Deck 10: The Outer Planets

Question 1

Which of the following lists the outer planets in order of increasing mass?

A) Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus
B) Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
C) Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune
D) Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, Jupiter

Answer 1

Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, Jupiter

Question 2

Which is the largest planet?

A) Saturn
B) Jupiter
C) Uranus
D) Earth
E) Neptune

Answer 2

Jupiter

Question 3

Which planet has the largest satellite in the Solar System?

A) Saturn
B) Jupiter
C) Uranus
D) Mars
E) Mercury

Answer 3

Jupiter

Question 4

How does the mass of Jupiter compare to the rest of the planets in the Solar System?

A) Jupiter's mass is greater than all the other planet masses combined.
B) Jupiter and Saturn have comparable masses.
C) Jupiter's mass is about equal to the sum of the terrestrial planet masses.
D) Jupiter's mass is about equal to the sum of Uranus and Neptune's masses.

Question 5

What is the largest satellite (moon) in the Solar System?

A) Earth's moon
B) Jupiter's moon, Ganymede
C) Saturn's moon, Titan
D) Neptune's moon, Triton

Question 6

Scientists believe a liquid water ocean might exist on the moon

A) Titan.
B) Europa.
C) Mimas.
D) Triton.

Question 7

The appearance of an aurora indicates that

A) the planet is being bombarded by small meteors.
B) there is a lot of lightning discharges in the planet's atmosphere.
C) the planet has a magnetic field.
D) there is intelligent life on the planet producing the aurora from below.

Question 8

Which of the following is a common characteristic of the Jovian planets?

A) mostly composed of hydrogen and helium
B) thick atmosphere
C) lack of solid surface
D) ring systems and satellites
E) All of these choices are correct.

Question 9

Why do astronomers believe that the Jovian planets are composed mainly of hydrogen and helium?

A) Because hydrogen and helium are the main constituents of the Solar System.
B) Because the Jovian planets are very large.
C) Because the Jovian planets have low densities.
D) The Voyager missions measured the chemical compositions of the interiors of the Jovian planets.

Question 10

Why do astronomers believe that the Jovian planets must contain rocky material in their cores?

A) Because silicates and irons were part of the overall composition of the Solar nebula.
B) Because the Jovian planets have large magnetic fields.
C) Because the Jovian planets have large gravity.
D) The statement of the question is incorrect. Astronomers believe that the Jovian planets consist exclusively of hydrogen and helium.

Question 11

Of all the Jovian planets ______ shows signs of tectonic plate motion.

A) Jupiter
B) Saturn
C) Uranus
D) Neptune
E) None of these choices is correct.

Question 12

The colors of Jupiter's clouds suggest the presence of ______.

A) organic molecules
B) hydrogen and helium
C) carbon dioxide
D) red-shifted colors due to the fast motion
E) iron oxides

Question 13

The energy that stirs the circulation in Jupiter's atmosphere comes from __________.

A) the Sun
B) the planet's interior
C) the tidal force of the Galilean moons
D) the planet's magnetic field

Question 14

The powerful _____ Jupiter is a result of the ______ and ______ in the interior of the planet.

A) magnetic field of; Coriolis effect; heat generated
B) wind on; rotation; excess hydrogen
C) magnetic field; rapid rotation; heat generated
D) wind on; Coriolis effect; heat generated

Question 15

________ is the largest of the Galilean moons.

A) Callisto
B) Europa
C) Ganymede
D) Io

Question 16

The average density of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter _____ with increasing distance from the planet.

A) increases
B) decreases
C) does not change

Question 17

The rings of Jupiter consist primarily of ______.

A) small particles
B) boulder-size rocks
C) solid rings
D) hydrogen and helium

Question 18

The Great Red Spot on Jupiter is __________.

A) a large rising cloud of gas
B) a giant vortex that has persisted for over 300 years
C) a planetesimal impact site
D) a largo tornado sweeping the planet from north to south

Question 19

Jupiter's mass is about ______ times that of Earth, and its diameter is ______ times Earth's.

A) 10; 300
B) 30; 10
C) 300; 10
D) 100; 300

Question 20

Astronomers think that the inner core of Jupiter is composed mainly of ______.

A) hydrogen
B) helium
C) uranium
D) rock and iron
E) water

Question 21

The lighter-colored bands in Jupiter's atmosphere are called ____.

A) belts
B) zones
C) layers
D) cells
E) gaps

Question 22

The darker-colored bands in Jupiter's atmosphere are called ____.

A) belts
B) zones
C) layers
D) cells
E) gaps

Question 23

The darker-colored bands in Jupiter's atmosphere are _________.

A) warmer than the lighter-colored bands
B) lower in altitude than the lighter-colored bands
C) transparent, relative to the lighter-colored bands
D) moving downward
E) All of these choices are correct.

Question 24

Jupiter's magnetic field is the result of _________.

A) the large amount of iron present in its interior
B) its rapid rotation and convective interior
C) an aurora in its upper atmosphere
D) the alternating wind directions in its atmosphere
E) huge storms in its upper atmosphere generating lightning

Question 25

The source of particles for Jupiter's rings is _________.

A) volcanic eruptions on Io
B) collisions between debris and two small moons
C) material pulled in by Jupiter's magnetic field
D) ice geysers on Enceladus
E) gravitationally captured interplanetary dust

Question 26

Which of the Galilean moons has its own magnetic field?

A) Io
B) Europa
C) Ganymede
D) Callisto
E) None of these choices is correct.

Question 27

What are the major gaseous substances that make up Jupiter and Saturn?

A) carbon dioxide and water vapor
B) hydrogen, hydrogen-rich compounds, and helium
C) methane and ozone
D) nitrogen and oxygen

Question 28

Which statement about Jupiter is true?

A) It may become a star in about a billion years.
B) It has a solid core of ice about 1,000 km under the visible surface.
C) It is the least dense of the Giant Planets.
D) It is more massive than all other planets combined.

Question 29

What is the Great Red Spot?

A) a region of gas on Jupiter's surface that contains a great deal of iron
B) a huge spinning vortex larger than Earth in Jupiter's atmosphere
C) a place on Jupiter's surface where comet Shoemaker-Levy landed in 1992
D) another name for Jupiter

Question 30

Why will astronauts probably never set foot on any of the Giant Planets?

A) These planets have no solid surfaces for them to land on.
B) Their clouds are so hot that any spacecraft getting near it would burn up.
C) Their gravitational attraction is so weak that they would float off.
D) Astronauts will land on the Giant Planets-the idea is perfectly reasonable.

Question 31

Why is the moon Io volcanically active with a hot interior?

A) Radioactive decay of elements in Io's core heat up the rock to molten temperatures.
B) Io is very close to the Sun.
C) Io was formed later than the other Galilean satellites, so it hasn't finished cooling yet.
D) Io gets flexed between the changing gravitational pulls of Jupiter and Europa, heating it by friction.

Question 32

On which of Jupiter's moons do scientists think there may exist an ocean covered with ice?

A) Io
B) Europa
C) Ganymede
D) Callisto

Question 33

What are the satellites of the outer planets thought to be composed of?

A) hydrogen and helium
B) hydrogen and methane
C) water and carbon dioxide
D) ice and rock

Question 34

The low average densities of Jupiter and Saturn compared with Earth suggests __________.

A) they are hollow
B) they have no solid cores
C) they contain large quantities of light elements, such as hydrogen and helium
D) they are very hot
E) heavier elements must be in gaseous form in their interiors

Question 35

Together the Cassini spacecraft and its probe Huygens discovered which of the following features on Titan?

A) river networks
B) lakes near the polar regions
C) dunes of ice crystals
D) an ice volcano
E) All of these choices are correct.

Question 36

The surface structure of Saturn's largest satellite, Titan, is completely unknown because no spacecraft so far could take pictures through Titan's thick clouds.

A) True, because no probe can pass through Titan's methane and ethane clouds.
B) True, because Titan's atmosphere blocks all wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation.
C) False, recently in 2005, Cassini parachuted a probe into Titan's atmosphere and took the pictures of its surface.
D) False, but all information related to Titan's surface comes from radar images taken by the Cassini spacecraft.

Question 37

What type of dunes exist on Titan?

A) sand dunes
B) dust dunes
C) ice crystal dunes
D) We have not discovered any dunes on Titan.

Question 38

Which planet has the lowest density?

A) Saturn
B) Jupiter
C) Uranus
D) Earth
E) Neptune

Question 39

Which satellite has lakes of liquid methane near its poles?

A) Ganymede
B) Io
C) Miranda
D) Triton
E) Titan

Question 40

Although Saturn and Jupiter have similar compositions their outer appearances are different because

A) Saturn's magnetic field is weaker than Jupiter's magnetic field.
B) Saturn's smaller size means it has a weaker gravitational field and thus less dramatic atmospheric effects.
C) Saturn has more water molecules throughout its atmosphere giving it a uniform appearance.
D) Saturn's cooler temperatures allow for the formation of a hazy layer of ammonia clouds that surrounds the planet.

Question 41

The iron and rocky cores found inside Jupiter and Saturn are closet in size to

A) an asteroid.
B) the Moon.
C) Earth.
D) the size of Jupiter and Saturn themselves.

Question 42

Which of the following accurately describes the properties of Saturn's rings?

A) The rings are a single, solid object.
B) The rings are very wide but very thin and composed of large planetesimals a few kilometers in size.
C) The rings are very wide but very thin and composed of small particles typically a few centimeters or meters in size.
D) The rings are very wide but a very thin veil of gas that surrounds the planet.

Question 43

______ has the lowest density of all the planets in the Solar System.

A) Pluto
B) Saturn
C) Mercury
D) Uranus
E) Jupiter

Question 44

The rings of Saturn consist primarily of _____.

A) hydrogen and helium
B) silicate rocks
C) water ice
D) methane and ammonia

Question 45

The Roche limit refers to a _____.

A) distance
B) force
C) speed
D) mass
E) density

Question 46

Compared the Galilean satellites, the larger satellites of Saturn have ____ average density.

A) lower
B) higher
C) about the same (as the Galilean satellites)

Question 47

Astronomers believe that the interior of Saturn's satellites is mostly ____.

A) ice
B) rock
C) hydrogen and helium
D) iron

Question 48

Spectral analysis of Titan's atmosphere indicates that it consists mainly of _____.

A) carbon dioxide
B) nitrogen
C) hydrogen and helium
D) oxygen

Question 49

What are the rings of Saturn made of?

A) chunks composed of water, ice, and carbon compounds
B) a huge sheet of ice
C) helium droplets
D) small fragments of dust

Question 50

What is the Roche limit?

A) the mass a planet must exceed to have satellites
B) the greatest distance from a planet that its satellites can orbit without falling into the Sun
C) the distance at which a moon held together by gravity may be broken apart by the planet's gravitational attraction
D) the distance astronomers can see into a planet's clouds

Question 51

What observational evidence suggests that Uranus was struck by a large planetesimal early in its formation?

A) Astronomers have identified a large impact crater on the surface of Uranus.
B) Uranus orbits the Sun in the opposite direction as the other planets.
C) Uranus' rotational axis is tipped over.
D) Uranus' moon Miranda shows a patchwork surface, suggesting a collision in its past.

Question 52

Which planet has the most extreme seasons?

A) Saturn
B) Jupiter
C) Uranus
D) Venus
E) Mercury

Question 53

What causes the blue appearance of the planet Uranus?

A) Uranus' atmosphere contains methane that strongly absorbs red colors from the sunlight.
B) The planet is covered by an ocean of water.
C) The planet is very cold.
D) The composition of Uranus' atmosphere is the same as Earth's atmosphere that makes the sky blue.

Question 54

Uranus completes an orbit around the Sun every 84 years and spins once every 17 hours, approximately. Which of the following could be observed from the planet Uranus?

A) season cycle of 84 years near the poles
B) one sunrise every 17 hours on the equator
C) days lasting several years near the pole tipped toward the Sun
D) nights lasting several years near the pole tipped away from the Sun
E) All of these choices are correct.

Question 55

Compared to Uranus, Neptune has a smaller diameter and more mass. What can we conclude from this comparison?

A) Neptune has higher average density than Uranus.
B) Uranus has higher average density than Neptune.
C) Uranus spins faster and therefore has a larger diameter.
D) The statement of the question is incorrect. Uranus is larger and has more mass than Neptune.

Question 56

What chemical compound is responsible for Uranus and Neptune's color?

A) complex organic compounds of sulfur and phosphorus
B) ammonia
C) methane
D) water

Question 57

Which of the Jovian planets is tilted by about 90 degrees to its orbital plane?

A) Jupiter
B) Saturn
C) Uranus
D) Neptune

Question 58

Why are Uranus and Neptune so blue?

A) Hydrogen appears blue when it reflects sunlight.
B) They reflect blue light from their moons.
C) Methane in their atmospheres absorb red light and reflect blue light.
D) The planets are very hot, so their blackbody spectra peak at blue wavelengths.

Question 59

What makes some astronomers think that Uranus was hit by a large body early in its history?

A) It goes around the Sun in a direction opposite to the other planets.
B) Its rotation axis has such a large tilt with respect to its orbit.
C) Its composition is so different from those of Neptune, Jupiter, and Saturn.
D) It has no moons.
E) All of these choices are correct.

Question 60

Of the outer planets, _________ has the smallest diameter.

A) Jupiter
B) Saturn
C) Uranus
D) Neptune
E) Pluto

Question 61

Which is the smallest of the outer planets?

A) Saturn
B) Jupiter
C) Uranus
D) Neptune

Question 62

What prompted astronomers to search for Neptune?

A) Uranus was not following the precise orbit predicted by Newtonian physics.
B) An explosive impact on Neptune from a colliding planetesimal caught the attention of astronomers.
C) Bode's rule predicted a planet at the location of Neptune.
D) Nothing prompted astronomers to look for Neptune, it was found by accident.

Question 63

Which of the following statements comparing Uranus and Neptune is correct?

A) Uranus has larger diameter and Neptune has more mass.
B) Uranus has larger diameter and more mass.
C) Neptune has larger diameter and smaller mass.
D) Neptune has larger diameter and more mass.

Question 64

Astronomers can determine the mass of Jupiter by the gravitational pull Jupiter exerts on its moons.

Question 65

Jupiter is more massive than all the other planets put together.

Question 66

Jupiter's core is hotter than Earth's core.

Question 67

The temperature of Jupiter's core is higher than the surface temperature of the Sun.

Question 68

The existence of auroral activity and lightning on Jupiter proves that Jupiter's atmosphere has the same chemical composition as Earth's atmosphere.

Question 69

Astronomers expect that due to friction and collisions, the particles in Jupiter's ring are slowing down and will eventually spiral into the planet.

Question 70

All of the Galilean moons are heavily cratered.

Question 71

Astronomers knew for some time that the rings of Saturn are thin, because they could see stars through the rings.

Question 72

Saturn's larger satellites have lower average density than the Galilean satellites of Jupiter; therefore, we can conclude that Saturn's satellites contain less rock and more ice than the Galilean satellites.

Question 73

Earth is probably the only Solar System object with a liquid ocean.

Question 74

The Cassini division seen in Saturn's rings is the result of a gravitational interaction from one of its moons on Saturn's rings.

Question 75

The geography of Uranus' moon Miranda suggests it may have been broken apart into pieces by an impact and then drawn back together out of order by gravity.

Question 76

Neptune's blue color comes from water vapor in its upper atmosphere.

Question 77

The highly inclined and backwards rotation of Triton supports the hypothesis that Triton is a Kuiper belt object captured by Neptune.

Question 78

All four of the Gas Giant Planets have ring systems.

Question 79

Juno discovered that the polar regions of Jupiter are far more chaotic than the belts and zones.