Deck 12: Saturn: Spectacular Rings and Mysterious Moons

Question 1

Saturn is less dense than water.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Lightning in storms on Saturn produces bursts of radio waves.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

When Cassini entered orbit around Saturn, it caused the planet's orbit to change.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Helium is more abundant at Saturn than at Jupiter.

Question 5

Saturn's upper atmosphere has an apparent helium surplus.

Question 6

Hurricane-like storms near Saturn's poles are called polar vortices.

Question 7

Although it is almost the same size as Jupiter, Saturn's gravity is about 2.5 times less, becauseof Saturn's lower mass and density.

Question 8

Saturn has a surface magnetic field weaker than Earth's.

Question 9

Saturn is almost as big as Jupiter, but only a third its mass.

Question 10

The rings of Saturn occupy the region inside Saturn's Roche limit.

Question 11

Saturn's cloud layer is over twice as thick as Jupiter's cloud layer.

Question 12

Saturn has several enduring major storm systems similar to Jupiter's Great Red Spot.

Question 13

Saturn's two shepherd moons herd the particles in the F ring.

Question 14

Saturn's orbit is more elliptical than Jupiter's, and its tilt is much larger as well.

Question 15

Saturn's rotation is fast and differential, much like Jupiter's.

Question 16

Because it is less dense than Jupiter, Saturn is more oblate than Jupiter, even though it rotatesslightly more slowly.

Question 17

One hemisphere of Enceladus has a much younger crust than the other, which is heavilycratered.

Question 18

A typical ring particle is about the size of a snowball.

Question 19

Saturn's orbital semi-major axis is almost twice Jupiter's.

Question 20

Saturn is the only planet with a ring system.

Question 21

What is the space probe that is currently orbiting Saturn and is responsible for numerousdiscoveries of storms and weather patterns in Saturn's atmosphere called?

A)Galileo
B)Encke
C)New Horizons
D)Cassini
E)Messenger

Question 22

The atmosphere of Saturn is composed mostly of:

A)methane and ammonia.
B)carbon dioxide and ethane.
C)hydrogen and helium.
D)hydrogen sulfide and ammonia.
E)nitrogen and oxygen.

Question 23

Saturn's polar vortices are:

A)Earth-sized storm systems.
B)similar to Jupiter's Great Red Spot.
C)any whirlpool shaped storm near Saturn's poles.
D)the bands that encircle Saturn that crosses both poles.
E)gaps in Saturn's rings.

Question 24

The wind speeds found in the bands and zones of Saturn, compared to those on Jupiter, areabout:

A)3 times faster.
B)2 times faster.
C)the same.
D)2 times slower.
E)3 times slower.

Question 25

Most of the moons of Saturn have rocky, cratered surfaces, like Deimos and Phobos.

Question 26

The leading hemisphere of Iapetus is much darker than the back side, which is icy.

Question 27

The lakes on Titan have large waves similar to Earth's oceans.

Question 28

Saturn is noticeably oblate because:

A)it has strong magnetic fields that deform its shape.
B)its powerful gravity acts stronger on the closer poles than the distant equator.
C)it is a fluid body that is spinning rapidly.
D)it is tidally distorted by the pulls for its satellite system.
E)All of the above are correct.

Question 29

Saturn's cloud surface appears more uniform than Jupiter's because:

A)there is a thick outer cloud covering of water ice overlying the colorful ices.
B)due to Saturn's lower gravity, the colorful cloud layers escaped.
C)it is composed of completely different gases than Jupiter's.
D)the cloud layers are thicker, allowing fewer holes to see the colorful layers.
E)due to Saturn's greater distance from the Sun, the colorful cloud layers are just not visible.

Question 30

Saturn's rings are widest open, doubling the planet's brightness, when it is at:

A)opposition.
B)quadrature.
C)greatest elongation.
D)equinox.
E)solstice.

Question 31

Titan's lakes do not change size.

Question 32

The most abundant element in Saturn's atmosphere is:

A)ammonia.
B)hydrogen.
C)helium.
D)methane.
E)nitrogen.

Question 33

The reason Saturn lost very little of its original atmosphere is due to its:

A)rapid rotation.
B)strong magnetic field.
C)ring system.
D)large mass.
E)many moons.

Question 34

If you could find a bathtub big enough for Saturn, the planet would:

A)precipitate more helium.
B)float.
C)explode due to its liquid metallic hydrogen.
D)catch fire, as liquid sodium reacts with water.
E)sink due to its metallic interior.

Question 35

The lakes on Titan are almost pure methane.

Question 36

Saturn's storms are most analogous to:

A)hurricanes on Earth.
B)sunspots.
C)Jupiter's Great Red Spot.
D)thunderstorms on Earth.

Question 37

Some of Saturn's moons share orbits with other moons.

Question 38

Computer models of Saturn's moon Enceladus indicate that it has an interior layer of liquidwater.

Question 39

Saturn's rings are edge-on and vanish when it is at:

A)opposition.
B)conjunction with the Sun.
C)greatest elongation.
D)equinox.
E)solstice.

Question 40

Compared to Jupiter, Saturn's atmosphere is:

A)more calm with fewer disturbances or storms.
B)more uniform with no significant variation in color in the lower cloud levels.
C)more violent with larger storm phenomena easily viewed from Earth.
D)much thicker causing the visibility of the lower layers to be reduced.
E)more colorful with variations in color easily viewed from Earth.

Question 41

Why does Saturn radiate even more excess energy than Jupiter?

A)Saturn is still radiating heat left over from its formation.
B)Saturn's thick cloud layer contributes to a larger greenhouse effect.
C)Helium rain gives off heat as it differentiates toward Saturn's center.
D)Saturn's atmosphere contains much methane, creating a large greenhouse effect.
E)Saturn can fuse hydrogen into helium in its core, like the Sun.

Question 42

The shepherd moons keep the ring particles in their rings by:

A)repelling the ring particles, causing them to slow down.
B)repelling the ring particles, causing them to speed up or slow down.
C)attracting the ring particles, causing them speed up.
D)attracting the ring particles, causing them to speed up or slow down.
E)both attracting and repelling the ring particles, causing them to speed up or slow down.

Question 43

Why does the atmosphere of Saturn appear to have only half the helium content of Jupiter?

A)Because Saturn is so much colder, helium does not show up as strongly in its spectrum.
B)Saturn was formed farther from the helium rich Sun.
C)A red dwarf, Jupiter has fused some of its hydrogen into helium, whereas Saturn, a colderplanet, has not.
D)Much of Saturn's helium has differentiated towards its center.
E)Much of Saturn's helium has reacted with water and formed helium oxide.

Question 44

Saturn's bands, oval storm systems, and turbulent flow patterns are powered by:

A)convective motion and rapid rotation.
B)the greenhouse effect.
C)a liquid metallic hydrogen interior.
D)the fusion in Saturn's core.
E)the tides of Titan.

Question 45

When Voyager 2 was routed to fly by Saturn, it was originally the plan to have the satellitefly through the Cassini gap. Why would this have been a bad idea?

A)That route would have taken Voyager 2 within the Roche Limit and the satellite would havebeen torn to pieces.
B)That route would have taken Voyager 2 inside Saturn's magnetic field causing the electronicson board to be destroyed.
C)The Cassini gap actually contains a large moon that orbits Saturn with a very high speed andVoyager 2 would have collided with that moon.
D)The gaps in Saturn's ring system (including the Cassini gap)are not actually empty space,rather they are an area of low density in the rings.
E)Voyager 2 would have encountered density waves which would have crushed the satellite.

Question 46

What did the Voyager mission discover about the Cassini Division?

A)It actually contains one or more moons.
B)It contains several ringlets.
C)It is completely filled with a ring of very dark material.
D)The spokes originate from it.
E)It is actually completely empty of all ring material.

Question 47

Compared to Jupiter, the motions observed in Saturn's atmosphere are:

A)faster with fewer zone-belt alternations.
B)slower with fewer zone-belt alternations.
C)faster with more zone-belt alternations.
D)slower with more zone-belt alterations.
E)nearly identical.

Question 48

Why are Saturn's rings so noticeable?

A)They are made of metallic hydrogen.
B)They are made of lots of fresh, bright icy particles from a recent breakup.
C)The particles in the rings are highly polished from numerous collisions with other particles.
D)They are made of nitrogen frost, like the bright surface of Triton.
E)Saturn is so bright, the rings reflect a lot of light from both Saturn and the Sun.

Question 49

Scientists believe that large storms on Saturn are:

A)tied to Saturn's rings.
B)in the high altitude ammonia clouds.
C)only found at the equator.
D)rooted deep in the atmosphere.
E)in Saturn's troposphere.

Question 50

Storms on Saturn that start as white spots, then grow into bands of clouds are caused by:

A)an upwelling plume of warm gas.
B)an abrupt cooling in the high atmosphere.
C)water crystals.
D)sulfur compounds.

Question 51

At the surface of Saturn's atmosphere the strength of the magnetic field is:

A)about the same as Mercury's magnetic field at its surface.
B)about the same as Venus's magnetic field at its surface.
C)about the same as Earth's magnetic field at its surface.
D)about the same as Mars' magnetic field at its surface.
E)about the same as Jupiter's magnetic field at its atmospheric surface.

Question 52

Shepherd satellites are defined as:

A)satellites in the coma of a comet.
B)moons that confine a narrow ring.
C)a type of moon that orbits another moon.
D)moons that follow the exact orbit of another, larger, moon.
E)moons that orbit inside the system of rings.

Question 53

The Roche limit is the point at which:

A)the mass of an object classifies it as a moon.
B)a moon orbiting a planet experiences synchronous rotation.
C)the external tidal forces on an object are strong enough to be felt by the object.
D)the external tidal forces on an object become greater than the internal forces that hold ittogether.
E)the internal forces that hold an object together weaken so that the object falls apart.

Question 54

If satellite A is in a 2:1 resonance with satellite B, this means that:

A)satellite A is twice as large as satellite B.
B)satellite A moves twice as fast as satellite B.
C)satellite A completes one orbit for every two orbits of satellite B.
D)the orbit of satellite B takes twice as long to complete as that of satellite A.
E)satellite B spins on its axis one time for every two orbits of satellite A.

Question 55

What are Saturn's rings?

A)a great disk of liquid helium
B)large rocky boulders moving in orbit around Saturn
C)a glowing, flat magnetospheric auroral display
D)a solid thin disk of material encircling Saturn
E)small icy particles moving in orbit around Saturn

Question 56

While Galileo saw Saturn as a changing oval, the real nature of the rings was discovered by:

A)Halley.
B)Newton.
C)Lowell.
D)Huygens.
E)Cassini.

Question 57

Which of the following played the most important role in the ring's formation?

A)Saturn's differential rotation
B)Saturn's Roche limit
C)Saturn's distance from the Sun
D)debris from volcanoes on Mimas
E)tidal resonance with Titan

Question 58

The reason the rings of Saturn exist is because:

A)the ring material lies within the Roche limit of Saturn.
B)the gravitational influence of Titan confines them to those orbits.
C)the eruptions of Mimas' volcanoes are keeping them supplied with ice.
D)there has not been sufficient time for the ring particles to form a moon.
E)Saturn's rapid rotation is spinning material away from its equator, out into space.

Question 59

What did the Voyager mission discover about the main rings of Saturn?

A)There are hundreds of small moons in the ring system.
B)They were less dense than the rings of Jupiter.
C)There are several small moons inside the inner-most ring.
D)The ring system is much thicker than originally believed.
E)They are composed of tens of thousands of narrow ringlets.

Question 60

A moon that goes inside the Roche Limit will:

A)get heated by the strong magnetic fields.
B)collide with a major satellite.
C)escape its planet's gravity.
D)be torn apart by the planet's tidal forces.
E)become a planet.

Question 61

The atmosphere of Titan is composed mostly of:

A)oxygen.
B)methane.
C)carbon dioxide.
D)hydrogen.
E)nitrogen.

Question 62

Cassini is the name of:

A)the French astronomer who first discovered a gap in Saturn's rings.
B)a gap in the rings created by a resonance with Mimas.
C)NASA's orbiter now taking photos of Saturn.
D)all of the above.
E)none of the above.

Question 63

How many large moons does Saturn have?

A)4
B)3
C)2
D)1
E)0

Question 64

What did the Huygens and Cassini probes find on the surface of Titan?

A)rocks and no water
B)methane oceans
C)an ocean and some lakes of ethane, methane, and other hydrocarbons
D)lakes and oceans of water
E)no methane, no water; just rocks

Question 65

What mission landed on Titan in early 2005?

A)Galileo's probe
B)Huygens
C)New Horizons
D)Rover Spirit
E)Cassini orbiter

Question 66

The Cassini spacecraft found evidence that the E Ring is related to Enceladus through:

A)the gravitational interactions by Enceladus on the particles in the E Ring.
B)the deposition of gases from Enceladus on the particles of the E Ring making them morereflective as the gas condenses on the particles.
C)a continual supply of icy particles spewed via volcanism on Enceladus.
D)the impact history of Enceladus-a major impact caused parts of the moon to be ejected fromthe surface and cross the Roche Limit to become the E Ring.
E)their common origin: both the E Ring and Enceladus have a common "ancestral" cometparent.

Question 67

Titan is an interesting moon because:

A)beneath its clouds, Titan may be Earth-like, with liquid water.
B)the Huygens rover has sent back images of sedimentary rocks there.
C)it has a rich atmosphere that may resemble that of the early Earth.
D)it is known to have ice volcanism on its surface.
E)all of the above.

Question 68

While not yet observed in eruption, it is likely that ________ has active volcanoes; itcertainly has one hemisphere greatly reworked by tectonic and volcanic forces.

A)Dione
B)Titan
C)Enceladus
D)Mimas
E)Rhea

Question 69

Rhea, Saturn's second largest moon, might best be described as:

A)having a very reflective, icy surface that is heavily cratered.
B)orbiting in a highly elliptical orbit, far from Saturn.
C)having the leading hemisphere six times darker than the following one.
D)being composed of the densest material of any Saturnian moon and dark in appearance.
E)being the only major moon of any planet not in synchronous rotation.

Question 70

What is interesting about Saturn's large moon Titan?

A)It is one of Saturn's two large moons.
B)It has a 2:1 resonance with Mimas and a 4:1 resonance with the Cassini gap.
C)It has its own moon.
D)It orbits Saturn in a retrograde sense.
E)It has an atmosphere.

Question 71

Why do scientists think the Cassini spacecraft did not observe "spokes" on the rings duringthe first year of its visit with Saturn?

A)The "spokes" observed before were a phenomenon of the Voyager 2 camera.
B)The "spokes" are not a regular phenomenon of Saturn's rings. They occur only in certainseasons.
C)The "spokes" are related to Saturn's magnetic field and the Cassini spacecraft was locatedinside Saturn's magnetic field, while Voyager 2 was not.
D)The Cassini spacecraft was not looking in the right part of Saturn's ring system to see the"spokes."
E)To see the "spokes," a particular alignment of the rings with the Sun is necessary and it tookone year for that alignment to reoccur.

Question 72

Shepherd moons were discovered because scientists hypothesized their existence afterobserving:

A)the Cassini Gap.
B)the spiral density waves in the ring system.
C)that the gaps are not empty space, but low density regions of material.
D)the narrow F Ring.
E)the backlit E Ring.

Question 73

Which Saturnian moon has the leading hemisphere black as tar, the back side icy white?

A)Rhea
B)Titan
C)Enceladus
D)Iapetus
E)Mimas

Question 74

How many medium-sized moons does Saturn have?

A)too many to count
B)18
C)9
D)6
E)1

Question 75

Why was it thought that Titan may have oceans of methane?

A)Titan's atmosphere contains traces of methane. Similarly, Earth's atmosphere contains tracesof water vapor. So, scientists thought Titan should have methane oceans.
B)The atmospheric pressure at Titan's surface and its surface temperature are such that methaneshould be liquid on Titan's surface.
C)The abundance of hydrocarbons in the atmosphere of Titan led scientists to believe that Titanhad an abundance of methane on its surface.
D)Titan's atmosphere is like Earth's (mostly nitrogen), but its temperature is too low for water tobe in the liquid phase. The only other possible liquid was methane.
E)Since Saturn has methane ice in its atmosphere, methane should be abundant in this region ofthe solar system. The sheer abundance of methane in the region led scientists to hypothesizemethane oceans on Titan.

Question 76

The "wispy terrain" on Rhea was revealed by the Cassini spacecraft to be:

A)ice cliffs created by tectonic fractures.
B)water ice flows from past impacts that cracked its icy surface.
C)the icy ash of water volcanoes.
D)"maria" created during the period of high impacts.
E)water ice flows from geyser-like activity.

Question 77

Why do scientists think Titan has an atmosphere while the large moons of Jupiter(Ganymede, Callisto, Europa and Io)do not?

A)The jovian satellites lost their atmospheres because of Jupiter's thermal radiation.
B)The jovian satellites never formed atmospheres because the solar nebula was too hot there.
C)The jovian satellites had their atmospheres stripped by Jupiter's gravitational pull.
D)The jovian satellites experienced too many collisions in their lifetimes to maintainatmospheres.
E)Titan got its atmosphere by accreting gases from Saturn. The jovian satellites were competingwith one another to do this, so it was unsuccessful for any of them.

Question 78

What makes Mimas a distinct moon?

A)It suffered a huge meteorite impact that must have nearly shattered it.
B)It helps maintain a wide apparent gap in Saturn's rings, known as Encke's Division.
C)It has a rich atmosphere that may resemble that of the early Earth.
D)It is the largest of Saturn's moons.
E)The leading hemisphere is very dark, while the back side is bright ice.

Question 79

What evidence suggests that Enceladus has ongoing geological activity?

A)Voyager 2 photographed liquid nitrogen geysers 10 kilometers tall.
B)Lack of impact craters on much of its surface, evidence of ice flows from possible volcanicactivity, and geysers that supply material for the E-ring.
C)Voyager 1 showed sulfur eruptions all over its pizza-pie colored surface.
D)Enceladus is located within Saturn's Roche limit, and ready to blow up.
E)Enceladus undergoes severe tidal stresses from its resonance with Titan.

Question 80

The asymmetrical surface markings on some of Saturn's moons are probably due to:

A)all of the moons are located within the rings and they sweep up ring particles.
B)the moons of Saturn are made primarily of ices.
C)in most cases, the moons are tidally locked by Saturn's gravity into synchronous rotation.
D)comet impacts become progressively harder as you get closer to Saturn.
E)most of the moons show signs of ice volcanism driven by tidal interactions.