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 Was used by Galileo to explain the complete set of phases of Venus that he observed through his telescope
B Is caused by the “backward” rotation of Venus about its own axis
C Is caused by the gravitational tug of other planets on Venus
D Is caused by the change in perspective as Venus catches up with, and passes, Earth while both planets orbit the Sun
E Is caused by the motion of Venus along an epicycle whose center orbits the Sun
Question #2
A Uranus
B Jupiter
C Saturn
D Neptune
Question #3
A TRUE
B FALSE
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 an oxygen atmosphere
B none of these choices
C planets that could have liquid water
D planets with a rocky surface
E all of these choices
F planets 1 AU from their star
Question #6
A older than
B the same age as
C younger than
Question #7
A TRUE
B FALSE
Question #8
A TRUE
B FALSE
Question #9
A Neptune and Uranus appear greenish blue because they are covered by a liquid water ocean
B The giant planets consist mostly of hydrogen and helium,
C Saturn’s rings rotate as a solid body, like a bicycle wheel and its spokes; all particles have the same orbital period.
D Jupiter’s volume is roughly 10 times Earth’s volume
E Of the four giant planets, only Saturn and Uranus have rings.
Question #10
A farther
B closer
C the same distance
D now way to tell with available data
Question #11
A Triton
B Uranus
C Io
D Venus
Question #12
A Mars
B Venus
C Mercury
D Earth
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 among comets in the Oort cloud, beyond Neptune.
C between the Sun and Mars.
D tidally-disrupted icy rock debris between Mars and Jupiter.
Question #15
A direct imaging
B the Doppler-wobble method
C the transit method
D gravitational microlensing
E astrometric measurements
Question #16
A Europa
B Callisto
C Titan
D Io
Question #17
A the Moon is much more deficient in iron relative to the Earth, causing craters to form more easily.
B the Moon experiences frequent volcanic eruptions that cause craters.
C the Moon experiences almost no erosion compared to the Earth, causing craters to remain much longer.
D the Moon has been around longer than the Earth and has been exposed to more periods of meteor bombardment.
E the Moon is more distant than the Earth, causing incoming rocks to hit it first.
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 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.”
C The orbital period of the Moon around the Earth and the rotation period of the Moon around its axis are equal.
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 By observing the Moon long enough from Earth, night after night, we are able to draw a map of its entire surface.
Question #19
A FALSE
B TRUE
Question #20
A Ignition of the Sun,Formation of the protosun,Formation of the Jovian Planets,Formation of the Terrestrial Planets,Late Heavy Bombardment
B Formation of the Jovian Planets,Formation of the Terrestrial Planets,Formation of the protosun,Ignition of the Sun,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,Venus,Earth,Mars,Asteroid Belt,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune,Kuiper Belt
B Kuiper Belt,Mercury,Earth,MarsVenus,Jupiter,Uranus,Neptune,Saturn,Asteroid Belt
C Neptune,Saturn,Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Uranus,Kuiper Belt,Asteroid Belt
D Mercury,Asteroid Belt,Venus,Earth,Mars,Kuiper Belt,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune,
Question #22
A a chunk broke off of the Earth
B a collision with a rogue planet
C Sun ejecta
D a captured comet
E early solar system gas & dust
Question #23
A Uranus
B Jupiter
C Mars
D Venus
E Mercury
Question #24
A methane
B hydrogen
C ammonia
D helium
E nitrogen
Question #25
A Ariel
B Luna
C Phobos
D Triton
E Io
Question #26
A FALSE
B TRUE
Question #27
A Venus
B Uranus
C Mars
D Earth
Question #28
A They generally have the thickest atmospheres of all the planets in the Solar System
B Despite their size, they rotate about their axis very rapidly, in fewer than 24 hours.
C They are the most massive of all the planets in the Solar System since they are mainly composed of heavy elements like iron.
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 continents shifting over a convecting mantle
B lava erupts at random
C Earth’s mantle consists of stacked rock plates
D earthquake map
Question #31
A 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.
B At a given time, a total lunar eclipse is visible only from a small part of the Earth’s surface.
C The Moon is still visible during a total lunar eclipse because of light going through the Earth’s atmosphere.
D Total lunar eclipses last longer than total solar eclipses
E Lunar eclipses are predictable.
Question #32
A ion tail
B dust tail
C nucleus
D coma
Question #33
A FALSE
B TRUE
Question #34
A their thick gaseous atmospheres would disintegrate any small rock that enter them
B tidal forces cause volcanic eruptions on some moons, and part of this material subsequently escaped the gravity of the moons, forming the rings.
C tidal forces prevent the material in rings from forming into moons
D Jovian planets rotate very rapidly, and some material near the equator of these planets was flung outward, forming the rings
E there is too much material to have fit into the ball of each planet
Question #35
A Uranus
B Venus
C Io
D Triton
Question #36
A TRUE
B FALSE
Question #37
A FALSE
B TRUE
Question #38
A An extreme, possible runaway, greenhouse effect occurred on Venus, making its planetary surface the hottest in the Solar System.
B The greenhouse effect occurs when an atmosphere is transparent to optical or visible light but translucent to infrared light, thus trapping the heat.
C No greenhouse effect currently occurs on Earth, and this is a good thing for humans.
D Venus’s atmosphere is much thicker than that of Earth – but some of Earth’s gases are trapped in rocks and oceans.
E If we dump much more carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere, Earth will become hotter because of the greenhouse effect.
Question #39
A FALSE
B TRUE
Question #40
A The planet rotates once every 243 days, but the atmosphere rotates faster.
B The rotation is counter-clockwise.
C The rotation axis is almost in line with the solar ecliptic
D The planet rotates once every 2/3 revolution about the Sun.
Question #41
A most comets only pass close to the Sun 2 or 3 times, and then they disintegrate
B comets are not gravitationally bound to our Solar System
C orbits of comets are highly eccentric and their semimajor axes are large
D it is impossible to tell when most comets will return close to the Sun
E comets burn quite rapidly, using up all their fuel within a few decades
Question #42
A coma
B dust tail
C nucleus
D ion tail
Question #43
A periodic sloshing of liquid water.
B none of these
C ocean storms & weather
D gravitational attraction to astronomical objects
Question #44
A TRUE
B FALSE
Question #45
A a volcanic eruption
B a hurricane
C a tidal instability
D an atmospheric disturbance where a comet landed years ago.