Deck 14: Solar System Debris: Keys to Our Origin

Question 1

Most comets are discovered when their coma develops,giving them a fuzzy appearance instead of stellar such as asteroids.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Iridium was the element that first alerted us to the unusual dust left behind by the K-T boundary event.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Eros is the only asteroid upon which a spacecraft has landed.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Pluto is visible to the naked eye on extremely dark nights.

Question 5

Pluto's orbit takes it closer to the Sun than Neptune for part of its orbit.

Question 6

Triton and Pluto both probably originated in the Kuiper Belt.

Question 7

Asteroids are similar in composition,leading scientists to suspect that they formed from the breakup of a single large object,such as a planet.

Question 8

The asteroid Vesta seems to have once been volcanically active,amazing for its small size.

Question 9

Sedna,with a perihelion three times farther out than Pluto,and a period of thousands of years,is just a typical Kuiper Belt body.

Question 10

Several objects were called planets when they were originally discovered,but are no longer called planets.

Question 11

All known asteroids can be found in the asteroid belt.

Question 12

Pluto's classification as a planet has been called into question.

Question 13

Pluto is smaller than many moons in the solar system.

Question 14

Meteor showers are the result of debris left behind by the passage of a decaying comet.

Question 15

Most asteroids are differentiated,as reflected by their spherical shapes.

Question 16

Pluto is probably one of the largest of the Kuiper Belt bodies beyond Neptune.

Question 17

The asteroids Gaspra,Ida,and Vesta all have surfaces that date back to the formation of planetesimals in the early solar system.

Question 18

Typically,no more than a couple dozen potentially hazardous asteroids approach the Earth as close as 0.05 AU each decade.

Question 19

Discovered by the spacecraft Galileo,Dactyl is a satellite of larger Ida.

Question 20

The Kirkwood Gaps in the asteroid belt are due to resonances with Jupiter.

Question 21

What is the defining property of the Trojan asteroids?

A) Their orbital periods are exactly one year, like ours.
B) They have orbits that cross the orbit of the Earth, but not that of Venus.
C) They have orbits at the distance of Jupiter and 60 degrees ahead of or behind it.
D) They have orbits between Saturn and Uranus.
E) Like Pluto, they are in a 3:2 resonance with Neptune.

Question 22

About how many potentially hazardous asteroids pass within 0.05 AU of the Earth per decade in modern times?

A) None
B) 10-20
C) 200-300
D) 5000-1000
E) A completely unknown quantity; it could easily be anywhere from just a few to millions.

Question 23

What is the typical size of most known asteroids?

A) a few meters
B) a few kilometers
C) a few hundred kilometers
D) larger than the Moon
E) larger than the Earth

Question 24

About what percent of all asteroids are C-type asteroids?

A) 5%
B) 10%
C) 15%
D) 50%
E) 75%

Question 25

The orbits of most asteroids:

A) lie beyond Neptune.
B) lie entirely beyond the orbit of Mars.
C) cross the orbit of Mars.
D) cross the orbit of Earth.
E) cross the orbits of all four terrestrial planets.

Question 26

The type of asteroid that would be the densest would be type:

A) C.
B) M.
C) S.
D) V.
E) Z.

Question 27

Scientists have proved that an asteroid or comet impact approximately 65 million years ago caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Question 28

The type of asteroid that would appear darkest and reflect the least light is type:

A) A.
B) B.
C) C.
D) D.
E) S.

Question 29

The three largest asteroids are:

A) Pluto, Sedna, and Quaoar.
B) Deimos, Phobos, and Athos.
C) Ida, Gaspra, and Mathilde.
D) Ceres, Pallas, and Vesta.
E) Halley, Hale-Bopp, and Hyakutake.

Question 30

Why do researchers believe that asteroids in the asteroid belt are primal rocks that did not merge into a planet?

A) The total mass of the asteroids in the asteroid belt is much smaller than that of any terrestrial planet in our solar system.
B) The differences in chemical compositions of the asteroids are too large for them to have originated in a single body.
C) Jupiter's gravity could have prevented these objects merging into a single body.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.

Question 31

Some meteorites found on Earth are believed to have originated on the Moon or Venus.

Question 32

Carbonaceous meteorites contain organic molecules,even amino acids.

Question 33

What are Dactyl,Gaspra,Mathilde,Eros,and Ida?

A) the four largest main belt asteroids, and the first to be discovered
B) the first four bodies found in the Kuiper Belt after Pluto
C) newly discovered small moons of Saturn
D) four asteroids that have been explored by spacecraft
E) newly discovered retrograde moons of Jupiter

Question 34

Meteor showers result when asteroids collide and this debris showers the inner solar system.

Question 35

In addition to the asteroid belt,some meteorites come from the Moon and even Mars.

Question 36

Which asteroid did Dawn visit first and which is second in its planned mission?

A) Mathilde, Eros
B) Ida, Dactyl
C) Vesta, Ceres
D) Gaspra, Ida
E) Pallas, Ceres

Question 37

The NASA orbiter that ultimately landed on the surface of the asteroid Eros was:

A) New Horizons.
B) Giotto.
C) Stardust.
D) NEAR Shoemaker.
E) Clementine.

Question 38

On its way to Jupiter,Galileo also gave us close-ups of:

A) Mars and Venus.
B) Ceres and Vesta.
C) Gaspra and Ida.
D) Mathilde and Eros.
E) Mercury and Venus.

Question 39

About what percent of all asteroids are S-type asteroids?

A) 5%
B) 10%
C) 15%
D) 50%
E) 75%

Question 40

The orbital resonances with Jupiter are shown in the:

A) Cassini division.
B) Zone of Avoidance.
C) Kirkwood Gaps.
D) ring arcs.
E) orbits of the aten asteroids.

Question 41

Which of the following objects never collide with the Earth?

A) Apollo asteroids
B) Amor asteroids
C) Aten asteroids
D) long period comets
E) short period comets

Question 42

The Apollo and Aten asteroids have orbits that:

A) cross the orbit of Earth at perihelion.
B) cross the orbit of Mars, but not the Earth, at perihelion.
C) remain between Mars and Jupiter, in the main belt.
D) stay sixty degrees ahead of or behind Jupiter.
E) stay out beyond Neptune.

Question 43

The tail of a comet always points:

A) toward the Sun and disappears at perihelion.
B) toward Earth and never varies.
C) away from the Sun and disappears at perihelion.
D) away from the Sun and becomes longest and brightest at perihelion.
E) in the direction of the comet's motion.

Question 44

What are comets made of?

A) silicates and rocky dust
B) metallic dust particles
C) dark colored complex hydrocarbons
D) methane, ammonia, and water ice
E) All of the above.

Question 45

Before it arrived in orbit about Eros,the NEAR spacecraft also flew past:

A) Venus.
B) asteroid Mathilde.
C) Comet Wild.
D) Mars.
E) Comet Halley.

Question 46

The Oort Cloud is thought to be:

A) the cloud of gas and dust from which our solar system formed.
B) a cloud of debris that occasionally encounters the Earth, causing a meteor shower.
C) the spherical cloud of comets and some larger icy bodies surrounding the outer solar system.
D) a cloud of asteroids moving between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
E) the material in the ecliptic plane that creates the zodiacal light.

Question 47

Long period comets are thought to reside mainly in the:

A) asteroid belt.
B) Kirkwood gaps.
C) Kuiper Belt.
D) Oort Cloud.
E) Interstellar Medium.

Question 48

Vesta's density is:

A) about the same as other asteroids, around 2100-2900 kg/m³.
B) lower than typical asteroids, around 1400 kg/m³.
C) about the same as a typical comet, around 100 kg/m³.
D) about the same as the densest meteorites, around 5000 kg/m³.
E) more than the density of other asteroids, but less than the density of a terrestrial planet; around 3500 kg/m³.

Question 49

The orbits of most comets:

A) are like the planets, fairly circular and in the ecliptic plane.
B) lie almost entirely beyond the orbit of Neptune.
C) have perihelions within the orbits of Mercury.
D) go no farther out than Pluto, then return to the Sun again.
E) are shorter than the 76 year period for Comet Halley.

Question 50

Asteroid 2004 FH passed within a tenth of the Earth-Moon distance in March 2004.When its period was found to be about nine months,it was classified as a(n):

A) short period comet.
B) aten asteroid.
C) apollo asteroid.
D) amor asteroid.
E) Kuiper Belt Object.

Question 51

Compared to Ida,Eros,and Gaspra,what was odd about Mathilde?

A) It had a small moon, so we could more accurately find its mass.
B) It was much denser, probably made of iron and nickel, a class M asteroid.
C) It was less dense than water, indicating it was a comet nucleus, rather than an asteroid.
D) It was less dense than rock, but more than ice, suggesting a porous structure.
E) It was the same density as the Earth's Moon, indicating it had been knocked off our Moon.

Question 52

Halley's Comet last passed Earth in 1986.It will be due back in:

A) 2012.
B) 2048.
C) 2061.
D) 2086.
E) the twenty-third century.

Question 53

Dactyl was photographed by the Galileo spacecraft.It is:

A) a moon of the asteroid Ida.
B) a moon of Halley's Comet.
C) one of the small moons of Jupiter, thought to be a captured asteroid.
D) one of the larger asteroids found in the asteroid belt.
E) an Earth-crossing asteroid.

Question 54

The Trojan asteroids have orbits that:

A) are, on average, closer to the Sun than we are.
B) cross the orbit of Earth at perihelion.
C) cross the orbit of Mars, but not Earth, at perihelion.
D) stay sixty degrees ahead of or behind Jupiter.
E) stay out beyond Neptune.

Question 55

The Amor asteroids have orbits that:

A) stay closer to the Sun, on average, than we do.
B) stay out beyond Neptune.
C) stay sixty degrees ahead of or behind Jupiter.
D) cross the orbit of Mars, but not Earth, at perihelion.
E) cross the orbit of Earth at perihelion.

Question 56

What part of a comet has only been seen by a space probe?

A) meteoroid trail
B) dust tail
C) ion tail
D) coma
E) nucleus

Question 57

From its orbit,we now recognize Pluto as one of the largest members of the:

A) moons of Neptune.
B) asteroid belt.
C) Kuiper Belt.
D) Oort Cloud.
E) Zodiacal Belt.

Question 58

Based on observations by the Dawn spacecraft,scientists have concluded that Vesta might be:

A) a planetesimal leftover from the solar system's formation.
B) the only remaining protoplanet in our solar system.
C) one of the dwarf planets in our solar system.
D) a fragment of Mars.
E) one of the remnants of the planet that broke up to form the asteroid belt.

Question 59

The Kuiper Belt objects have orbits that:

A) carry them thousands of A.U. beyond the Sun.
B) stay out just beyond Neptune and close to the ecliptic.
C) stay sixty degrees ahead of or behind Jupiter.
D) cross the orbit of Mars at perihelion.
E) cross the orbit of Earth at perihelion.

Question 60

The nucleus,or main solid body,of a comet has a typical size of:

A) a few centimeters.
B) a few meters.
C) a few kilometers.
D) a few hundred kilometers.
E) a few thousand kilometers.

Question 61

Meteorites are valuable to astronomers because:

A) they may provide evidence about the process in which the solar system was born.
B) they originated in other solar systems.
C) they contain diamonds and gold.
D) they reveal the contents of interstellar space.
E) they prove that life can only exist on the Earth.

Question 62

The body which wiped out the dinosaurs was about:

A) as big as our Moon.
B) as big as one of Mars' moons.
C) a few hundred meters across.
D) as big as a 747.
E) as big as an SUV.

Question 63

Meteor shower debris is believed to come from:

A) the asteroid belt when Mars deflects it toward us annually.
B) the core of a differentiated type M asteroid, now broken up.
C) the crust of a differentiated type C asteroid, now broken up.
D) the disintegration of a short period comet over many returns to the Sun.
E) deep space, far beyond the solar system, deflected by the gravity of another star.

Question 64

Which of the following objects would be found on the Moon's surface?

A) sedimentary rocks
B) meteoroids
C) meteors
D) meteorites
E) asteroids

Question 65

Pluto's bulk density is:

A) 3,400 kg/m³, comparable to our Moon's.
B) 2,100 kg/m³, similar to Callisto's mix of rock and ice.
C) 1,200 kg/m³, like Mimas, made of almost pure ice.
D) 700 kg/m³, like Saturn a mix of hydrogen and helium slush.
E) 400 kg/m³, like Comet Halley's nucleus, a ice ball with many gas pockets.

Question 66

Iron meteorites are believed to come from:

A) the core of a dense M-type asteroid, now broken up.
B) Mars, hence their reddish color.
C) the crust of a differentiated type C asteroid, now broken up.
D) a broken up cometary nucleus, hence their shiny appearance.
E) deep space, far beyond the solar system, hence their unique crystal patterns.

Question 67

Pluto is most similar to:

A) Europa.
B) Miranda.
C) Triton.
D) our Moon.
E) Mercury.

Question 68

When a formal definition of a planet in the solar system was adopted,Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet.What characteristic of planets does NOT describe Pluto?

A) Planets orbit the Sun.
B) Planets are approximately spherical.
C) Planets have cleared the neighborhood around their orbit.
D) Planets orbit in ellipses with low eccentricity.
E) Planets orbit in or very near the ecliptic plane.

Question 69

Pluto's density is most similar to:

A) the terrestrial planets.
B) the jovian planets.
C) moons of the jovian planets.
D) Mercury, but nor Venus, Earth, or Mars.
E) Saturn, but not Jupiter, Uranus, or Neptune.

Question 70

Carbonaceous meteorites are believed to come from:

A) coal formed on Mars, then blown into space by asteroid impacts.
B) the core of a differentiated type M asteroid, now broken up.
C) the crust of a differentiated C type asteroid, now broken up.
D) a broken up cometary nucleus, dark like Comet Halley's nucleus.
E) deep space, far beyond the solar system, hence their very low density.

Question 71

Which statement about Pluto's discovery is FALSE?

A) It was predicted by Percival Lowell, based on perturbation theory.
B) It was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh close to Lowell's predicted position.
C) It was found in 1930, the first planet found by an American.
D) It was the massive jovian Lowell described as "Planet X" in his calculations.
E) Cold and dark, it was named for the god of the underworld.

Question 72

The two names most associated with the discovery of Pluto are

A) Adams and Leverrier.
B) Herschel and Bode.
C) Kuiper and Whipple.
D) Lowell and Tombaugh.
E) Shoemaker and Levy.

Question 73

What is so unusual about Pluto's orbit?

A) It lies exactly on the ecliptic.
B) It has the lowest eccentricity of any planet's orbit.
C) It is more inclined to the ecliptic than any of the eight planets.
D) It has an unexpectedly short orbital period.
E) It's orbital period is exactly twice that of Neptune's.

Question 74

When it was determined that Sedna has a perihelion distance that is three times further out than Pluto and such an eccentric orbit that it has a period of thousands of years,it was placed in the:

A) Trojan Asteroids.
B) Kuiper Belt.
C) Kirkwood Gap.
D) Oort Cloud.
E) Rogue Comets.

Question 75

Which of the following is definitely NOT a dwarf planet?

A) Pluto
B) Makemake
C) Pallas
D) Haumea
E) Ceres

Question 76

Which of the following gives direct information about the age of the solar system?

A) Martian meteorites
B) meteorites from asteroidal debris
C) the solar wind
D) the oldest Martian basalts
E) the oldest lunar basalts

Question 77

One of the best known craters on Earth is the Barringer Crater in Arizona.It was formed by:

A) a large volcanic eruption.
B) the same impact thought to have contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs.
C) the impact of an asteroid whose mass was around 200,000 tons.
D) testing of nuclear bombs during the Cold War.
E) the impact of a comet whose mass was around 25 tons.

Question 78

Pluto was discovered in:

A) ancient times.
B) 1789.
C) 1859.
D) 1930.
E) 1992.

Question 79

Large meteoroids are thought to collide with Earth:

A) at least once a decade.
B) about once a century.
C) a few times in every million-year period.
D) once every billion years.
E) never; only comets are thought to collide with Earth.

Question 80

Charon's orbit:

A) lies exactly in Pluto's orbital plane.
B) is highly inclined to Pluto's orbital plane.
C) is perpendicular to Pluto's equator.
D) is retrograde.
E) has not been determined yet.