Term
| Which moon is considered likely to have a deep, subsurface ocean of liquid water? |
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Definition
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Term
| Why is neptune denser than saturn? |
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Definition
| It has a different composition than saturn, including a higher proportion of hydrogen compounds and rocks |
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Term
| why does jupiter have several distinct cloud layers? |
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Definition
| different layers represent clouds made of gases that condense at different temperatures |
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Term
| some of the moons of the jovian planets have significant atmospheres. (true/false) |
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Definition
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Term
| why do the jovian planet interiors differ? |
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Definition
| accretion took longer further from the sun, so the more distant planets formed their cores later and captured less gas from the solar nebula than the closer jovian planets |
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Term
| which moon has the most substantial atmosphere? |
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Definition
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Term
| why are saturn's rings so thin? |
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Definition
| any particle in the ring with an orbital tilt would collide with other ring particles, flattening its orbit |
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Term
| which statement about io is true? |
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Definition
| it is the most volcanically active body in our solar system |
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Term
| jupiter's great red spot is a low pressure storm like a hurricane on earth. (true/false) |
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Definition
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Term
| what is jupiter's great red spot? |
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Definition
| a long lived, high pressure storm |
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Term
| overall jupiter's composition is most like that of |
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Definition
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Term
| why is jupiter denser than saturn? |
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Definition
| the extra mass of jupiter compresses its interior to a greater extent than that of saturn |
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Term
| what atmospheric constituent is responsible for the blue color of uranus and neptune? |
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Definition
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Term
| the four galilean moons around jupiter are |
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Definition
| a mixture of rock and ice, with the ice fraction increasing with distance from jupiter |
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Term
| how do the jovian planet interiors differ? |
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Definition
| all have cores of about the same mass, but differ in the amount of surrounding hydrogen and helium |
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Term
| why is saturn almost as big as jupiter, despite its smaller mass? |
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Definition
| jupiter's greater mass compresses it more, thus increasing its density |
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Term
| hydrogen exists as a gas, liquid, and solid within jupiter. (true/false) |
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Definition
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Term
| why are there no impact craters on the surface of io? |
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Definition
| io did have impact craters but they have been buried in lava flows |
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Term
| why do uranus and neptune have blue methane clouds but jupiter and saturn do not? |
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Definition
| methane does not condense into ice in the warmer atmospheric temperatures of jupiter and saturn |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| which of the jovian planets have rings? |
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Definition
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Term
| what mechanism is most responsible for generating the internal heat of io that drives the volcanic activity? |
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Definition
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Term
| suppose you could float in space a few meters above saturn's rings. what would you see as you looked down on the rings? |
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Definition
| countless icy particles, raning in size from dust grains to large boulders |
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Term
| what is the most important reason why an icy moon is more likely to be geologically active than a rocky moon of the same size? |
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Definition
| ice has a lower melting point than rock |
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Term
| which statement about planetary rings is not true? |
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Definition
| saturn's rings formed along with its moon 4.6 billion years ago |
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