Ast 111 Exam 3 || with 100% Errorless Answers.

Which of the following statements best describes the size of the largest asteroid, Ceres? correct answers It is a little less than half the diameter of our Moon. If we could put all the asteroids together, their total mass would be _________. correct answers much less than the mass of any terrestrial planet Why didn't a planet form where the asteroid belt is now located? correct answers Gravitational tugs from Jupiter prevented material from collecting together to form a planet. When you see the bright flash of a meteor, what are you actually seeing? correct answers the glow from a pea-size particle and the surrounding air as the particle burns up in our atmosphere In science fiction movies, spaceships are often shown dodging through large numbers of closely spaced, boulder-size objects. Which of the following real things in our solar system would look most like such science fiction dangers? correct answers the rings of Saturn Suppose you find a meteorite made almost entirely of metal. According to current science, which of the following statements must be true? correct answers Your meteorite is a fragment from the core of a large asteroid that shattered in a collision. Which of the following objects are probably not located in the same general region of the solar system in which they originally formed? correct answers Oort cloud comets Suppose there were no solar wind. How would the appearance of a comet in our inner solar system be different? correct answers It would have only one tail instead of two. Suppose we discover a new comet on an orbit that brings it closer to the Sun than Mercury every 125 years. What can we conclude? correct answers It has been on its current orbit for only a very short time compared to the age of our solar system. When we see a meteor shower, it means that _________. correct answers Earth is crossing the orbit of a comet Why won't Pluto collide with Neptune? correct answers Pluto orbits the Sun exactly two times for every three Neptune orbits, which ensures they never come close together. What is Pluto's moon Charon thought to have in common with our own Moon? correct answers It probably formed as a result of a giant impact. Which of the following is not a piece of evidence supporting the idea that Pluto is a large comet of the Kuiper belt? correct answers Pluto grows a coma and a long tail when it is at the point in its orbit closest to the Sun.