Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo
Astronomy

Review Questions

AstronomyReview Questions

Review Questions

1.

What is the composition of the Moon, and how does it compare to the composition of Earth? Of Mercury?

2.

Why does the Moon not have an atmosphere?

3.

What are the principal features of the Moon observable with the unaided eye?

4.

Frozen water exists on the lunar surface primarily in which location? Why?

5.

Outline the main events in the Moon’s geological history.

6.

What are the maria composed of? Is this material found elsewhere in the solar system?

7.

The mountains on the Moon were formed by what process?

8.

With no wind or water erosion of rocks, what is the mechanism for the creation of the lunar “soil?”

9.

What differences did Grove K. Gilbert note between volcanic craters on Earth and lunar craters?

10.

Explain how high-speed impacts form circular craters. How can this explanation account for the various characteristic features of impact craters?

11.

Explain the evidence for a period of heavy bombardment on the Moon about 4 billion years ago.

12.

How did our exploration of the Moon differ from that of Mercury (and the other planets)?

13.

Summarize the four main hypotheses for the origin of the Moon.

14.

What are the difficulties with the capture hypothesis of the Moon’s origin?

15.

What is the main consequence of Mercury’s orbit being so highly eccentric?

16.

Describe the basic internal structure of Mercury.

17.

How was the rotation rate of Mercury determined?

18.

What is the relationship between Mercury’s rotational period and orbital period?

19.

The features of Mercury are named in honor of famous people in which fields of endeavor?

20.

What do our current ideas about the origins of the Moon and Mercury have in common? How do they differ?

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/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/pages/1-introduction
Citation information

© Jan 28, 2022 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.