Exam 7: The Birth and Evolution of Planetary Systems

Earth-sized planets have been found using the _________ method(s).

Which of the following is NOT considered evidence of cataclysmic impacts in the history of our Solar System?

What is the difference between refractory and volatile materials?

Why have astronomers using the radial velocity method found more Jupiter-sized planets at a distance of 1 AU around other stars than Earth-sized planets?

Approximately how massive are most of the extra-solar planets that have been discovered using the Doppler effect, and which planet in our solar system is similar in mass? Why is the Doppler effect method more likely to find massive (rather than low-mass) planets and planets that are close to their stars?

Based on the figure shown below, which planet(s) is (are) most likely to have the largest fraction of its (their) mass made of highly volatile materials such as methane and ammonia?

Consider a small parcel of gas in the cloud out of which the Sun formed that was initially located in the accretion disk at a distance of 10 AU from the Sun and rotating around it with a speed of 10 km/s. If this parcel of gas eventually found its way to a distance of 1 AU from the Sun without changing its orbital angular momentum, then what would be its new rotation speed?