Planets/Sciences/Quiz

This is a false color image of Venus produced from a global radar view of the surface by the Magellan probe while radar imaging between 1990-1994. Credit: NASA.

Planetary sciences is the lecture about planets and planetary systems. It is included in the course on the principles of radiation astronomy.

You are free to take this quiz based on the lecture at any time.

Once you’ve read and studied the lecture itself, the links contained within the article/lecture, listed under See also, External links, and in the {{principles of radiation astronomy}} or {{radiation astronomy resources}} templates you should have adequate background to score 100 %.

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The quiz may be taken as many times as you wish to help improve your score and increase your knowledge.

Enjoy learning by doing!

Quiz

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1 Evidence that demonstrates that a model or idea versus a control group is feasible for planetary science is called a

.

2 True or False, The principal difference between a planet and a classical planet is "cultural interpretations of phenomena in the sky."

	TRUE
	FALSE

3 Which of the following is not a studied characteristic of a planet?

	an orbit around a star
	a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape
	nucleosynthesis
	has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit
	an initially fractionated elemental composition

4 "The spectrum of gaseous methane at 77 K in the 1.1-2.6 µm region [is] a benchmark for"

5 True or False, "Regarding the fixed stars, the Sun appears from Earth to revolve once a year along the ecliptic through the zodiac".

	TRUE
	FALSE

6 The Sun as a planet has what property?

	it's subject to lunar eclipses
	it passes once a year through the Big Dipper
	its interior structure has been studied with radar
	optical reflectance studies have found evidence of magnesium
	it has a surface temperature of ~700 K
	it is a wanderer

7 True or False, A control group may be used in planetary science to demonstrate no effect or a standard effect versus a novel effort applied to a treatment group.

	TRUE
	FALSE

8 Complete the text:

When imaged in visible light Venus appears like a gas rather than a planet.

9 True or False, When Venus is viewed in the ultraviolet, its color appears brownish.

	TRUE
	FALSE

10 When the Earth is viewed from space using X-ray astronomy what characteristic is readily observed?

	the magnetic north pole
	the Hudson Bay meteorite crater
	the South Atlantic Anomaly
	the Bermuda Triangle
	solar positron events
	electrons striking the ionosphere

11 With respect to the zodiacal light which group of middle-easterners worshipped it?

12 True or False, The libration of the Moon through at least one full moon and one new moon occurs over the period of one earth month.

	TRUE
	FALSE

13 Which of the following is not associated with tides on Earth?

	the Sun and the Moon
	Jupiter and Saturn
	Hudson Bay
	Bay of Fundy
	ice ages
	plate tectonics

14 True or False, Pure planetary science involves no doing apart from itself.

	TRUE
	FALSE

15 That part of outer space between planets and their star(s) is called?

16 True or False, The visible path of a meteoroid that has entered the Earth's atmosphere is called a meteorite.

	TRUE
	FALSE

17 Which of the following is not a natural phenomenon associated with the planet Mars?

	iron oxide
	the MESSENGER spacecraft
	water
	meteorites on Earth
	Olympus Mons
	climate

18 Complete the text:

The majority of known asteroids orbit the Sun between the orbits of and .

19 True or False, Mars may have suffered asteroid impacts.

	TRUE
	FALSE

20 Which of the following is not a phenomenon associated with Ceres?

	the smallest identified dwarf planet
	Ceres is spheroidal
	it is in orbit around the Sun
	it appears to be in hydrostatic equilibrium
	it has not cleared its neighborhood
	Ceres is one of the two natural satellites of Mars

21 True or False, The purpose of a treatment group in planetary science is to describe natural processes or phenomena for the first time relative to a control group.

	TRUE
	FALSE

22 A terrestrial planet is composed primarily of?

23 True or False, Callisto's surface is uniformly colored but is not uniform in craters.

	TRUE
	FALSE

24 Observations of Io have benefited greatly from what phenomenon?

	a dense, opaque atmosphere
	lightning
	extensive meteorite cratering
	a flattening out
	liquid hydrocarbon lakes
	the reflected light of allotropes and compounds of sulfur

25 The atmosphere of Titan which has a natural orange color is composed largely of?

26 True or False, The astronomer Clyde Tombaugh is the discoverer of Charon.

	TRUE
	FALSE

27 Which of the following is a phenomenon associated historically with Titania?

	Jupiter
	a large, trenchlike feature
	a relatively light surface
	few or no canyons and scarps
	very few impact craters
	helium ice

28 It is one of only three objects in the Solar System known to have a nitrogen-dominated atmosphere (the others are Earth and Saturn's giant moon, Titan).

29 True or False, Triton has the coldest surface known anywhere in the Solar System.

	TRUE
	FALSE

30 Which of the following is associated with Pluto?

	a dwarf planet
	a member of the Oort belt
	the northern polar region has brightened
	the southern polar region has darkened
	its overall redness has decreased
	extreme axial tilt

31 One of the substances discovered in the tail by spectroscopic analysis was the toxic gas

32 True or False, Pluto is in the Kuiper belt.

	TRUE
	FALSE

33 Which of the following is characteristic of the scattered disc

	a distant region of the solar system
	the dwarf planet Eris
	orbital eccentricites ranging up to 0.8
	inclinations as high as 50°
	perihelia greater than 30 AU
	Dysnomia

34 A cloud at nearly a quarter of the distance to Proxima Centauri is called the

35 True or False, The observations of planetary motion agree with computed orbits to the accuracy of the observations.

	TRUE
	FALSE

36 Which phenomenon are associated with the heliosphere?

	a region of space where the interstellar medium is blown away by the solar wind
	a bubble in space
	virtually all the material emanates from the Sun itself
	Voyager 2
	Voyager 1
	the termination shock

37 The point where the interstellar medium and solar wind pressures balance is called the

38 True or False, Neptune is a gas dwarf.

	TRUE
	FALSE

39 Phenomena associated with Kepler-36b?

	has a gaseous surface
	about 30% of its mass is iron
	about 4.5 times the mass of Earth
	has a rocky surface
	discovered by the Kepler spacecraft
	about 1.5 times as large as the Earth

40 The process of bombardment-induced surface alteration or damage is called.

41 True or False, A planet has been referred to as a moving light in the sky.

	TRUE
	FALSE

42 The Sun as a classical planet has which characteristics?

	depending on latitude the Sun passes overhead every day on Earth
	the size of its disc is very close to that of the Moon
	it appears to revolve along the ecliptic
	it is named after Sunday
	Helios is the lord of the Sun
	Helios is a son of Jupiter

43 On 19 May 1910, the Earth actually passed through the tail of what comet.

44 True or False, The XRS aboard the MESSENGER spacecraft maps mineral composition.

	TRUE
	FALSE

45 Venus is not known historically for which of the following?

	being in orbit around the Sun in 10,000 b2k
	imaged by the Magellan probe
	a gas dwarf when viewed in the ultraviolet
	almost as large as the Earth
	may have appeared comet-like in human memory
	having a high surface temperature

46 The first X-ray picture of the Earth was taken in March 1996 by what satellite?

47 True or False, Electrons in the Earth's magnetosphere are energized by neutral particles from the Sun

	TRUE
	FALSE

48 Ashen light is involved in which of the following?

	earthshine
	glow of the bright part of the lunar disk
	light from different parts of Earth are mixed together
	mimics the Earth as a single dot
	neutron astronomy
	X-ray astronomy

49 Being outside during fair weather in the daylight looking upward when the Sun is off to the East or West, you may see that the sky is what color.

50 True or False, In the exosphere, temperature rises from around 1,500°C to 10⁵ K.

	TRUE
	FALSE

51 Meteorites found on Earth may be from which of the following?

	Saturn
	Mercury
	the Moon
	the asteroid belt
	Jupiter
	Mars

52 Usually associated with clouds filling the sky, thunder and lightning, wind and what water based meteorites

53 True or False, The Earth's atmosphere is a relatively bright source of gamma rays.

	TRUE
	FALSE

54 Which geological phenomena are associated with Earth?

	lava-spewing volcanoes
	sulfur volcanoes
	plate tectonics
	water oceans
	liquid methane oceans
	silicate minerals

Hypotheses

Main resource: Hypotheses

1. The science of planetness concerns the effects on the astronomical object from its orbiting a star, or more than one star.

See also

• First astronomical X-ray source/Quiz
• Radiation astronomy/Quiz
• Radiation chemistry/Quiz
• Radiation geography/Quiz
• Radiation history/Quiz

External links

• NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database - NED
• The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System
• SIMBAD Astronomical Database

{{History of science resources}}

{{Radiation astronomy resources}}