Our Solar System
Practice Test
1.
Why does Jupiter have a banded appearance?
a.
it's rings
b.
the Great Red Spot causes the bands
c.
due to it's four moons
d.
flow patterns in its atmosphere
2.
Where are most asteroids located?
a.
orbiting all planets
b.
between Mars and Jupiter
c.
between Earth and Venus
d.
outside of Pluto's orbit
3.
Use the table to determine the smallest gas giant planet.
Planet
Orbital Radius, a (AU)
Planetary Radius, r (km)
Planetary Mass, m (10
24
kg)
Mercury
0.387
2439.7
0.3302
Venus
0.723
6051.8
4.8685
Earth
1.0
6378.1
5.9736
Mars
1.524
3397
0.64185
Jupiter
5.204
71 492
1898.6
Saturn
9.582
60 268
568.46
Uranus
19.201
25 559
86.832
Neptune
30.047
24 764
102.43
Pluto
39.236
1195
0.0125
a.
Neptune
b.
Uranus
c.
Saturn
d.
Jupiter
4.
The wobble in Earth's axis is called __________.
a.
eccentricity
b.
precession
c.
tilt
d.
seasons
5.
What characteristics do the gas giants have in common?
a.
are very large, 15 to 300 times the mass of Earth
b.
ring systems and moons
c.
all of the answers are correct
d.
composed of lightweight elements such as hydrogen and helium
6.
What is the composition of Saturn's atmosphere?
a.
sulfuric acid and hydrogen
b.
helium and oxygen
c.
hydrogen and helium
d.
hydrogen, helium, and ammonia ice
7.
Which planets in the figure have solid surfaces?
a.
5-8
b.
1-4 and 9
c.
9
d.
1-4
8.
The eccentricity of a perfect circle is __________ and a very elongated ellipse is __________.
a.
one, zero
b.
nearly zero, one
c.
zero, nearly one
d.
zero, one
9.
The inner four planets of our solar system are called the __________ planets and the next four are called the __________ planets.
a.
hard, soft
b.
terrestrial, gas giant
c.
gas giant, terrestrial
d.
rocky, gas-like
10.
What explains why the Sun governs the motion of all planets in our solar system?
a.
retrograde motion of planets
b.
the law of universal gravitation
c.
Kepler's third law
d.
telescopic observations of the planets
11.
The objects that eventually formed planets by colliding and merging are called __________.
a.
asteroids
b.
stars
c.
planetesimals
d.
solar nebula
12.
What is the Sun-centered model of our solar system called?
a.
heliocentric
b.
epicycle
c.
eccentric
d.
geocentric
13.
What causes Uranus' blue appearance?
a.
the ammonia ice droplets
b.
the vast oceans
c.
the methane in its atmosphere
d.
surfuric acid in its atmosphere
14.
The __________ of a planet is its apparent backwards movement as seen from Earth's sky.
a.
perihelion
b.
epicycle
c.
retrograde motion
d.
eccentricity
15.
Mercury's extremely slow spin causes only __________ days to pass in __________ of Mercury's years.
a.
one hundred, one
b.
twenty-four, one
c.
three, two
d.
one, two hundred
16.
What are the three labeled parts of the comet shown in the figure?
a.
corona, nucleus, end
b.
head, cone, tail
c.
ice core, cloud, fan
d.
coma, nucleus, tail
17.
Why can't astronomers directly observe the surface of Venus without landing probes on the surface?
a.
Venus has a high albedo.
b.
The surface is covered by thick ice sheets.
c.
The surface is covered by thick clouds.
d.
Venus has a clockwise spin.
18.
What shape describes the orbits of the planets?
a.
an ellipse
b.
a circle
c.
a sphere
d.
a line
19.
Comets are bodies that are __________ that orbit __________.
a.
icy, each planet
b.
larger than Earth, Earth
c.
ice and rock, the Sun
d.
helium gas, the Sun
