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Astronomy
Chapter 11
Name: ________________________________
Worksheet 1
Block: ________________________________
Match the definitions to the correct word or term
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1. Coma
A. A small, rocky solid body orbiting the Sun and ranging in
diameter from a few meters to hundreds of kilometers
B. The technical name for the small, solid bodies moving
within the Solar System
C. A small spherical body embedded in a meteorite
D. A type of meteorite containing many tiny spheres of rocky
or metallic material stuck together by carbon-rich material
E. An asteroid with an orbit that crosses Earth’s orbit or comes
close to it
F. The solid core of a comet
G. A meteorite containing small spherical bodies called
chondrules
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2. Oort cloud
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3. Fluorescence
4. Asteroid belt
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5. Radiation pressure
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6. Meteorite
7. Solar wind
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8. Kirkwood gaps
9. Chondrite
H. A comet whose orbital period is shorter than 200 years
I. A meteorite lacking chondules
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10. Meteor shower
J.
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11. Tail
12. Radiant
13. Asteroids
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14. Meteor
N. The solid remains of a meteor that falls to the Earth
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15. Short-period comets
O. An event in which many meteors occur in a short space of
time, all from the same general direction in the sky
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16. Kuiper belt
P. The outflow of low density, hot gas from the Sun’s upper
atmosphere
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17. Meteoroid
18. Carbonaceous chondrite
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19. Nucleus
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20. achondrite
Q. The gaseous atmosphere surrounding the head of a comet
R. The point in the sky from which meteors in showers appear
to come
S. The bright trail of light created by small solid objects
entering the Earth’s atmosphere and burning up
T. A vast region in which comet nuclei orbit. The cloud lies far
beyond the orbit of Pluto
____
21. Chondrule
U. Regions in the asteroid belt with lower-than-average
number of asteroids
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22. Near Earth object
V. The plume of gas and dust from a comet
A region from which some comets come, extending from
the orbit of Neptune to a distance of 55 AU
K. The conversion of ultraviolet light into visible light
L. The force exerted by radiation on matter
M. A region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in which
most of the Solar System’s asteroids are located
Circle the letter that corresponds to the correct answer
23. The tail of a comet
a. is gas and dust pulled off the comet by the Sun’s gravity
b. always points away from the Sun
c. trails behind the comet, pointing away from the Sun as the comet approaches it and toward the
Sun as the comet moves out of the inner solar System
d. is gas dust expelled from the comet’s nucleus by the Sun’s heat and radiation pressure
e. both (b) and (d)
24. The bright streak of light we see as a meteoroid enters out atmosphere is caused by
a. sunlight reflected from the solid body of the meteoroid
b. radioactive decay of material in the meteoroid
c. a process similar to the aurora that is triggered by the meteoroid’s disturbing Earth’s magnetic
field
d. frictional heating as the meteoroid speeds through the gases of our atmosphere
e. the meteoroid’s disturbing the atmosphere so that sunlight is refracted in unusual directions
25. Meteor showers such as the Persieds in August are caused by
a. the breakup of asteroids that hit our atmosphere at predictable times
b. the Earth passing through the debris left behind by a comet as it moves through the inner Solar
System
c. passing asteroids triggering auroral displays
d. nuclear reaction in the upper atmosphere triggered by an abnormally large meteoritic particle
entering the upper atmosphere
e. none of the above
26. Astronomers think that most comets come from
a. interstellar space
b. material ejected by volcanic eruptions of the moons of the outer planets
c. condensation of gas in the Sun’s hot outer atmosphere
d. small icy bodies in the extreme outer parts of the Solar System that are disturbed into orbits that
bring them closer to the Sun
e. luminous clouds in the Earth’s upper atmosphere created when a small asteroid is captured by
the Earth’s gravitational force
27. The asteroid belt lies between the orbits of
a. Earth and Mars
b. Saturn and Jupiter
c. Venus and Earth
d. Mars and Jupiter
e. Pluto and the Oort cloud
28. Meteoroids originate from (there may be more than one correct answer)
a. Comet debris
b. Material left over from the formation of the Solar System
c. Asteroids
d. Material blasted off other planets in collisions
29. Short period comets have a period of around _______ and mostly come from the ______________
a. Decades to a few hundred years; Kuiper belt
b. A few hundred to a thousand years; Kuiper belt
c. Decades to a few hundred years; Oort cloud
d. A few hundred to a thousand years; Oort cloud
e. A thousand to a million years; Oort cloud
30. Strong evidence that the dinosaurs were killed by a meteor impact is provided by (there may be more
than one correct answer, select all that apply)
a. Mass extinctions 65 million years ago
b. A large crater in Arizona
c. Pieces of the asteroid that have been recovered
d. An unusually rich layer of a rate element in the rock record at 65 million years ago
e. A layer of 65-million-year-old soot in the rock record
Answer the following questions
31. How do we know what asteroids are made of?
32. What creates a comet’s tail?
33. What evidence is there that the Earth has been hit by asteroids or comets?
34. What was the Tunguska event?