Astronomy Midterm 2 Study Guide Questions And Correct Answers

Why did the solar nebula heat up as it collapsed? {Ans: As the cloud shrank, its gravitational potential energy was converted to kinetic energy and then into thermal energy.}Suppose we had a device that allowed us to see Earth's interior. If we looked at a typical region of the mantle, what would we see happening? {Ans: On human time scales, the mantle looks like solid rock, so not much would be seen.}Why are there no impact craters on the surface of Io? {Ans: Io did have impact craters but they have all been buried in lava flows.}The reason that small planets tend to lose interior heat faster than larger planets is essentially the same as the reason that ________. {Ans: large baked potato takes longer to cool than a small one}Meteorites can come from {Ans: comets. the Moon. the cores of asteroids. Mars.}Why do we think Triton is a captured moon? {Ans: It orbits Neptune at a high inclination to Neptune's equator. It orbits Neptune in the direction opposite to Neptune's rotation.}Why does the Moon have a layer of powdery "soil" on its surface? {Ans: It's the result of gradual erosion by micrometeorites