If Earth didn't have an atmosphere, what would happen to its temperature?

A. It would go up about 100K

B. It would go up about 30K

C. It would go down about 30K

D. It would go down about 100K

E. It wouldn't change

Why is the sky blue?

A. The reflection of the ocean

B. Blue is the color of oxygen gas

C. Blue is the color of nitrogen gas

D. The blue light in white sunlight scatters more than red light

E. Clouds

Would this be a surprising discovery?: A planet in another solar system has an Earth-like atmosphere with plentiful oxygen, but no life of any kind.

A. Plausible. Life requires far more than oxygen to exist

B. Plausible. The oxygen may have been transported there by cometary impacts

C. Implausible. Oxygen is highly reactive and its presence in an atmosphere suggests replenishment by a living organism of some sort.

D. Implausible. Oxygen is essential to life

Jupiter does not have a large metal core like Earth. How can it have a magnetic field?

A. The magnetic field is left over from when Jupiter accreted

B. Its magnetic field comes from the Sun

C. It has metallic hydrogen inside, which circulates and makes a magnetic field

D. That's why its magnetic field is weak

Auroras:

A. are found on Earth

B. are found on Jupiter

C. Indicate a magnetic field is present

D. result when particles in the solar wind hit a planet

E. all of the above

Jupiter is about three times as massive as Saturn, but only slightly larger. why?

A. it is made of stronger material

B. it is made of weaker material

C. adding mass increases gravity and compresses gasses

D. because they are made of different gasses

E. none of the above

looking at a Jovian planet in different wavelengths of light allows us to:

A. see different kinds of clouds

B. see to different depths or levels in the atmosphere

C. see layers of different temperatures

D. all the above

E. a and b

Titan is the only moon with a thick atmosphere and its surface:

A. has never been seen

B. has been seen by infrared light and spacecraft

C. is warmed by a greenhouse effect

D. has oceans of liquid gas (methane and ethane)

E. all except A

Why do Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune all have rings?

A. Rings were left over from solar system formation

B. THey all captured particles

C. All four planets had a large moon that disintegrated

D. All have small moons and small orbiting particles that constantly collide and make rings

If you keep pushing a person on a swing with little pushes, at just the right frequency, they will swing very high. This is an example of:

A. Newton's second law

B. Newton's first law

C. Energy conservation

D. Resonance

E. Conservation of angular momentum

Orbits of asteroids in the asteroid belt

A. often intersect planets

B. are mostly between Mars and Jupiter

C. are grouped into patterns by resonances with Jupiter

D. are mostly inside the frost line

E. all except A

A typical meteorite is

A. about the size of a house, and makes a crater when it lands

B. about the size of a pea or grain of rice and is invisible when it lands

C. about the size of a pea or grain of rice and makes a bright streak in the sky as it burns up

D. made of ice

Why is there a meteor shower every year on August 10th, 11th and 12th?

A. Meteorites only enter the solar system on certain dates

B. Meteorites often have 1 year orbital periods

C. Each year at that time Earth passes through the orbit of a comet and hits the debris it left

D. none of the above

Why do comet tails always point away from the sun?

A. They are left behind as the comet moves

B. Newton's third law: Comet goes one way, tail goes the other

C. The solar wind blows on them

D. They don't; this is just a perspective effect of how we view them

Would this be a surprising discovery?: A mission to Pluto finds that it has lakes of liquid water on its surface.

A. Plausible. other icy bodies at great distances from the Sun may also have liquid water

B. Plausible. studies of Pulto's surface show a long, narrow feature that has been suggested to be a lake

C. Implausible. water would be frozen at Pluto's temperature and we know of no extra hear sources

D. Implausible. Pluto is mostly made of rock and metals not water