Astronomy A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE EIGHTH

Question 1 Mercury’s surface most resembles which of these? a) b) c) d) e) The Moon’s far side Venus’s polar regions Earth’s deserts The Moon’s near side Mars’s deserts Explanation: Both Mercury’s and the Moon’s far side, are heavily cratered. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 2 Mercury is very hard to observe from Earth because a) it always appears only half lit. b) it is never more than 28º from the Sun. c) its elliptical orbit causes it to change speed unpredictably. d) its surface reflects too little sunlight. e) its surface does not allow radar to bounce back to Earth. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 2 Mercury is very hard to observe from Earth because a) it always appears only half lit. b) it is never more than 28º from the Sun. c) its elliptical orbit causes it to change speed unpredictably. d) its surface reflects too little sunlight. e) its surface does not allow radar to bounce back to Earth. Explanation: Mercury’s inner orbit keeps it close to the Sun, visible only for an hour or two before sunrise or after sunset. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 3 How do the atmospheres of the Moon and Mercury compare? a) Mercury’s is more dense, with carbon dioxide. b) They are similar, only 1% as dense as ours. c) The cooler Moon retains a thicker nitrogen atmosphere. d) As no spacecraft has yet landed there, no information exists about Mercury’s. e) Neither body has a permanent atmosphere. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 3 How do the atmospheres of the Moon and Mercury compare? a) Mercury’s is more dense, with carbon dioxide. b) They are similar, only 1% as dense as ours. c) The cooler Moon retains a thicker nitrogen atmosphere. d) As no spacecraft has yet landed there, no information exists about Mercury’s. e) Neither body has a permanent atmosphere. Explanation: The lack of an atmosphere acting as a protective layer contributes to their extremely cratered surfaces. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 4 Mercury has extreme high and low temperatures between night and day because a) b) c) d) it is so close to the Sun. its surface rocks don’t retain heat. it spins too fast to cool down. Mercury’s axis has no tilt; its equator receives direct sunlight. e) it has no atmosphere to moderate temperatures over the globe. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 4 Mercury has extreme high and low temperatures between night and day because a) b) c) d) it is so close to the Sun. its surface rocks don’t retain heat. it spins too fast to cool down. Mercury’s axis has no tilt; its equator receives direct sunlight. e) it has no atmosphere to moderate temperatures over the globe. Explanation: Mercury’s low mass and very high sunlit surface temperature of 700 K explain why it has no atmosphere. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 5 Which statement about the rotations of Mercury and the Moon is FALSE? a) Our Moon keeps the same side toward us. b) The rotation period of Mercury is 59 Earth days. c) Like our Moon, Mercury does not rotate at all, keeping the same side facing the Sun. d) On Mercury, 3 “days” equals 2 “years. ” e) On the Moon, each “day” lasts about 15 Earth days of constant sunlight. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 5 Which statement about the rotations of Mercury and the Moon is FALSE? a) Our Moon keeps the same side toward us. b) The rotation period of Mercury is 59 Earth days. c) Like our Moon, Mercury does not rotate at all, keeping the same side facing the Sun. d) On Mercury, 3 “days” equals 2 “years. ” e) On the Moon, each “day” lasts about 15 Earth days of constant sunlight. Explanation: Both Mercury and the Moon rotate slowly and show a “spin-lock” created by tidal forces from nearby large objects. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 6 Which of the following inner solar system bodies has the densest atmosphere? a) b) c) d) e) Mercury Venus Earth Moon Mars Explanation: Venus’s atmosphere has a pressure about 90 times greater than Earth’s. Many of its surface features are affected by this immense pressure. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 7 The greenhouse effect on Venus is due to _____ in its atmosphere. a) b) c) d) e) nitrogen hydrogen carbon dioxide oxygen sulfuric acid Explanation: Venus’s atmosphere is over 96% CO 2, resulting in a surface temperature exceeding 900ºF. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 8 Venus’s surface shows all of the following EXCEPT a) b) c) d) many impact craters of all sizes. shield volcanoes. a continent-sized plateau. huge circular volcanic coronae. e) lava domes. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 8 Venus’s surface shows all of the following EXCEPT a) b) c) d) many impact craters of all sizes. shield volcanoes. a continent-sized plateau. huge circular volcanic coronae. e) lava domes. Explanation: Venus’s thick atmosphere shields the planet from smaller meteor impacts. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 9 What effect does the greenhouse effect have on the surface environment of Venus? a) Little or no effect b) About the same as on Earth c) To reduce the surface temperature by about 30ºC d) To raise the surface temperature by hundreds of degrees Celsius e) To cause the surface temperature of Venus to become hotter than the Sun © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 9 What effect does the greenhouse effect have on the surface environment of Venus? a) Little or no effect b) About the same as on Earth c) To reduce the surface temperature by about 30ºC d) To raise the surface temperature by hundreds of degrees Celsius e) To cause the surface temperature of Venus to become hotter than the Sun Explanation: Even though Venus is farther from the Sun than Mercury, it actually has a higher surface temperature because of the greenhouse effect. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 10 Which of the following inner solar system bodies has the largest volcanoes? a) b) c) d) e) Mercury Venus Earth Mars Moon Explanation: Mars’s largest volcano, Olympus Mons, rises more than 25 km (75, 000 ft) above the surrounding plains. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 11 Venus and Mars probably evolved differently from Earth because they a) b) c) d) e) are slightly bigger than Earth. are more massive than Earth. have thicker atmospheres than Earth. formed sooner than Earth. orbit at different distances from the Sun. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 12 The weakness of the magnetic field of Mars is because a) b) c) d) e) it spins much slower than Earth does. its core may no longer be molten. its core contains less iron than Earth. Both (b) and (c) are probable. All of the above are correct. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 12 The weakness of the magnetic field of Mars is because a) b) c) d) e) it spins much slower than Earth does. its core may no longer be molten. its core contains less iron than Earth. Both (b) and (c) are probable. All of the above are correct. Explanation: Mars is smaller, and would have cooled more quickly. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 13 What was the most likely source of the water that formed the huge outflow channels of Mars? a) Rainfall b) Catastrophic but rare flooding c) Annual melting of the seasonal ice caps d) Large comets that struck Mars e) A collision with one of Jupiter’s frozen moons © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.

Question 13 What was the most likely source of the water that formed the huge outflow channels of Mars? a) Rainfall b) Catastrophic but rare flooding c) Annual melting of the seasonal ice caps d) Large comets that struck Mars e) A collision with one of Jupiter’s frozen moons Explanation: Flooding on Mars appears to have occurred about 3 billion years ago. © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.