Course Introduction
Planetary Science Review
Questions
Planetary Science explores the formation, evolution, and characteristics of planets and other bodies within our solar system and beyond. The course covers key topics such as planetary atmospheres, surfaces, and interiors, the origin and evolution of planetary systems, and the processes that shape planetary bodies, including impact cratering, volcanism, and tectonics. Emphasizing both observational and theoretical approaches, students will analyze planetary data from space missions and develop an understanding of the methods used to study planets, moons, asteroids, and comets. Through this interdisciplinary field, students gain insights into comparative planetology and the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe.
Recommended Textbook
Life in the Universe 3rd Edition by Jeffrey O. Bennett
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12 Chapters
1027 Verified Questions
1027 Flashcards
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Chapter 2: The Science of Life in the Universe
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60 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Even though the heliocentric model of Copernicus had many advantages over the Ptolemaic model, it suffered from the assumption that the
A) planets moved in ellipses about the Sun
B) planets moved in perfect circles about the Sun
C) planets moved in perfect circles about the Earth
D) Earth was not rotating on its axis
Answer: B
Q2) The first person to suggest that the Earth moved around the Sun was
A) Aristarchus
B) Newton
C) Copernicus
D) Galileo
Answer: A
Q3) Copernicus
A) provided strong observational evidence that the Earth moved about the Sun
B) proved that the orbital shapes of the planets were ellipses and not circles
C) was the first person to suggest the Earth moved around the Sun
D) revived Aristarchus's suggestion of a Sun-centered solar system and described it mathematically
Answer: D
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Chapter 3: The Universal Context of Life
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110 Verified Questions
110 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most of the mass of the Milky Way is in the form of
A) stars
B) gas clouds
C) black holes
D) dark matter
Answer: D
Q2) Isotopes have the same number of
A) protons and neutrons
B) protons but a different number of electrons
C) neutrons but a different number of protons
D) protons but a different number of neutrons
Answer: D
Q3) Due to the vast scale of the universe, when we observe a star in the night sky, we are seeing it
A) not as it is now, but as it will be in the future
B) as it was at the moment the universe formed
C) as it is right now
D) not as it is now, but as it was in the past
Answer: D
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Page 4
Chapter 4: The Habitability of Earth
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135 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Isotopic analysis of a rock can tell us
A) what the rock is made of
B) the detailed geological history of the rock
C) the temperature and pressure conditions under which it formed
D) when the rock formed
Q2) During the past few million years, ice ages were MOST LIKELY caused by
A) changes in the distance from the Earth to the Sun
B) small changes in the Earth's axis tilt
C) changes in the heat released from the Earth
D) changes in the energy output of the Sun
Q3) Analysis of rocks returned from the lunar maria during the Apollo program suggest they formed
A) during the period of early bombardment constituting the first few hundred million years of the Earth's history
B) fairly recently during the last million years or so
C) roughly 65 million years ago
D) between 3.9 and 3.0 billion years ago
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5
Chapter 5: The Nature of Life on Earth
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110 Verified Questions
110 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A section of DNA that corresponds to a particular protein is known as a
A) codon
B) chromosome
C) gene
D) genome
Q2) The discovery of extremophiles on Earth suggests that
A) life elsewhere will only be found under conditions that are similar to those of Earth
B) life elsewhere will only be possible over a much narrower range of conditions than initially thought
C) life elsewhere may be possible over a much wider range of conditions than initially thought
D) extraterrestrial life will exist only under extreme conditions
Q3) The most numerous lifeforms on Earth are
A) insects
B) plants
C) human beings
D) microbes
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Chapter 6: The Origin and Evolution of Life on Earth
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110 Flashcards
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Q1) Sources of organic molecules on the surface of the early Earth included
A) chemical reactions near the ocean surface
B) chemical reactions near deep-sea vents
C) material from space
D) all of the above
Q2) Stromatolites are
A) fossils of the first organisms to introduce oxygen into the atmosphere
B) fossils of the first multicellular organisms
C) layers of sediment that once contained colonies of ancient microbes
D) fossils of the first eukaryotes
Q3) An explosion of genetic diversity similar to that which occurred during the Cambrian Period hasn't happened recently, most likely because
A) evolution of life on Earth is no longer occurring
B) such an explosion can occur only for simple organisms and not complex ones
C) there are no more ecological niches available to allow this to happen
D) of the widespread presence of efficient predators that make it much more difficult for entirely new organisms to appear
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Chapter 7: Searching for Life in Our Solar System
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which spacecraft crashed into and thereby confirmed the presence of water ice in a crater close to the south pole of the Moon in 2009?
A) Lunar Prospector
B) Chandrayaan-1
C) LCROSS
D) Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Q2) A common way a robotic spacecraft can be accelerated and have its trajectory changed without the use of any fuel is via
A) a gravitational assist from another spacecraft
B) radiation pressure from the Sun
C) the ejection of mass from the probe
D) a gravitational assist from another planet
Q3) The search for life in the solar system is essentially a search for
A) organic molecules
B) liquid water
C) molecular oxygen
D) energy sources
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Chapter 8: Mars
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90 Verified Questions
90 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements is an overall summary of the findings from the Viking biology experiments?
A) the Martial soil showed no signs of chemical or biological activity
B) the Martian soil showed clear signs of biological activity
C) the Martian soil was chemically reactive but showed no conclusive signs of biological activity
D) the Martian soil contained organic molecules but showed no signs of biological activity
Q2) Spacecraft orbiting Mars have detected hydrated minerals, such as clays, sulfates, and silica, which are known to form in the presence of
A) hydrogen
B) water
C) carbon dioxide
D) oxygen
Q3) The Southern hemisphere of Mars is at
A) an average elevation and is covered with impact craters
B) a higher than average elevation and is relatively smooth
C) a higher than average elevation and is covered with impact craters
D) a lower than average elevation and is relatively smooth
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Page 9
Chapter 9: Life on Jovian Moons
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which Galilean moons of Jupiter show evidence for subsurface oceans of water beneath their icy crusts?
A) Europa and Ganymede
B) all four show evidence for subsurface oceans
C) Europa
D) Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto
Q2) Even though Titan has liquid methane on its surface, some internal heat, and plenty of carbon-containing compounds, it is not a suitable place for life because
A) Titan orbits within Saturn's radiation belt so its surface is completely sterilized by high-energy particles
B) there is too much volcanic activity on the surface
C) it has no ozone layer to protect the surface from harmful UV rays from the Sun
D) it is far too cold, and methane is not a very good biological solvent
Q3) The largest Jovian moon Ganymede and Titan are
A) larger than the Earth
B) larger than Mercury but smaller than the Earth
C) larger than the Moon but smaller than Mercury
D) about the same size as Mars
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Chapter 10: The Nature and Evolution of Habitability
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Sample Questions
Q1) Stars much less luminous than the Sun have
A) wider habitable zones, increasing the odds of finding habitable planets and much longer lifetimes allowing life to appear and evolve
B) wider habitable zones, increasing the odds of finding habitable planets but lifetimes too short for life to appear
C) narrower habitable zones, decreasing the odds of finding habitable planets and lifetimes too short for life to appear
D) narrower habitable zones, decreasing the odds of finding habitable planets but much longer lifetimes allowing life to appear and evolve
Q2) The atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration
A) is higher than it has been at any time during the last million years
B) is higher than it has been at any time during the Earth's history
C) has remained roughly constant during the last million years
D) is lower than it has been at any time during the last million years
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Chapter 11: Habitability Outside the Solar System
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Sample Questions
Q1) If a star has an extrasolar planet, the symmetry of its radial velocity curve is related to the planet's
A) orbital shape
B) mass
C) radius
D) orbital period
Q2) On the Hertzprung-Russell diagram, most stars are found
A) on the main sequence
B) in the red giant region
C) in the white dwarf region
D) in the supergiant region
Q3) Why might it be difficult for Earth-like planets to form around Sun-like stars in the outer parts of the disk of our galaxy?
A) there would be insufficient amounts of heavy elements
B) the stars would be packed together too densely for planets to be stable
C) any stars would be sucked into the central supermassive black hole
D) there would be too much harmful radiation
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Chapter 12: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
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76 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following physical parameters is NOT under the control of a radio telescope?
A) the direction pointed on the sky
B) the bandwidth
C) the time of observation
D) the band
Q2) A Lagrange point in the Earth-Moon system is a position
A) directly between the Earth and Moon
B) on the surface of the Moon that points directly away from the Earth
C) on the Earth's surface that the Moon's gravity is concentrated
D) in space where the effects of the Earth's and Moon's gravity cancel each other out
Q3) What type of civilization would be able to construct a "Dyson Sphere" around its parent star to capture its radiation?
A) Type III
B) Type IV
C) Type II
D) Type I
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Chapter 13: Interstellar Travel and the Fermi Paradox
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Sample Questions
Q1) The main practical problem associated with building an interstellar ramjet is
A) making the ship large enough to scoop up enough hydrogen fuel given that the density of hydrogen in space is so low
B) producing enough thrust to accelerate the spacecraft to a high enough speed
C) separating the matter and antimatter fuels from each other
D) receiving enough photon energy to propel the craft
Q2) Which type of spacecraft does not need to carry any fuel?
A) nuclear rockets
B) ion engines
C) solar sails
D) chemical rockets
Q3) You are traveling in a space ship at half the speed of light (0.5c) directly toward an oncoming photon traveling at the speed of light (c). At what speed would you see the photon coming toward you?
A) c
B) 0.25c
C) 1.5c
D) 0.5c
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