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Quiz about Twinkle Twinkle Little Gas Giant
Quiz about Twinkle Twinkle Little Gas Giant

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Gas Giant Quiz


To write a quiz on Gas Giants for FunTrivia is a daunting task - gigantic, you might say. Gas Giants are fascinating planets and I have attempted to start with easier questions and move to more difficult ones. Go ahead, explore new worlds!

A multiple-choice quiz by SP44000. Estimated time: 7 mins.
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Author
SP44000
Time
7 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
335,929
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Difficult
Avg Score
5 / 10
Plays
768
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. Two gases make up the main components of Jupiter and Saturn, two of the four gas giants in our solar system. What are they? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Neptune and Uranus, the other two gas giants in our solar system, are of another classification. Their primary components are methane, ammonia and water. What is this class of planets called? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Which of the following is NOT true of the all gas giants in our solar system? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Our solar system has four gas giants and hundreds of others have been discovered beyond our solar system. The first extrasolar planet was discovered in 1992. What type of planet was discovered at this time? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Gas giants are, as the name suggests, very large planets. The precise size of a gas giant can be determined by which of the following planet-finding techniques? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Hot Jupiters are another class of gas giants. Which of the following is NOT true of them? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Some extrasolar gas giants have been discovered to be 50-120 astronomical units from their host star and it is thought by some scientists that they migrated to that distance by which type of resonance? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. One type of Jovian planet has a very unusual orbit as well as a very large mass. The presence of this type of planet may cause Earth-like planets to be moved out of the habitable zone of its host star. What are these planets called? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Two astrophysicists from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette have proposed the existence of a gas giant possibly four times the size of Jupiter located in the Oort Cloud. They say that it would explain the unusual orbit of some long-orbit comets in our solar system. What is this potential 9th planet currently called? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. There is much variation among the gas giants that have been discovered so far and the general term may sometimes be misleading. Who is credited with naming the Gas Giants class of planets such? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Two gases make up the main components of Jupiter and Saturn, two of the four gas giants in our solar system. What are they?

Answer: hydrogen and helium

Gas Giants are often called Jovian planets, named after Jupiter, a classic example of a gas giant, although there is a lot of variety among this class of planets.
2. Neptune and Uranus, the other two gas giants in our solar system, are of another classification. Their primary components are methane, ammonia and water. What is this class of planets called?

Answer: Ice Giants

Methane is the component that gives Neptune and Uranus their blue color.
3. Which of the following is NOT true of the all gas giants in our solar system?

Answer: They all generate less energy than they take in from the sun.

Jupiter produces more heat than it receives from the sun. This is thought to be because its "surface" is cooling, which causes compression of its layers resulting in heat production. This is called the Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism. Saturn seems to do the same, but it is not certain as to whether the heat production is as great or not.

All four of the gas giants in our solar system have rings as well as many moons, from as few as eight to almost twenty.
4. Our solar system has four gas giants and hundreds of others have been discovered beyond our solar system. The first extrasolar planet was discovered in 1992. What type of planet was discovered at this time?

Answer: a rocky planet

Actually it was a pair of rocky planets that was discovered in 1992 by two radio astronomers (Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail) and this discovery was quickly confirmed. They were orbiting a star in the constellation Virgo, located 980 light-years from the Earth.

The first gas giant was discovered by Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz of the University of Geneva in 1995; it was named 51 Pegasi B-Bellerphon.

As of March 11, 2011 538 extrasolar planets had been discovered. This number changes frequently, having gone up since I started working on this quiz.
5. Gas giants are, as the name suggests, very large planets. The precise size of a gas giant can be determined by which of the following planet-finding techniques?

Answer: transit technique

The transit technique is one in which the observed planet transits or passes directly in front of its home star with respect to the earth. This enables scientists to determine its size.
6. Hot Jupiters are another class of gas giants. Which of the following is NOT true of them?

Answer: They most likely formed at their present location in relation to their host star.

It is thought that Hot Jupiters migrated from a distance farther out from their host sun to their present location because there would not have been enough material in that close proximity to a star for a planet of such a large size to have formed.

One astronomical unit is equal to the distance from the Earth to the sun.
7. Some extrasolar gas giants have been discovered to be 50-120 astronomical units from their host star and it is thought by some scientists that they migrated to that distance by which type of resonance?

Answer: mean motion orbital resonance

The gravitational pull of the orbits of the two planets gradually move them further out. Some believe that it is possible that the mean motion orbital resonance between Jupiter and Saturn caused a gravitational push that sent Uranus and Neptune into higher orbits. This gives new meaning to the term "Dancing With the Stars".
8. One type of Jovian planet has a very unusual orbit as well as a very large mass. The presence of this type of planet may cause Earth-like planets to be moved out of the habitable zone of its host star. What are these planets called?

Answer: Eccentric Jupiters

Eccentric Jupiters often have an elliptical orbit, like comets. One source sited reported that approximately 7% of the exoplanets are of this type. As research continues that percentage will possibly change.
9. Two astrophysicists from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette have proposed the existence of a gas giant possibly four times the size of Jupiter located in the Oort Cloud. They say that it would explain the unusual orbit of some long-orbit comets in our solar system. What is this potential 9th planet currently called?

Answer: Tyche

John Matese and Daniel Whitmire of the University of Louisiana believe that data already gathered by Nasa's WIRE space telescope will provide evidence of this planet; the data has yet to be analyzed. Many current astronomers are skeptical of the presence of Tyche and await substantial evidence.
10. There is much variation among the gas giants that have been discovered so far and the general term may sometimes be misleading. Who is credited with naming the Gas Giants class of planets such?

Answer: James Blish, 20th century American science fiction writer

James Blish coined the term in his short story "Solar Plexus" when it was released in an anthology in 1952. Giordano Bruno proposed the idea that other stars might have planets centuries earlier, and Sir Isaac Newton had the same idea in the 18th century.
Source: Author SP44000

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