Question 1

Cometary dust tails lag behind the bluish ion tails as the comet rounds the Sun.

Accepted Answer

Cometary dust tails are composed of heavier particles that are less affected by solar wind and radiation pressure, causing them to lag behind the ion tails, which are made of lighter ions that are pushed directly away from the Sun.

Question 2

All the planet's orbits are evenly spaced.

Accepted Answer

The distances between the orbits of the planets in our solar system are not evenly spaced. The spacing increases in a roughly logarithmic scale as you move away from the Sun, following a pattern described by the Titius-Bode law, although this law is not exact for all planets, especially Neptune.

Question 3

Comets are not actually members of the solar system, but have been captured by the Sun.

Accepted Answer

Comets are considered members of the solar system. They are believed to originate from two main regions within the solar system: the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud, both of which contain numerous small bodies that can become comets when their orbits bring them close to the Sun.

Question 4

Pluto is more similar to the jovian planet's icy moons than to any of the other planets.

Accepted Answer

Pluto shares more characteristics with the icy moons of the outer planets, such as a composition rich in ice and rock, than it does with any of the terrestrial or gas giant planets in the solar system.

Question 5

Earth is nearly twice as large as Venus.

Accepted Answer

Earth and Venus are quite similar in size, with Earth being only slightly larger. Earth's diameter is about 12,742 km, while Venus has a diameter of about 12,104 km.

Question 6

All four jovian planets are thought to have cores larger than Earth.

Accepted Answer

All four jovian planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) are believed to have cores that are larger than Earth, consisting of heavier elements, which contribute to their overall mass and gravitational pull.

Question 7

Pluto's orbit has a lower inclination to the ecliptic than any planet.

Accepted Answer

Pluto's orbit has a higher inclination to the ecliptic (about 17 degrees) compared to the planets in our solar system, which have orbits with lower inclinations.

Question 8

Meteor showers are the result of collisions between asteroids.

Accepted Answer

Meteor showers occur when Earth passes through streams of debris left behind by comets or occasionally asteroids. The debris burns up in Earth's atmosphere, creating the visible shower.

Question 9

All the terrestrial planets lie inside the asteroid belt.

Accepted Answer

The terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) are located inside the asteroid belt, closer to the Sun than the gas giants and the asteroid belt itself.

Question 10

Carbonaceous asteroids contain fragile organic molecules.

Accepted Answer

Carbonaceous asteroids are known for containing a variety of organic molecules, including amino acids and other compounds essential for life, making them a focus of study for understanding the origins of life on Earth.

Question 11

All the planets revolve around the Sun in the same direction, except for Venus and Uranus.

Accepted Answer

All the planets in the Solar System, including Venus and Uranus, revolve around the Sun in the same direction (counterclockwise when viewed from above the Sun's north pole). However, Venus rotates on its axis in the opposite direction to most planets, and Uranus has a unique tilt that makes it appear to rotate on its side.

Question 12

Barringer Crater in Arizona is an example of a meteorite impact.

Accepted Answer

Barringer Crater, also known as Meteor Crater, is a well-preserved meteorite impact crater located in the northern Arizona desert of the United States.

Question 13

The two smallest planets, Mercury and Pluto, have no moons.

Accepted Answer

Mercury and Mars are the two smallest planets in the Solar System without any moons, not Mercury and Pluto. Pluto, which is now classified as a dwarf planet, has five known moons.

Question 14

All the planets orbit the Sun in exactly the same plane as the Earth.

Accepted Answer

The planets in our solar system orbit the Sun in nearly the same plane, known as the ecliptic plane, but there are slight inclinations in their orbits relative to Earth's orbit.

Question 15

One characteristic of the terrestrial planets is their extensive moon systems.

Accepted Answer

This statement is false. The terrestrial planets, which include Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, have relatively small or no moon systems compared to the gas giants in our solar system, such as Jupiter and Saturn. The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite.

Question 16

All jovian planets have rings around their equators and at least eight moons.

Accepted Answer

The answer of All jovian planets have rings around their...

Question 17

A Kuiper Belt object was discovered that may be larger than Pluto.

Accepted Answer

Eris, discovered in 2005, is a Kuiper Belt object that is slightly larger than Pluto, leading to debates about what constitutes a planet and ultimately to the reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet.

Question 18

Many astronomers now regard Pluto as just one of the largest of the thousands of Kuiper Belt bodies found beyond Neptune.

Accepted Answer

Pluto is considered one of the largest objects in the Kuiper Belt, a region of the Solar System beyond Neptune filled with small bodies and dwarf planets. This reclassification led to Pluto being demoted from its status as the ninth planet in our Solar System to that of a "dwarf planet" in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union.

Question 19

Most astronomers now believe the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was caused by a large asteroid impacting the Yucatan peninsula area.

Accepted Answer

The prevailing scientific consensus is that the mass extinction event that led to the demise of the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago was primarily caused by a large asteroid impact, known as the Chicxulub impactor, in the area of what is now the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. This event led to significant environmental changes that disrupted the dinosaurs' ecosystems.

Question 20

Due to their great masses, all four jovian worlds are much denser than the Earth.

Accepted Answer

The jovian worlds (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) are less dense than Earth due to their composition of hydrogen, helium, and other gases. Despite their great masses, they have relatively low densities, making them less dense than Earth.

Quiz 5: The Solar System: Interplanetary Matter and the Birth of the Planets