Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo
Astronomy 2e

Review Questions

Astronomy 2eReview Questions

Review Questions

1.

List several ways that Venus, Earth, and Mars are similar, and several ways they are different.

2.

Compare the current atmospheres of Earth, Venus, and Mars in terms of composition, thickness (and pressure at the surface), and the greenhouse effect.

3.

How might Venus’ atmosphere have evolved to its present state through a runaway greenhouse effect?

4.

Describe the current atmosphere on Mars. What evidence suggests that it must have been different in the past?

5.

Explain the runaway refrigerator effect and the role it may have played in the evolution of Mars.

6.

What evidence do we have that there was running (liquid) water on Mars in the past? What evidence is there for water coming out of the ground even today?

7.

What evidence is there that Venus was volcanically active about 300–600 million years ago?

8.

Why is Mars red?

9.

What is the composition of clouds on Mars?

10.

What is the composition of the polar caps on Mars?

11.

Describe two anomalous features of the rotation of Venus and what might account for them.

12.

How was the Mars Odyssey spacecraft able to detect water on Mars without landing on it?

PreviousNext
Order a print copy
Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/astronomy-2e/pages/1-introduction
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/astronomy-2e/pages/1-introduction
Citation information

© Jul 8, 2024 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.