Download Comets, Asteroids, Meteoroids

Welcome to Science 12/13/10
• Open your books to page 557-561 and use
these pages to begin completing the outline you
just received.
• Today’s Schedule
• 1. Schedule for the week
• 2. Science Folder/Notes Organized
• 3. Question of the Day
• 4. Discussion on Comets, Asteroids, & Meteors
Science Folder/Notes
• These items should be in your Science Folder
and should be studied for Friday’s Test
5 Key Concepts Paper
• Big Bang Theory/Solar System Flow Chart
• Sun Packet
• Planet Packet
• Comets, Asteroids, & Meteoroids Packet
• Life Beyond Earth Packet
• Word Wall List
Question of the Day
• What is most likely the object that hit Earth in
the picture below? A comet, asteroid,
meteoroid, meteor, or meteorite?
• Most likely it was an asteroid
• Why study comets, asteroids, & meteoroids.
• Because they threaten the existence of life on
Earth
•
Ultra Science: Hitting Earth :
Comets
• What is a comet?
• Small body of ice, dust, and small rocky
particles packed together that orbit the sun.
“dirty snowballs”
• Where do they come
from?
• Cold outer solar system.
• Oort Cloud & Kuiper Belt
Why are comets important?
• Comets are made of the “leftovers” from the
process of planet formation.
• Each comet is a sample of the early solar
system.
A Comet’s Tail
When a comet passes close to the sun, the
heat from the sun evaporates the water in the
comet creating a tail of gas and dust.
Comet Orbits
• Like the planets, comets also orbit the sun in an
ellipse.
• A comet’s tail will point away from the sun as it
gets closer to the sun.
•
Interactive Comet Animation
Asteroids
• Large rocky objects that orbit the sun between
Mars & Jupiter (asteroid belt)
• Like comets, asteroids are the leftovers from
the formation of the solar system.
Meteoroids
• Meteoroid- small chunk of rock or dust. Could
be a piece of a comet or asteroid
• Meteor- meteoroid that enters Earth’s
atmosphere & creates a streak (shooting star)
• Meteorite- meteor that hits Earth’s surface
Impact of Asteroids & Meteoroids
• The main theory on the extinction of the
dinosaurs is that it was caused by an asteroid
strike.
• Could an asteroid hit again?
• Yes
• Will it happen again?
• Yes
• When will it happen?
• 2014 & 2021 Possibly
• Ultra Science: Hitting Earth :
Bad Universe: Asteroid Impact Simulation
Watch The Asteroid Threat: