Asteroids, Meteors, and Comets

comet

-A celestial object made of ice and dust that orbits the sun. -Found in the Oort Cloud and Kuiper Belt.

meteor

-A meteoroid that burns and vaporizes upon entry into the Earth's atmosphere. -Commonly called a shooting star. -Found in Earth's atmosphere.

asteroid

-A rocky mass that orbits the sun -Most are found in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter

crater

A land feature is sometimes made when a meteorite lands on earth.

meteorite

A meteoroid that survives its passage through the atmosphere and lands on Earth's surface.

Meteoroid

A small particle from an asteroid or comet orbiting the Sun.

Dirty snowball

Comet's nickname

circular orbit

In the Oort Cloud, comets move in a ___________________.

Asteroid Belt and its location

Millions of asteroids in the solar system that form a ring between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter

A comet's parts

Nucleus, coma, ion/dust tail

Friction

This is what causes the light when a meteor crosses the sky.

elliptical orbit

Whereas; in the Kuiper Belt, comets move in an _________________.

A comet's tail

always points away from the Sun, regardless of the motion of the comet.

meteors

are referred to as "shooting stars".

With the naked eye you are unlikely to see what in your lifetime?

comet

tail of a comet

made of gas and dust

Asteroids, comets, and planets

orbit the sun.

model of a comet as it orbits the sun

refer to image

coma of comet

the "fuzzy" area around the comet made of water vapor and gases

nucleus of comet

the solid chunk of ice and dust in the head of a comet