Exam 9: Worlds of Gas and Liquidthe Giant Planets

You observe Neptune as it occults a background star when the relative velocity between Neptune and the Earth is 30 km/s,and the star crosses through the middle of the planet and disappears for 27.6 minutes.What is Neptune's diameter?

The giant planets are made primarily of carbon dioxide and methane.

When charged particles oscillate around magnetic field lines of a planet they emit radiation in the microwave region of the spectrum.

The Great Red Spot,Jupiter's most prominent storm system,has a diameter that is __________ times the Earth's diameter.

Calculate Jupiter's mass (in Earth masses)based on its gravitational pull on its moon,Io,using Newton's version of Kepler's third law: .In order to do so,you will need the following information: Io's ;Io's semimajor ;the mass of the ;the (also, ).

Uranus and Neptune are called ice giants because they have deep salty oceans that give rise to their strong magnetic fields.

The composition of the giant planets is consistent with solar abundance,but not with the composition of the universe as a whole.

If you could find a large enough ocean,which one of these planets would float in it?

__________ has the most extreme seasons of any planet in the Solar System.

Why are winds on the giant planets far faster than those on Earth?

How does the discovery of Neptune relate to the discovery of extrasolar planets?

The fact that Jupiter's radius is contracting at a rate of 1 mm/year results in

The inner core of each of the giant planets is made up of rocky material that is __________ times the mass of the Earth.

The fastest zonal winds are found on

The strongest magnetic fields in the Solar System are found on which planet?

Suppose you attach a weight to one end of a spring and then hold the other end of the spring and spin it above your head.The faster you spin the spring,the farther away the weight will move from your hand.This example illustrates

We refer to some of the inner regions of Jupiter and Saturn as metallic hydrogen because they

Despite the high temperatures deep in the interior of giant planets,their cores remain liquid because

Jupiter is approximately 30 times more massive than the Earth.

The colors of the cloud bands on Jupiter and Saturn are due primarily to differences in their