Exam 22: Touring Our Solar System

Venus is usually described as a runaway greenhouse effect world,which is true in the sense that the atmosphere is mostly CO2.However,there is an important factor that relates to earth weather that is slightly different.The slow rotation of Venus produces a huge heat influx difference from the day to night side of the planet,which produces descending air on the night side and ascending air on the day side.Because the atmosphere is so dense,this means air rises to high elevations on the day side,and descends to surface on the night side.As a result,the night side of the planet is nearly as hot,or even hotter,than the day side.What would be the principal reason for this?

The surface features of ________ are known only through satellite radar mapping.

________,a moon orbiting Jupiter,has an unusually smooth,uncratered,ice-covered surface.

Which of the following characterizes the history of impacts on Earth as deduced by impact history on other terrestrial planets?

Compare Earth's surface processes to the surface processes on Saturn's moon Titan.

Saturn is famous for its rings.Which of the following Jovian planets does not have rings?

________ meteorites are thought to be analogous in composition to Earth's core.

________ has atmospheric pressures at its surface that are roughly comparable to those at Earth's surface.

Rayed craters on the Moon,such as Copernicus,formed during an intense,early period of bombardment prior to the formation of the lunar maria.

________ are small,extraterrestrial particles that glow brightly and burn up as they travel through Earth's atmosphere.

There is no evidence of water on Mars or the Earth's Moon.

A comet is visible because ________.

Jupiter's atmosphere displays spectacular cyclonic and anticyclonic storms,some persisting for long periods of time.How do these storms form?

Jupiter contains a number of small moons that are thought to be captured comets or material ejected by collisions with larger objects.What is the evidence for this theory?

Large impact craters and large,domal features (probably representing viscous lava flows)have been imaged on the surface of Venus.

________ are found both on Mars and Earth.

Several of the moons of Saturn,Uranus and Neptune display evidence of volcanic activity.What is the most common type of volcano on these moons?

Neptune and Uranus both appear bluish in sunlight whereas Jupiter and Saturn are multicolored.Why are Neptune and Uranus blue?

Which of these lunar features is the oldest?

The high surface temperatures of ________ have been attributed to the greenhouse effect.