Answers are in blue.
1. The orbit of a typical short period comet is ...
a. is circular.
b. is in the same plane as the major planets.
c. extends to the Oort cloud.
d. reaches to a point beyond Saturn.
e. None of the above.
2. A nucleus of a typical short-period comet is ...
a. anywhere from 10 to 100 km.
b. composed of a mixture ice and regolith (i.e. is a "dirty snowball").
c. coated in a low-albedo layer of "space-crud".
d. irregularly shaped and cratered.
e. All of the above.
3. What is the most likely origin of a meteor?
a. The Asteroid Belt.
b. The outer Solar System (beyond Neptune).
c. The Trojan points around the jovian planets.
d. Interstellar space.
e. All of the above are equally probable.
4. Compared to the Asteroid Belt, typical objects in the Kuiper Belt have different ...
a. orbital eccentricities.
b. orbital inclinations.
c. orbital directions (prograde vs. retrograde).
d. compositions.
e. All of the above.
5. A model of the formation of the Solar System must explain ...
a. the circular, co-planer, prograde orbits of the major planets.
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Last modified 22 April, 2007. © Gregory C. Sloan.