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

Which of the following have an icy composition?

Describe two ways of detecting extrasolar planets.

Suppose an extrasolar planet's orbit around its star is edge- on to our line of sight. How is it detected, and what information can be obtained in this case?

In terms of composition,

What evidence is there that Earth has been struck by large meteorites?

Which of these bodies are most likely to break up over time?

How do most of the new solar systems we've discovered compare to our own?

Most of the planets found orbiting other stars are similar to Jupiter, but in temperature.

Name three properties of the solar nebula still seen in planet orbits.

A body in orbit about a planet is a(n) .

The Oort Cloud lies closer to the Sun than the Kuiper Belt.

Comet orbits all have _ eccentricity compared to the asteroids.

What observation of extrasolar planetary systems provides strong confirmation of the condensation theory?

Describe the orbits of the Trojan asteroids.

How does the Solar Nebula theory explain the formation and orbital properties of planets?

Why don't we see very many low- mass exoplanets?

The Belt bodies orbit beyond Neptune, but like the planets stay close to the ecliptic plane and in fairly circular orbits.

A rocky body between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter is a(n)

Exoplanets having masses between 2 and 10 Earth masses are called .

The NEAR spacecraft actually landed on the asteroid in February 2001.