Solar System Minor Members Quiz

What is the primary composition of comets?

• Rock and metal

• Ice, dust, and organic compounds

• Pure ice

• Iron and nickel

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DOK Level 1: Recall

Which spacecraft was launched by NASA to study the asteroid belt?

• Voyager 1

• New Horizons

• Dawn

• Juno

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DOK Level 1: Recall

What defines a dwarf planet?

• Orbits the sun and is spherical, but has not cleared its orbital path

• Orbits the sun and has cleared its orbital path

• Does not orbit the sun but is spherical

• Is the largest object in its orbit

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DOK Level 1: Recall

The Kuiper Belt is primarily located between which two planets?

• Mars and Jupiter

• Earth and Mars

• Neptune and Pluto

• Jupiter and Saturn

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DOK Level 1: Recall

What is the main difference between meteoroids and asteroids?

• Size, where meteoroids are smaller

• Composition, where meteoroids are icier

• Orbit, where meteoroids have more elliptical orbits

• Origin, where meteoroids come from comets

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DOK Level 1: Recall

Describe the Oort Cloud.

• A dense asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter

• A spherical shell of icy objects surrounding our solar system

• A flat ring of icy bodies beyond Neptune

• A cloud of gas and dust close to the sun

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DOK Level 1: Recall

How do comets develop a tail?

• By moving away from the sun

• By colliding with other comets

• By accumulating more ice

• By heating up as they near the sun, causing sublimation of materials

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DOK Level 2: Skill/Concept

What was the primary mission of NASA's Dawn spacecraft?

• To explore the outer planets

• To map the surface of Mars

• To study the asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres

• To capture images of Earth from space

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DOK Level 2: Skill/Concept

Explain why Pluto is classified as a dwarf planet rather than a planet.

• Because it is too small

• Because it has not cleared its orbit of other debris

• Because it is not spherical

• Because it does not orbit the sun

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DOK Level 2: Skill/Concept

What role do Kuiper Belt Objects play in understanding our solar system's early history?

• They provide evidence of early planetary collisions

• They are remnants of the early solar system, largely unchanged

• They show the migration patterns of major planets

• They are primarily responsible for Earth's water

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DOK Level 2: Skill/Concept