Week 7 Notes Comets, Meteors, and Asteroids Ch 3, Section 5

Page 104 – 107

I. COMETS

a. A __COMET__ is a dirty __SNOWBALL__ about the size of a __MOUNTAIN__

b. Comets are loose collections of __ICE__, __DUST__, and small __ROCKY__ particles.

c. Comets orbits are usually very __LONG__ narrow __ELIPSES__

A. A Comet’s Head

a. The cloud of __GAS__ and __DUST__ that comes off the head when a comet gets near the __SUN__ is called the __COMA__

b. The __SOLID__ inner core of a comet is called the __NUCLEUS__

B. A Comet’s Tail

a. Gas and Dust from a comet’s __HEAD__ streams out to form a __TAIL__

b. Comet means __LONG-HAIRED STAR__ in Greek

c. Most comets have __2__ tails: __GAS TAIL__ and __DUST TAIL__

d. The comet’s __TAILS__ point __AWAY__ from the __SUN__

e. A __COMET’S__ tail can be more than __100__ million kilometers long. (62 million miles)

C. Origin of Cometsa. The __KUIPER BELT__ is a doughnut-shaped region that

extends beyond __NEPTUNE’S__ orbit to about __100__ times Earth’s __DISTANCE__ to the sun.

b. The __OORT CLOUD__ is a __SPHERICAL__ region that __SURROUNDS__ the Solar System about 1,000 time the distance between __PLUTO__ and the __SUN__

II. ASTERIODS

a. Objects in __SPACE__ that are too __SMALL__ and __NUMEROUS__ arec called __ASTEROIDS__

b. __MOST__ asteroids __REVOLVE__ around the sun between the orbits of __MARS__ and __JUPITER__

c. The area between Mars and Jupiter is known as the __ASTEROID BELT__

d. __ASTERIODS__ are thought to be __LEFT-OVER__ parts of the __SOLAR SYSTEM__ that never formed into a __PLANET__

III. METEORSa. A __SHOOTING STAR__ is actually called a __METEOR__

b. On average there is a __METEOR__ every __10__ minutes

c. A __METEROID__ is a chunk of __ROCK__ or __DUST__ in __SPACE__. Meteoroids come from __COMETS__ or __ASTEROIDS__

d. When a meteoroid enters __EARTH’S__ atmosphere __FRICTION__ with the air creates __HEAT__ and produces a streak of __LIGHT__ in the sky.

e. __METEOROIDS__ that are too __BIG__ make it pass the __ATMOSPHERE__ and hit Earth’s surface are called __METEORITES__

f. The __CRATERS__ on the __MOON__ were formed by __METEOROIDS__