The Solar System – ASTR 121

Second Midterm – May 11, 2015, 11:00-11:50

Instructions:  Print your name and student identification number at the top of this page.  Answer each of the questions A through J in the space provided.  Be clear and thorough in your answers using sentences, labeled diagrams, and formulas with symbols defined, where appropriate.  Each question is worth two points.

A.  Describe two features of the Solar system which provide clues to how it was formed.

B.  What is a half-life?

C.  Explain what made the Solar nebula take the form of a spinning disk.

D.  What are asteroids and how did they come to exist?

E.  What is differentiation and how does it apply to the interiors of terrestrial planets?

F.  Chose a feature on the surface of Mars and explain its nature and likely origin.

G.  Explain why the Moon has so many more craters than the Earth.

H.  What are two properties of exoplanets which can be measured currently?

I.  What is outgassing, and how did it lead to the existence of the Earth's atmosphere?

J.  What are two important differences between Jovian and terrestrial planets?