Exam# 2 Review. Exam #2 is Wednesday November 8th at 10:40 AM in room FLG-280

Transcription

1 Exam# 2 Review Exam #2 is Wednesday November 8th at 10:40 AM in room FLG-280 Bring Gator 1 ID card Bring pencil #2 with eraser No use of calculator or any electronic device during the exam We provide the scantrons Equations will be projected on the screen You can use the exam pages as scrap paper if you need to do calculations. The exam has 30 questions, 5 possible answers, only one valid answer. Duration: 50 minutes If you arrive after the first person turn in the exam, you will not be able to take the exam. Keep the first page of the exam. It has the exam number. Scores will be posted using the exam number The exam will include material from Ch 4, Ch 6, Ch 7 and Ch 8

2 Chapter 6 The Terrestrial Planets Main parameters of the four terrestrial planets: Relative values (respect to Earth) of diameter, mass, density, rotational period, distance from Sun Order of terrestrial planets in increasing distance from the Sun Method used to determine the rotational period of Mercury and Venus Mercury: Rotational period, tilt of rotational axis, atmosphere, satellites Characteristics of the surface of Mercury: scarps or cliff, impact craters, absence of plate tectonics Venus, tilt of rotational axis: Axis almost perpendicular to orbital plane Rotational period of Venus Venus atmospheric composition, composition of clouds, atmospheric density compared to Earth Surface features in Venus: Volcanoes, lava flow, absence of plate tectonics What causes the high temperature in Venus atmosphere? Mars atmospheric composition, density compared to Earth Surface features on Mars, volcanoes, evidence of running water in the past. Evidence of running water at the present Outflow and runoff channels Evidence of frozen water under the surface Gullies. Salty water (or carbon dioxide sublimating?) running down the slopes of Martian craters Recent discoveries of the Curiosity rover Possibility of life or fossil life Search for microscopic life on the surface of Mars. The Viking experiment Analysis of a Martian meteorite: Search for fossil life

3 Chapter 6 The Terrestrial Planets Regarding size (diameter) how is the Earth compared with Venus, Mars and Mercury? What is the problem for determining the rotational period of Mercury and Venus? How is the rotational period determined? How dense is Venus atmosphere compared to Earth? Atmospheric pressure compared to Earth? What is the main gas in the atmosphere of Venus? Clouds in Venus atmosphere: What is the composition of the clouds? What are the main difference between terrestrial planets and Jovian planets? Size, mass, density, distance from the Sun, number of moons or satellite Which of the terrestrial planets does not have an atmosphere? What are the similarities between Mars and Earth regarding rotational period, inclination of rotational axis? How is the density of the atmosphere of Mars compared to Earth? Atmospheric pressure? What is the main gas in the atmosphere of Mars? Main differences between the north and south hemisphere in Mars Mars is called the Red planet. What gives the red color to the surface of Mars? Origin of Valles Marineris Which planet has the largest volcanoes in the solar system? Name one. What is the evidence of flow of liquid water on Mars in the past? Runoff and outflow channels Any recent discovery of water ice a few centimeter under the surface of Mars? Phoenix lander Recent discovery of salty water (or chunks of carbon dioxide) running down the slopes of craters: Gullies Recent discoveries of Curiosity mission: Equivalent of a dry river bed containing smooth surface and rounded rocks and pebbles. Layers of flat rocks

4 Chapter 6 The Terrestrial Planets Did the Viking experiment found clear evidence of microscopic life? What are the arguments in favor or arguments to reject the evidence? Did the analysis or the Martian meteorite gave clear evidence of microscopic fossil life? What are the arguments to support and the arguments to reject the possible presence of fossil life What is a splosh crater? What causes the unusual shapes of the slopes in splosh craters? Venus axial tilt. What is unusual regarding the axial tilt/ Venus rotational period. What is unusual regarding the rotational period?

5 Chapter 7 The Jovian Planets Topics Jovian planets: Relative (approximate) values respect to the Earth (Or the other terrestrial planets) of the mass, diameter, density, rotational period, distance to the Sun The main composition of the Jovian planets: light elements (H and He) Presence of rings Presence of many satellites (or moons) in Jovian planets The four more interesting satellites of the Jovian planets: Io, Europa, Titan and Triton Two main gasses present in the atmosphere of the Jovian planets Features of the atmosphere of the Jovian planets Zones and belts on Jupiter upper atmosphere. The Great Red Spot Presence of metallic hydrogen in the interior of Jupiter and Saturn. The two parameter that may determine the presence of magnetic field in a planet The magnetic field of the Jovian planets. The origin of the low radio frequency emitted by Jupiter and all the Jovian planets The color of the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune

6 Chapter 7 The Jovian Planets Which of the Jovian planets have rings? Which is the less dense of the Jovian planets? What is its density? What is the Great Red spot? Where is it located in the disk of the planet? How is the mass of Jupiter compared to the mass of the other planets Which of the Jovian planets have the strongest magnetic field? What can be find in the interior of Jupiter and Saturn that may explain why they have a strong magnetic field? How that affect the presence of magnetic field in Jupiter and Saturn? Which of the Jovian planet emit the strongest low radio frequency radio emission, easily detectable from low frequency ground-based radio telescopes? What is the proccess that produce the strong low frequency emission from Jupiter? How can we explain the lower density of Helium in the atmosphere of Saturn compared to Jupiter? How is that related to the generation of internal heat in Saturn? What can explain the internal heat produced in Jupiter? Based on the expected atmospheric temperature of Jupiter (due to absorption of solar energy) and the actual measurement of atmospheric temperature, is it possible to calculate the ratio of energy being generated respect to the energy being absorbed? How mush is the ratio? What is the tilt angle of Uranus rotational axis? Does Uranus have seasons? What explains the blue color in the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune? Have we ever witnesses the collision of the comet with a Jovian planet?

7 Chapter 8 Satellites, rings, plutoids Topics and concepts The shape of the orbit of Io,Europa and Ganymede Orbital resonance between the orbital periods of these Galilean satellites The mechanism that generate heat that powers the volcanoes in Io Differential gravitational force: Tidal energy dissipation. Europa: ocean of liquid water under the frozen surface Titan permanent atmosphere. Can we see directly (visual) the surface of Titan? What is interesting regarding the composition of the atmosphere of Titan: 80% N, 3% methane The presence of hydrocarbons such as ethane, acetylene, propane and organic molecules in the atmosphere and surface of Titan. The fluid found in the lakes on the surface of Titan: Methane Interesting feature in Triton: geysers of nitrogen gas Rings in the Jovian planets Mechanism for the formation of rings in the Jovian planets Differential gravitational attraction and tidal forces near the large planets The Roche limit Pluto and the Kuiper belts objects Recent images of Pluto taken by the New Horizon spacecraft. The location of the Kuiper belt : Distance and the objects located in the belt. The Oort cloud: Location, distance and composition How do we explain the presence of active volcanoes in Io What is the mechanism that generate the energy that produce Io s volcanic activity How do we explain the presence of an ocean of liquid water under the frozen surface of Europa? What causes the elliptical orbit of Io, Europa and Ganymede? Which satellite in the solar system has the most volcanic activity

8 Chapter 8 Satellites, rings, plutoids What is the composition of the lakes found on Titan s surface? Do we expect to find liquid water on the surface of Titan? What type of chemical compounds (or molecules ) are found in the atmosphere of Titan? How many of the Jovian planets have rings The rings of which planet can be seen even with a small telescope? Do the particles in the rings follow Kepler s law? What is the range of the sizes of particles in the rings? What causes the gaps in the rings of Saturn What happens to a body when it gets close to the Roche limit of a planet? Where are the rings of the Jovian planets located respect to the Roche limit: inside or outside the limit? How is Pluto classified now? Is Pluto the only body in the Kuiper belt? What is the composition of Pluto? How many satellites has Pluto? How far is Pluto from the Sun? Features found in images of the surface of Pluto (New Horizon). Do they show a lots of impact craters? What does it tell you about the age of the surface? What is the density and composition of the objects in the Kuiper belt. Regarding density and constitution, do they look similar to the terrestrial planets? How far is the Kuiper belt from the Sun?

9 Chapter 4 Formation of the solar system. Comets, meteoroids and asteroids. Detection of exoplanets Topics The structure of the solar system. Order of planets in increasing distance from Sun. Distance from the Sun of the asteroid belt, the Kuiper belt (30-50 AU) and the Oort cloud (~50,000 AU) Comets: nucleus, coma, gas (ion) tail, dust tail. Origin (location) of short and long period comets Orientation of the orbital plane of short and long period comet Meteoroid, meteor and meteorite Meteorites: Stony, Iron nickel, Stony Iron Origin of meteor showers Asteroids, their sizes and their location (orbits) respect to the orbits of other planets Facts that must be consistent with a theory of the formation of the solar system: direction in which the planets orbit the Sun, direction of rotation of planets, direction in which satellites orbit the planets, orientation of orbital plane of planets, difference between terrestrial and Jovian planets The nebular hypothesis of the formation of the solar system For mation of protoplanetary disk Equation of angular momentum Conservation of angular momentum in the formation of the proto planetary disc and the solar system The reason of the difference in composition between terrestrial and Jovian planets: Temperature Two methods for detecting exoplanets: Radial velocity (Doppler shift of the star) and the transit of exoplanets in front of the star The method used by Kepler spacecraft to detect exoplanets The habitable zone

10 Chapter 4 Formation of the solar system. Comets, meteoroids and asteroids. Detection of exoplanets Using a ground-based telescope, can we see the nucleus of a comet? How big is a comet nucleus? What is the origin of an iron-nickel meteorite? Orbital periods of comets and orientation of their orbital plane: How do we know if a comet is coming from the Kuiper belt or the Oort cloud? What is the origin of the material that creates a meteor shower? Why it is easier to detect big exoplanets located closer to the star? Why is that the contraction of an interstellar cloud of gas and dust take the shape of a flat disc? What is the most accepted hypothesis for the formation of the solar system What happens to the temperature of the cloud when it contract? How many exoplanets have been detected so far? A few tens? A few hundreds? What is the habitable zone? Any planets detected in the habitable zone? Any detection of Earth-size planets in the habitable zone? Any detection of an exoplanetary system with multiple planets? Any detection of gases in the atmosphere of exoplanets?