Download Astronomy 201 - Homework

Astronomy 201 - Homework
Name_______________________________________
Asteroids, Meteorites, Meteors, Meteoroids and Comets
Fill in the blanks with a correct word:
1. _____________________ are dirty snowballs that follow eccentric orbits around the sun developing tails of dust and
ionized gases when they are near the sun.
2. ____________________ land on Earth occasionally with extraordinary force. When they are found and studied they
can give us information about the composition of the early solar system.
3. ____________________ orbit the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. They exist in a range of sizes from tiny
particles to rocks a bit smaller than the state of Texas. Ceres is the biggest one of all.
4. We are expecting a close approach of a(n) _______________________ on October 31st although it will remain further
away than our Moon.
5. The song "Catch a Falling Star" would have to be renamed to "Catch a _______________" to be scientifically accurate.
Please answer these questions thoughtfully.
6. Why do rocks that last indefinitely in outer space burn up in our atmosphere?
7. There is a crater in Arizona that is 3,900 feet in diameter (1,200 meters) that was caused by a meteorite. Research this
crater on the Internet and determine the diameter of the meteorite that made it.
8. The Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) extinction was a mass extinction of around 75% of plants and animals on the Earth at
that time. What have scientists proposed as the reason for this extinction and what is the evidence they have collected?
9. What chemical elements are in meteors? What are the different kinds of meteors?
10. How is the composition of a comet different from either a meteor or an asteroid?