Exam #3 Friday November 17
This will be a multiple choice exam, similar in format to the other exams,
containing 50 questions. This is a closed-book exam. No notes, no books,
no calculators allowed.
Print out and bring the Gradescope bubblesheet scantron form (available
in .pdf format on Canvas). Make sure it is clean, unfolded, and uncrumpled.
Before the exam starts, neatly PRINT your name
(first name then last) on the Gradescope bubble form.
Also carefully write your RedID number very carefully.
If you omit your RedID, you will lose (at least) one point on the
exam.
Leave the Version bubble blank. Write "ASTR-101" in the "Section" box,
and "Exam 3" in the "Other" box.
Gradescope uses an artificial intelligence algorithm to read your name.
If it can't read your name, it may result in a delay in scoring your exam
(and a loss of points if you didn't follow instructions).
Material you will be responsible for knowing:
+ This exam covers all the material since the last exam.
+ All class lectures: The lectures are by far the most imporant
source of information for the exam.
+ The exam covers Chapters 6-15 in the textbook
+ Parts of Ch 16 The Sun will be on the exam too.
+ All the Mastering Astronomy assignments since the previous exam.
+ All reading and videos from any web pages that were assigned
this semester (like the NBC Learn video on exoplanets,
the SpaceWeather.com website,
the Mars Exploration Program website,
etc).
+ Previous important concepts like eclipses,
the speed of light, temperature, Kepler's laws, Wien's law, the
Doppler effect, spectroscopy, emission & absorption lines, the cause of
the seasons, etc.
+ Be sure you've completed any homework assignments.
+ Note: There will definitely be a question on the following:
stellar luminosity (the Stefan-Boltzmann law), the Doppler effect,
Kepler's 3rd law, and what causes seasons.
Suggestion: To see if you really understand the cause of seasons,
try to explain why some planets have seasons without using the words
"tilt" or "axis".
Be sure to know:
- conservation of angular momementum
- how planets and stars form
- what causes a runaway greenhouse effect
- why Pluto is not considered a planet anymore
- how craters are formed, and why do some planets or moons have many more
crater than others
- what are the general differences beween terrestrial and gas giant
planets?
- what are planetary rings, and how did they form?
- what is the "habitable zone"?
- what make the icy moons in the outer solar system so interesting?
- what are the three necessary (but not sufficient) requirements for
life as we know it?
- why some planets have a thick atmosphere and some do not
- how extrasolar planets are discovered
- what is the transit method for finding exoplanets?
- what is the Doppler method for finding exoplanets?
Some qestions to review:
Some example questions to help you study:
General hints for exam preparation:
- How many nanometers in a meter?
- How many nanometers in a micrometer?
- With respect to planet formation, what is differentiation?
- What is angular momentum and why is it important in planet formation?
- What is the best hypothesis for the origin of the Moon?
- Why is Venus so hot?
- What are the main characteristics of the Venusian geography?
- What is the atmosphere of Venus chiefly composed of?
- What is the greenhouse effect? What causes it on Venus?
- What is the atmosphere of Mars chiefly composed of?
- What is Olympus Mons? Valles Marineris?
- What is a runaway greenhouse effect?
- What gases are important greenhouse effect gases?
- What was the main objective of the Viking mission? What was the
result?
- What is a protoplanet?
- What are the different stages of terrestrial planet
geologic evolution?
- What are the different stages of terrestrial planet atmospheric
evolution?
- What makes Europa such a special moon?
- What is special about Titan?
- What is remarkable about Saturn's moon Enceladus?
- What are planetary rings made of?
- What is the Roche limit?
- What are Kuiper Belt Objects?
- What do astronomers mean when they say "ice"?
- What are the 4 Galilean satellites?
- What is "hydrostatic equilibrium"?
- What is the difference between a comet and an asteroid?
- What is a meteor? What is a meteorite?
- What is the Oort cloud?
- Why is the day side so hot on Mercury but the night side so cold?
- Where did most of the carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere go?
- Where did most of the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere come from?
- What mission searched for life on Mars?
- What are the "canals" on Mars?
- What were the main discoveries of NASA's Rover Missions?
- What is an asteroid? Where are they located?
- What is a comet made of?
- What is a meteoroid?
- What is "sublimation"?
- What is the difference between the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt?
- What is "Ceres"?
- What are the 3 types of meteorites?
- Why are there very few craters on Europa?
- Why are there so many volcanoes on Io?
- What is the "Great Red Spot"?
- Which planets have rings?
- What is "cryovolcanism"?
- What planet does Titan orbit?
- What planet does Callisto orbit?
- Which is larger, Ganymede or Mercury?
- Which is larger, Ganymede or Pluto?
- Which is larger, the Earth's Moon or Pluto?
- Which object in the solar system has seas and rivers and rain?
- What is a "shepherd moon"?
- What causes a meteor shower?
- What is a "NEO" (or NEA)?
- Very roughly, how many NEO's are there, as of 2023?
- What is NASA's DART Mission about? Why is it so important?
- What is an exoplanet (extrasolar planet)?
- How are extrasolar planets discovered?
- What is a "light curve"?
- What is a "radial velocity curve"?
- How many extrasolar planets are known? What are they like?
- What is a circumbinary planet?
The event that occurred 65 million years ago that is believed to have
resulted in large-scale global extinction was
A) a temporary runaway greenhouse effect
B) the loss of the ozone layer due to a meteor storm
C) an impact of an asteroid with the Earth
D) the explosion of a nearby star that flooded the Earth with UV radiation
Just like Ceres, Pluto was once called a planet. Today, Ceres is known
to be part of the asteroid belt. What is Pluto part of?
A) the Roche Belt
B) the Kuiper Belt
C) also the asteroid belt
D) the Van Allen belt
Just like Ceres, Pluto was once called a planet. Today, Pluto is now
classified as
A) a moon
B) an exoplanet
C) a protoplanet
D) a dwarf planet
Although Mars' atmosphere is very thin and Venus's atmosphere is very thick,
they are made mostly of the same gases. Why is Earth's so different?
A) humans have altered the atmosphere significantly since the start of the
Industrial revolution
B) water oceans effectively precipated carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere
C) the Earth is much more massive and was able to hold on to lighter gases
D) the collision that created the Earth's moon changed the atmosphere
Although there is a lot of evidence that Mars was much wetter in the past, it
is bone dry now. Why can't there be water on the surface of Mars today?
A) the temperature is too high
B) the temperature is too low
C) the atmospheric pressure is too high
D) the atmospheric pressure is too low
While asteroids consist mostly of rock and metal, comets are mostly made
of ____.
A) hydrogen
B) methane
C) ice with bits of rock
D) gas surrounding a metal core
Which of the following is/are NOT found on Mars?
A) Olympus Mons
B) polar ice caps
C) craters
D) cryovolcanism
Which of the following is the hottest (has the highest temperature)?
A) the dayside of Mercury
B) the surface of Venus
C) the Great Red spot
D) the core of the Earth
Which of the following planets is FALSE (NOT TRUE)?
A) Jupiter has rings
B) Saturn's moon Titan is larger than planet Mercury
C) geysers of hot sufuric water have been detected erupting on Venus
D) it rains on Titan, although the rain is not made of water
Which of the following objects suggest that large collisions played
an important role in the formation of the Solar System?
A) Eris and Ganymede
B) Miranda and the Moon
C) Europa and Titan
D) Sedna and Quaoar
The process of differentiation in terrestrial planets resulted in
A) denser material like iron "sinking" to the core of the planet
B) the loss of the hydrogen and helium atmospheres
C) the tilt of the rotation axis with respect to the orbital plane
D) the formation of maria
E) the growth of planetessimals into protoplanets
What is the primary component of the Venusian atmosphere?
A) nitrogen
B) carbon dioxide
C) hydrogen
D) sulfur dioxide
What is the primary component of Mars' atmosphere?
A) carbon dioxide
B) nitrogen
C) hydrogen
D) oxygen
What is the primary component of Earth's atmosphere?
A) oxygen
B) carbon dioxide
C) nitrogen
D) hydrogen
What is the primary component of Jupiter's atmosphere?
A) oxygen
B) carbon dioxide
C) nitrogen
D) hydrogen
On the surface of which planet does the temperature fluctuate between
a very cold 100 K (-173 C), and an extremely hot 700 K (+427 C)?
A) Mercury
B) Venus
C) Mars
D) Jupiter
Why did the Soviet Venera spacecraft only survive for a few minutes on
the surface of Venus?
A) They landed in very rugged terrain and were damaged when they
toppled over.
B) The corrosive acidic atmosphere and high temperatures severely
damaged them.
C) Dust storms blasted them until they were too damaged to function.
D) They landed too quickly (crashed) because there was insufficient
atmosphere for their parachutes to slow down their descent.
The balance between gravity and pressure inside a gaseous body is called
A) differentiation
B) hydrostatic equilibrium
C) cryovolcanism
D) Kirchhoff's law
Which of the following is a speed? In other words, which choice has
the proper units for a speed (or velocity)?
A) (0.10 nm / 656.3 nm) x 300,000
B) 656.4 nm - 656.3 nm
C) (-0.1 nm) x 300,000 km/s
D) (-0.1 nm / 656.3 nm)
E) (0.1 nm / 656.3 nm) x 300,000 km/s
If a rotating object is reduced in size by a factor of 2, what
happens to its rate of spin? [Hint: Think of the conservation of
angular momentum]
A) nothing
B) it spins twice as fast
C) it spins four times as fast
D) it spins slower
The NBC Learn "Science Behind the Scences" video about exoplanets
makes an analogy between an Earth-size planet transiting a Sun-like star
and __________.
A) an ant crawling across a car's headlight.
B) a moth flying across the Moon.
C) a comet crossing in front of Jupiter.
D) an epicycle spinning around the Sun.
- Make use of the Astronomy Help Room.
- Carefully read the "Chapter Summary" sections at the end of each chapter.
Thenre-read them again a few days later.
- Read and try to do ALL the questions at the end of each chapter
(though not the "Activities" questions).
- Go to the "Astronomy Help Room"!
- Read the material from on-line sources (those very helpful links on the
class web page) to clarify and reinforce ideas and concepts.
- Go to the "Astronomy Help Room"!!
- As always, nothing beats one-to-one tutoring during my office hours.