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?
