Venus: Celestial Mechanics and Rotation

Play an AI-generated podcast conversation about this lesson

What is the average orbital speed of Venus?

30.0 km/s

35.0 km/s (correct)

40.0 km/s

45.0 km/s

What method was used to determine the rotation period of Venus?

Telescopic observation

Bouncing a beam of microwaves off the surface (correct)

Infrared imaging

Spacecraft landing

What is the angle of inclination of Venus' axis of rotation relative to its orbit?

90.0°

120.0°

177.4° (correct)

180.0°

What is the direction of rotation of Venus?

Retrograde (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the period of rotation of Venus?

243.01 days (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the hypothesized reason for Venus' axis of rotation being tilted by nearly 180°?

Impact from a large planetesimal (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the most widely accepted explanation for the retrograde rotation of Venus?

Gravitational interactions with its neighbors (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the time interval between successive inferior conjunctions of Venus?

583.77 days (B) Signup and view all the answers

Why did no transits of Venus occur during the 20th century?

The orbital plane of Venus is inclined by 3.39° relative to the plane of the ecliptic (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the order of the rings of Saturn, starting from the planet and moving outward?

D, C, B, Cassini Division, A, F, G, E (B) Signup and view all the answers

What did Galileo Galilei observe around 1610 AD?

The phases of Venus similar to the Moon (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the name of the largest gap in the rings of Saturn?

Cassini Division (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the outermost ring of Saturn that can be easily seen with Earth-based telescopes?

A ring (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the term for the phenomenon when Venus passes across the face of the Sun?

Transit (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the type of planet that Venus is classified as?

Inferior planet (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the ring system of Saturn compared to in terms of size?

The distance between Earth and the Moon (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the unique feature of the Phoebe ring?

It is tilted at an angle of 27° to the other rings (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the composition of the rings of Saturn?

Billions of small chunks of ice and rock coated with other materials (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the composition of Uranus' inner moons?

Roughly half water ice and half rock (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the characteristic of the orbits of exotic Uranian satellites?

Their orbits are far removed from the center of Uranus (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the color of the outermost ring of Uranus?

Blue (C) Signup and view all the answers

How many distinct rings does Uranus have?

13 (B) Signup and view all the answers

What surrounds some of the larger rings of Uranus?

Belts of fine dust (D) Signup and view all the answers

Which planet is the eighth and most distant in our solar system?

Neptune (D) Signup and view all the answers

Who predicted the existence of Neptune before its discovery?

Urbain Le Verrier (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the radius of Neptune in kilometers?

24,622 km (B) Signup and view all the answers

How many times more massive is Neptune compared to Earth?

17 times (A) Signup and view all the answers

Who discovered Neptune in 1846?

Johann Galle (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the name of the spacecraft that visited Neptune?

Voyager 2 (B) Signup and view all the answers