Astronomy
1st Edition
ISBN: 9781938168284
Author: Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. Wolff
Publisher: OpenStax
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Textbook Question
Chapter 9, Problem 10E
Explain how high-speed impacts form circular craters. How can this explanation account for the various characteristic features of impact craters?
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Students have asked these similar questions
How many impacts would you expect to strike a 100m2 region in one hour during Earth’s formation, assuming that Earth grew to its present size in 10 million years from particles averaging 100 grams each? (Hint: Assume that Earth had its current radius of 6378km.) (Notes: The surface area of a sphere is 4pir2 ; 1yr=3.2x107 .)
a. About 1300.
b. About 13 .
c. About 13,000.
d. About 130
Why are Mercury and the Moon so much more heavily cratered than the Earth?
Explain how crater counts tell us the age of a surface.
What is the frost line in the solar nebula? Explain how temperature differences led to the formation of two distinct types of planets.
Chapter 9 Solutions
Astronomy
Ch. 9 - What is the composition of the Moon, and how does...Ch. 9 - Why does the Moon not have an atmosphere?Ch. 9 - What are the principal features of the Moon...Ch. 9 - Frozen water exists on the lunar surface primarily...Ch. 9 - Outline the main events in the Moon’s geological...Ch. 9 - What are the maria composed of? Is this material...Ch. 9 - The mountains on the Moon were formed by what...Ch. 9 - With no wind or water erosion of rocks, what is...Ch. 9 - What differences did Grove K. Gilbert note between...Ch. 9 - Explain how high-speed impacts form circular...
Ch. 9 - Explain the evidence for a period of heavy...Ch. 9 - How did our exploration of the Moon differ from...Ch. 9 - Summarize the four main hypotheses for the origin...Ch. 9 - What are the difficulties with the capture...Ch. 9 - What is the main consequence of Mercury’s orbit...Ch. 9 - Describe the basic internal structure of Mercury.Ch. 9 - How was the rotation rate of Mercury determined?Ch. 9 - What is the relationship between Mercury’s...Ch. 9 - The features of Mercury are named in honor of...Ch. 9 - What do our current ideas about the origins of the...Ch. 9 - One of the primary scientific objectives of the...Ch. 9 - Apollo astronaut David Scott dropped a hammer and...Ch. 9 - Galileo thought the lunar maria might be seas of...Ch. 9 - Why did it take so long for geologists to...Ch. 9 - How might a crater made by the impact of a comet...Ch. 9 - Why are the lunar mountains smoothly rounded...Ch. 9 - The lunar highlands have about ten times more...Ch. 9 - At the end of the section on the lunar surface,...Ch. 9 - Give several reasons Mercury would be a...Ch. 9 - If, in the remote future, we establish a base on...Ch. 9 - The Moon has too little iron, Mercury too much....Ch. 9 - In the future, astronomers discover a solid moon...Ch. 9 - The Moon was once closer to Earth than it is now....Ch. 9 - Astronomers believe that the deposit of lava in...Ch. 9 - The Moon requires about 1 month (0.08 year) to...
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Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, physics and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.Similar questions
- Explain the role of impacts in planetary evolution, including both giant impacts and more modest ones.arrow_forwardWe believe that chains of comet fragments like Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9’s have collided not only with the jovian planets, but occasionally with their moons. What sort of features would you look for on the outer planet moons to find evidence of such collisions? (As an extra bonus, can you find any images of such features on a moon like Callisto? You can use an online site of planetary images, such as the Planetary Photojournal, at photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov.)arrow_forwardHow does beltzone circulation transport energyby radiation, conduction, or convection? Explain your answer.arrow_forward
- What do we mean by primitive material? How can we tell if a meteorite is primitive?arrow_forwardA lot of asteroid and comet dust collides with Earth's atmosphere everyday. Assume that 500 tons of mass is added to Earth daily from the millions of meteors that enter our atmosphere. Estimate the time it would take for the Earth's mass to increase 0.2% with this impact rate. Is this mass accumulation significant to Earth as a planet.arrow_forwardWhich of the following is least reasonable regarding impact craters? Group of answer choices The size and shape of the crater and the amount of material excavated depends on factors such as the velocity and mass of the impacting body and the geology of the surface. Craters are most often are circular but more elongate craters can be produced with impactors striking the surface at very low angles. The Moon has more craters than the Earth because of its strong tidal force on the impactors. Objects from space typically hit Earth at about 20 km/s ande produce craters that can be approximately 20 times larger in diameter than the impacting objects. The faster the incoming impactor, the larger the crater.arrow_forward
- The iron meteorite that created Barringer Crater (Arizona) was 50 m in diameter. It caused a crater 1.2 km (1200 m) in diameter, that is, 24 times bigger than the impactor. Keeping in mind that the size of the crater depends on many factors, such as the type of rocks present in the area, estimate the approximate size of the impactor that produced Mare Serenitatis.arrow_forwardIf you visited a planet in another solar system and discovered that it was heavily cratered, but its small moon was nearly crater free, why would that be a surprise? Speculate about what might have happened to those objects.arrow_forwardExplain how meteor showers are linked to comets. Why do meteor showers recur at about the same time every year?arrow_forward
- What will be the temperature of a Kuiper belt object at 40 AU, if the Earth is heated up to 220 K? Assume the two have the same albedos. 5.5 K. 35 K. 64 K. 88 K.arrow_forwardA new Terrestrial planet has been discovered orbiting a nearby Sun-like star. Astronomers have obtained spectra of this planet and determined that the atmosphere is composed of roughly 99% CO2, and the remaining 1% is mostly N2 and is very thin compared to Earth's atmosphere. Briefly describe how the planet could have developed such an atmosphere.arrow_forwardThe Solar Nebula model introduces the concept of ‘frost line’. Where are asteroids and comets found with respect to this frost line? How is their location connected to their composition?arrow_forward
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