ASP Solar System Astronomy 3

Question 1

What are the four terrestrial planets in our solar system?

Accepted Answer

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

Answer

Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter

Answer

Mercury, Earth, Mars, Saturn

Answer

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Jupiter

Question 2

What is the difference between a meteor, meteoroid, and meteorite?

Accepted Answer

Meteoroid is in space, meteor is in Earth's atmosphere, meteorite reaches the ground

Answer

They are three different types of asteroids

Answer

Meteors are larger than meteoroids

Answer

Meteorites are objects that miss Earth

Question 3

What is the term for the point in a planet's orbit when it is closest to the Sun?

Accepted Answer

Perihelion

Answer

Aphelion

Answer

Apogee

Answer

Perigee

Question 4

Which gas gives Neptune and Uranus their blue-green color?

Accepted Answer

Methane

Answer

Hydrogen sulfide

Answer

Ammonia

Answer

Ozone

Question 5

What is the Kuiper Belt?

Accepted Answer

A region of icy bodies beyond Neptune's orbit

Answer

A ring of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter

Answer

A cloud of comets surrounding the solar system

Answer

The zone of stable Trojan asteroids near Jupiter

Question 6

What is the Jovian moon Europa significant for in astrobiology?

Accepted Answer

It may harbor a liquid water ocean beneath its icy surface

Answer

It has a thick oxygen atmosphere

Answer

It has active volcanoes like Io

Answer

It has the largest known canyon in the solar system