Comets, Asteroids, and Meteors

Meteoroid

A chunk of rock or dust in space.

Coma

A comet's consists of a nucleus and a fuzzy outer layer of a comet.

Kuiper belt

A doughnut shaped region that stretches from around Pluto's orbit to about 100 times Earth's distance from the sun.

Comet

A loose collection of ice, dust, and small rocky particles, typically with a long narrow orbit.

Meteorite

A meteoride that passes through the atmosphere and hits Earth's surface.

Oort cloud

A spherical region of comets that surrounds the solar system.

Meteor

A streak of light in the sky produced by the burning of a meteoroid in Earth's atmosphere.

Gravity

All objects are attracted to each other by the force of

Inertia

If you are in a car that stops suddenly your body keeps moving because it has

Comets or asteroids

Meteoroids usually come from

Asteroid

Rocky objects revolving around the sun that are too small and numerous to be considered planets.

Gravity and Inertia

The 2 factors that combine to keep Earth and the moon in their orbits are

Mars and Jupiter

The asteroid belt is located

Asteroid belt

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

Nucleus

The solid inner core of a comet.

The masses of the objects and the distance between them

The strength of the force of gravity depends on

Inertia

The tendency of a moving object to continue moving in a striaght line or a stationary object to remain in place is called

Most are less than 1 km in diameter and up to 300 km

What are the size of asteroids?

About as large as a mountain excluding the tail

What are the size of comets?

Smaller than comets and asteroids

What are the size of meteoroids?

Composition and orbit

What are the two ways Earth is similar to comets, asteroids, and meteoroids?

Rock

What is the composition of asteroids?

Ice, dust, small rock particles

What is the composition of comets?

Rock or dust

What is the composition of meteoroids?

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

What is the order of the planets starting from the the SUN?

Leftover pieces of the early solar system; most are found between Mars and Jupiter

What is the origin of asteroids?

Meteor

What is the scientific name for a shooting star?

Meteor

When a meteoroid enters Earth's atmosphere, it produces a streak of light called a

Pluto

Which planet is now consider to be a dwarf or proto planet?