Astronomy A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE EIGHTH EDITION CHAPTER The Terrestrial Planets Clickers © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Question Mercury’s surface most resembles which of these? a) b) c) d) e) © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc The Moon’s far side Venus’s polar regions Earth’s deserts The Moon’s near side Mars’s deserts Question 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 Mercury is very hard to observe from Earth because a) b) it always appears only half lit it is never more than 28º from the Sun c) its elliptical orbit causes it to change speed unpredictably d) e) its surface reflects too little sunlight its surface does not allow radar to bounce back to Earth © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Question Mercury is very hard to observe from Earth because a) b) it always appears only half lit it is never more than 28º from the Sun c) its elliptical orbit causes it to change speed unpredictably d) e) its surface reflects too little sunlight 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 How the atmospheres of the Moon and Mercury compare? a) Mercury’s is more dense, with carbon dioxide b) c) They are similar, only 1% as dense as ours The cooler Moon retains a thicker nitrogen atmosphere d) As no spacecraft has yet landed there, no information exists about Mercury’s e) © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Neither body has a permanent atmosphere Question How the atmospheres of the Moon and Mercury compare? a) Mercury’s is more dense, with carbon dioxide b) c) They are similar, only 1% as dense as ours 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 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 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 Which statement about the rotations of Mercury and the Moon is FALSE? a) b) Our Moon keeps the same side toward us 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) e) On Mercury, “days” equals “years.” On the Moon, each “day” lasts about 15 Earth days of constant sunlight © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Question 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 The greenhouse effect on Venus is due to _ in its atmosphere a) b) c) d) e) © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc nitrogen hydrogen carbon dioxide oxygen sulfuric acid Question 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% CO2, resulting in a surface temperature exceeding 900ºF © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Question 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) © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc lava domes Question 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 What effect does the greenhouse effect have on the surface environment of Venus? a) b) c) Little or no effect About the same as on Earth 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 What effect does the greenhouse effect have on the surface environment of Venus? a) b) c) Little or no effect About the same as on Earth 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) © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc Mercury Venus Earth Mars Moon 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) © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc 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 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) © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc 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 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) b) Rainfall 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) b) Rainfall 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 billion years ago © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc ... 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... 13 What was the most likely source of the water that formed the huge outflow channels of Mars? a) b) Rainfall Catastrophic but rare flooding c) Annual melting of the seasonal ice caps d) Large... About the same as on Earth 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