Exam 12: Dwarf Planets and Small Solar System Bodies

Which group of meteorites represents the conditions in the earliest stages of the formation of the Solar System?

Suppose we discover a comet whose orbit was very highly eccentric,retrograde,had a very large tilt with respect to the ecliptic plane,and a period of 2,000 years.Where is the most likely place of origin for this comet?

Most comets originate

Why does a comet usually have two tails,one which is straight and one that is curved? What materials compose each tail and why do they have different shapes?

Give examples of a C-type asteroid and an S-type asteroid that have been observed by spacecraft.What did we learn about each type?

The dwarf planet Eris has a moon called Dysomia,which is much smaller in mass than Eris.If Dysomia has an orbital period of 16 days and orbits Eris at a distance of 40,000 km,then what is the mass of Eris?

What must an asteroid have in order for us to determine its mass?

Pluto is the largest member of the Kuiper Belt.

Which group of meteoroids is more likely to have compositions indicative of those in the early Solar System?

Do icy cometary nuclei melt and move from solid to liquid phase as they are warmed by the radiation from the Sun?

Although asteroids are small individually,when combined they make up a significant fraction of the total mass of the planets.

Which of the following does NOT describe comets in the Oort Cloud?

Describe two modern-day events when comets or asteroids collided with a planet.Cite the planet,give the approximate year when the collision occurred,and describe the major consequences of the collision.

Cometary nuclei are most likely

Pluto has a density that is roughly equal to that of

Cometary nuclei provide evidence that the ingredients necessary for the creation of life were present in the early solar nebula.

Let's say that you discovered a comet in the outer Solar System that had an average albedo of 0.6.If its surface was composed of a mixture of organic substances,which had an albedo of 0,and ice,which had an albedo of 1.0,then what percent of its surface is covered by organic substances?

If you can model the mass in Comet Halley as a sphere 5 km in radius,what is its density if it contains of mass? How does that density compare to that of water ?

Antarctica is the best hunting ground for meteorites for all of the following reasons EXCEPT

Which of following is FALSE?