Question 1

What is Eris?

Accepted Answer

A) the largest known asteroid 
B) a moon of Pluto 
C) an extrasolar planet ejected by another solar system and captured by ours 
D) an icy object that orbits in the Kuiper belt and is larger than Pluto 
A) the largest known asteroid 
B) a moon of Pluto 
C) an extrasolar planet ejected by another solar system and captured by ours 
D) an icy object that orbits in the Kuiper belt and is larger than Pluto

Question 2

What do we call a small piece of solar system debris found on Earth?

Accepted Answer

A) solar system debris 
B) cometary fragment 
C) meteor 
D) meteorite 
E) meteoroid 
A) solar system debris 
B) cometary fragment 
C) meteor 
D) meteorite 
E) meteoroid

Question 3

The combined mass of all the asteroids in the asteroid belt is

Accepted Answer

A) less than that of any terrestrial planet. 
B) about the same as that of Earth. 
C) about twice that of Earth. 
D) about the same as that of Jupiter. 
E) more than that of all the planets combined. 
A) less than that of any terrestrial planet. 
B) about the same as that of Earth. 
C) about twice that of Earth. 
D) about the same as that of Jupiter. 
E) more than that of all the planets combined.

Question 4

Suppose you find a meteorite made almost entirely of metal.According to current science,which of the following statements must be true?

Accepted Answer

A) Radiometric dating will show the age of your meteorite to date to the formation of our solar system. 
B) Your meteorite was blasted off the surface of Mars by an impact. 
C) Your meteorite is a fragment of an object from the Kuiper belt. 
D) Your meteorite is a fragment from the core of a large asteroid that shattered in a collision. 
A) Radiometric dating will show the age of your meteorite to date to the formation of our solar system. 
B) Your meteorite was blasted off the surface of Mars by an impact. 
C) Your meteorite is a fragment of an object from the Kuiper belt. 
D) Your meteorite is a fragment from the core of a large asteroid that shattered in a collision.

Question 5

Briefly describe how an impact could lead to a mass extinction.

Accepted Answer

A large impact could send huge quantitie

Question 6

Why would anyone be interested in mining material from an asteroid?

Accepted Answer

The iron-rich asteroids,especi

Question 7

Which of the following does not lend support to the idea that Pluto is a Kuiper-belt object?

Accepted Answer

A) Pluto has a cometlike composition and density. 
B) Pluto is regarded by many to be a planet. 
C) Some asteroids have their own moons. 
D) Pluto has a more eccentric orbit than other planets. 
E) Some known Kuiper-belt objects are hundreds of kilometers across. 
A) Pluto has a cometlike composition and density. 
B) Pluto is regarded by many to be a planet. 
C) Some asteroids have their own moons. 
D) Pluto has a more eccentric orbit than other planets. 
E) Some known Kuiper-belt objects are hundreds of kilometers across.

Question 8

Comets with extremely elliptical orbits,like comets Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp,

Accepted Answer

A) come from the asteroid belt. 
B) come from the Kuiper belt. 
C) come from the Oort cloud. 
D) are Trojan comets. 
E) are captured by Jupiter. 
A) come from the asteroid belt. 
B) come from the Kuiper belt. 
C) come from the Oort cloud. 
D) are Trojan comets. 
E) are captured by Jupiter.

Question 9

How can we determine the reflectivity of an asteroid?

Accepted Answer

A) by taking a photograph of it 
B) by measuring its mass and radius 
C) by comparing its brightness in visible light to its brightness in infrared light 
D) by where it is located in the asteroid belt 
A) by taking a photograph of it 
B) by measuring its mass and radius 
C) by comparing its brightness in visible light to its brightness in infrared light 
D) by where it is located in the asteroid belt

Question 10

If we could put all the asteroids together,their total mass would be

Accepted Answer

A) much less than the mass of any terrestrial planet. 
B) about the mass of Mercury. 
C) about the mass of Earth. 
D) greater than the mass of Earth but less than the mass of Jupiter. 
A) much less than the mass of any terrestrial planet. 
B) about the mass of Mercury. 
C) about the mass of Earth. 
D) greater than the mass of Earth but less than the mass of Jupiter.

Question 11

A spacecraft traveling through the asteroid belt has a high risk of being destroyed through a collision.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 12

The asteroid belt is located

Accepted Answer

A) between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. 
B) between the orbits of Earth and Mars. 
C) between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. 
D) beyond the orbit of Neptune. 
A) between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. 
B) between the orbits of Earth and Mars. 
C) between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. 
D) beyond the orbit of Neptune.

Question 13

What is the typical size of comets that enter the inner solar system?

Accepted Answer

A) 1 km 
B) 10 km 
C) 100 km 
D) 1000 km 
E) Comet sizes are unknown because their tails obscure the nucleus. 
A) 1 km 
B) 10 km 
C) 100 km 
D) 1000 km 
E) Comet sizes are unknown because their tails obscure the nucleus.

Question 14

Why was the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact so important to astronomers?

Accepted Answer

A) It dredged up material that gave us our first direct look at Jupiter's interior composition. 
B) It wiped out the dinosaurs. 
C) It was the first direct proof that impacts really occur. 
D) It confirmed our theory of solar system formation. 
E) It was the first event in modern history that was brighter than the full moon in the sky. 
A) It dredged up material that gave us our first direct look at Jupiter's interior composition. 
B) It wiped out the dinosaurs. 
C) It was the first direct proof that impacts really occur. 
D) It confirmed our theory of solar system formation. 
E) It was the first event in modern history that was brighter than the full moon in the sky.

Question 15

A comet that has an orbit around the Sun inclined to the ecliptic plane by 65° probably originated in the Kuiper belt.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 16

What do we mean by a mass extinction?

Accepted Answer

A) the extinction of large animals,such as dinosaurs 
B) the extinction of a large fraction of the world's plant and animal species in a relatively short period of time 
C) an extinction caused by the impact of an asteroid or comet 
D) the extinction of any species of plant or animal that has mass 
A) the extinction of large animals,such as dinosaurs 
B) the extinction of a large fraction of the world's plant and animal species in a relatively short period of time 
C) an extinction caused by the impact of an asteroid or comet 
D) the extinction of any species of plant or animal that has mass

Question 17

The word "comet" comes from the Greek word for which of the following?

Accepted Answer

A) bright 
B) hair 
C) fuzzy 
D) tail 
A) bright 
B) hair 
C) fuzzy 
D) tail

Question 18

If we know the size of an asteroid,we can determine its density by

Accepted Answer

A) comparing its reflectivity to the amount of light it reflects. 
B) looking for brightness variations as it rotates. 
C) determining its mass from its gravitational pull on a spacecraft,satellite,or planet. 
D) radar mapping. 
E) spectroscopic imaging. 
A) comparing its reflectivity to the amount of light it reflects. 
B) looking for brightness variations as it rotates. 
C) determining its mass from its gravitational pull on a spacecraft,satellite,or planet. 
D) radar mapping. 
E) spectroscopic imaging.

Question 19

In science fiction movies,spaceships are often shown dodging through large numbers of closely spaced,boulder-size objects.Which of the following real things in our solar system would look most like such science fiction dangers?

Accepted Answer

A) the rings of Saturn 
B) the asteroid belt 
C) the atmosphere of Jupiter 
D) the Oort cloud 
A) the rings of Saturn 
B) the asteroid belt 
C) the atmosphere of Jupiter 
D) the Oort cloud

Question 20

When we see a meteor shower,it means that

Accepted Answer

A) the solar wind is unusually strong. 
B) an Earth-approaching asteroid has recently come very close to our planet. 
C) you should duck and run for cover to avoid being blasted on the head by a rock from space. 
D) Earth is crossing the orbit of a comet. 
A) the solar wind is unusually strong. 
B) an Earth-approaching asteroid has recently come very close to our planet. 
C) you should duck and run for cover to avoid being blasted on the head by a rock from space. 
D) Earth is crossing the orbit of a comet.

Exam 12: Asteroids, Comets, and Dwarf Planets: Their Nature, Orbits, and Impacts

What is Eris?

What do we call a small piece of solar system debris found on Earth?

The combined mass of all the asteroids in the asteroid belt is

Suppose you find a meteorite made almost entirely of metal.According to current science,which of the following statements must be true?

Briefly describe how an impact could lead to a mass extinction.

Why would anyone be interested in mining material from an asteroid?

Which of the following does not lend support to the idea that Pluto is a Kuiper-belt object?

Comets with extremely elliptical orbits,like comets Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp,

How can we determine the reflectivity of an asteroid?

If we could put all the asteroids together,their total mass would be

A spacecraft traveling through the asteroid belt has a high risk of being destroyed through a collision.

The asteroid belt is located

What is the typical size of comets that enter the inner solar system?

Why was the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact so important to astronomers?

A comet that has an orbit around the Sun inclined to the ecliptic plane by 65° probably originated in the Kuiper belt.

What do we mean by a mass extinction?

The word "comet" comes from the Greek word for which of the following?

If we know the size of an asteroid,we can determine its density by

In science fiction movies,spaceships are often shown dodging through large numbers of closely spaced,boulder-size objects.Which of the following real things in our solar system would look most like such science fiction dangers?

When we see a meteor shower,it means that

A Modern View of the Universe

Discovering the Universe for Yourself

The Science of Astronomy

Making Sense of the Universe: Understanding Motion, Energy, and Gravity

Light and Matter: Reading Messages from the Cosmos

Telescopes: Portals of Discovery

Our Planetary System

Formation of the Solar System

Planetary Geology: Earth and the Other Terrestrial Worlds

Planetary Atmospheres: Earth and the Other Terrestrial Worlds

Jovian Planet Systems

Other Planetary Systems: The New Science of Distant Worlds

Our Star

Surveying the Stars

Star Birth

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The Bizarre Stellar Graveyard

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Galaxies and the Foundations of Modern Cosmology

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The Birth of the Universe

Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Fate of the Universe

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