Comets, Asteroids, and Meteors- Oh My!

Comets

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Comets

• Description: Cold clumps of gases and dusty ice from the outer parts of the solar system

• Comet means long haired star

• Called “Dirty Snowballs”

Comet

• 3 parts:– Nucleus

– Coma

– Tail: always points away from sun

Comet

Parts Explained

• Nucleus – mass of ice and frozen gas

• Coma – cloud of gas that surrounds the nucleus

• Tail – formed when the comet travels near the sun; it’s the nucleus vaporizing

Comet Orbits

• Comets have long, narrow elliptical orbits

• Short period comets are found in the Kuiper Belt

• Long period comets are found in the Oort Cloud

• Sometimes, comets get too close to the sun, and then…

NASA

Famous Comets

Hale- Bopp

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Comet Hyakutake

1996

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In 1994, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with Jupiter.

Asteroid

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Asteroids

• Description: Rocky remains from the formation of the solar system

• Notable Asteroids:– Ceres – now a dwarf planet, only one in the

asteroid belt– Vesta – can be seen without a telescope

Asteroids

• Composition:– Rocky, iron, or rocky-iron

• Location/Orbit:– Asteroid Belt – between Mars and Jupiter– Trojans – orbit with a planet– Near Earth Asteroids – cross the Earth’s orbit

Asteroid Belt

The region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, where many asteroids are found.

Asteroids

• Size: Varies from a few hundred feet to a few hundred miles

• Jupiter’s relationship with asteroids:– Scientists believe the asteroid belt is the remains of

a planet that never formed because of Jupiter’s gravity

• Evidence asteroids have hit planets: – Impact craters like the one thought to have caused

the dinosaur extinction

Asteroids…

Asteroids Summary

• Not all asteroids are located in the asteroids belt and can pass near Earth

• Jupiter’s gravity kept the asteroids from forming a planet

• Some asteroids orbit just before and after Jupiter

• Largest asteroid, Ceres, is 580 mi across but most are less than a few miles across

Asteroid Impacts Summary

• Scientists think an asteroid impact near Mexico caused the dinosaur extinction.

• Chicxulub Crater in Mexico

• Video

http://www.mnh.si.edu/

Asteroid Impact crater in Canada

Meteors

• Video

Meteors

• Description: Rocky or metal debris in space; most no bigger than a pebble

• Meteoroid: a small chunk of rock or dust in space

• Meteor: a streak of light in the sky produced by the burning of a meteoroid in Earth’s atmosphere

• Meteorite: a meteoroid that has hit Earth’s surface

Meteoroids

• Meteoroids are small chunks of rock and dust left over from asteroids and comets that pass by the Earth.

• Composition: rocky, iron, or mixed

• Location/orbit: Found within the path of the Earth’s orbit around the sun.

Meteoroids

• Types:– Stony– Iron– Stony-Iron

• Meteor Shower: yearly predictable meteors when Earth passes through comet or asteroid debris

Meteors

• 3 types:

• Meteor: a streak of light in the sky produced by the burning of a meteoroid in Earth’s atmosphere

• Meteoroid: a chunk of rock or dust in space

• Meteorite: a meteoroid that has hit Earth’s surface

Meteor Impact Crater in Arizona.

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