantle
Question #31
A Lunar eclipses are predictable.
B The Moon is still visible during a total lunar eclipse because of light going through the Earth’s atmosphere.
C At a given time, a total lunar eclipse is visible only from a small part of the Earth’s surface.
D Total lunar eclipses last longer than total solar eclipses
E Lunar eclipses don’t occur monthly, because the inclination of the Moon’s orbit around the Earth relative to the Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
Question #32
A nucleus
B coma
C dust tail
D ion tail
Question #33
A FALSE
B TRUE
Question #34
A Jovian planets rotate very rapidly, and some material near the equator of these planets was flung outward, forming the rings
B tidal forces prevent the material in rings from forming into moons
C their thick gaseous atmospheres would disintegrate any small rock that enter them
D tidal forces cause volcanic eruptions on some moons, and part of this material subsequently escaped the gravity of the moons, forming the rings.
E there is too much material to have fit into the ball of each planet
Question #35
A Triton
B Uranus
C Venus
D Io
Question #36
A TRUE
B FALSE
Question #37
A TRUE
B FALSE
Question #38
A If we dump much more carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere, Earth will become hotter because of the greenhouse effect.
B No greenhouse effect currently occurs on Earth, and this is a good thing for humans.
C An extreme, possible runaway, greenhouse effect occurred on Venus, making its planetary surface the hottest in the Solar System.
D Venus’s atmosphere is much thicker than that of Earth – but some of Earth’s gases are trapped in rocks and oceans.
E The greenhouse effect occurs when an atmosphere is transparent to optical or visible light but translucent to infrared light, thus trapping the heat.
Question #39
A FALSE
B TRUE
Question #40
A The planet rotates once every 2/3 revolution about the Sun.
B The rotation axis is almost in line with the solar ecliptic
C The planet rotates once every 243 days, but the atmosphere rotates faster.
D The rotation is counter-clockwise.
Question #41
A comets burn quite rapidly, using up all their fuel within a few decades
B orbits of comets are highly eccentric and their semimajor axes are large
C most comets only pass close to the Sun 2 or 3 times, and then they disintegrate
D comets are not gravitationally bound to our Solar System
E it is impossible to tell when most comets will return close to the Sun
Question #42
A coma
B ion tail
C dust tail
D nucleus
Question #43
A ocean storms & weather
B periodic sloshing of liquid water.
C gravitational attraction to astronomical objects
D none of these
Question #44
A FALSE
B TRUE
Question #45
A a hurricane
B a tidal instability
C a volcanic eruption
D an atmospheric disturbance where a comet landed years ago.