Astronomy college course/Pluto and planetary mass quiz/Original version of this quiz

Planetary mass quiz

  

1 Which of the following is NOT used to measure the mass of a planet

the rotation of the planet about its axis
the motion of an artificial satellite
the motion of a moon
the motion of a neighboring planet
all of these have been used

2 What is unusual about calculations of the mass of Pluto made in the early part of the 20th century?

The estimates were correct to within less than 10%
The estimates were too low. Pluto was actually more massive than they thought.
The estimates were high. Pluto was less massive than they calculated
It was the first time a moon was used to calculate the mass of a planet
It was the first time a planet's period of orbit around the sun was used to calculate the planet's mass

3 Why was the discovery of Pluto peculiar?

It was discovered during a survey looking for stars
It was seen by Galileo, who thought it was a star
It was discovered by a calculation based on flawed assumptions
It was seen by Halley, who was looking for comets
It was the first time a planet's period of orbit around the sun was used to calculate the planet's mass

4 Which of the following is NOT used to measure the mass of a planet

the motion of an artificial satellite
the motion of a moon
the motion of a neighboring planet
all of these have been used

5 Which statement describes the relation between Pluto and Neptune

Pluto's orbit lies outside Neptune's orbit
Pluto's orbit intersects Neptune's orbit an the two bodies will eventually collide
Pluto's orbit intersects Neptune's orbit but they avoid each other because Pluto's mass is too small
Pluto's orbit intersects Neptune's orbit but they don't collide because of an orbital resonance between the two