Download Section 5- Comets, Asteroids, and Meteors

Comets, Asteroids, and Meteors
There are millions of small objects (smaller than planets and most moons) in space that
orbit the sun like other orbs in our galaxy.
Just like planets, these objects are held in orbit by gravity and inertia
Comet- “dirty snowball” or chunk of ice and dust that orbits the sun in a long, elliptical
pattern.
- Comets are roughly about the size of a mountain on Earth
- When they get close enough to the sun, the sunlight turns the ice into
gas and dust. (Which is the light you see in the sky)
- Since their orbits are so elliptical, very few comets pass near Earth
- Most come from an area in our solar system known as the Oort Cloud
Asteroid- oddly shaped space objects revolving around the sun that are too small and too
numerous (over 1 million) to be considered planets.
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nearly all of the asteroids in our solar system, orbit the sun in an area
between Mars and Jupiter known as the asteroid belt
The largest known asteroid, Ceres, is classified as a dwarf planet
Meteors- when a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere, friction burns the chunk up,
and forms a streak of light in the sky.
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A meteoroid is a chunk of rock or dust in space that usually breaks
apart from a comet or asteroid.
Meteor showers happen nearly all the time-do we always see them?
 Earth’s atmosphere rotates through meteoroids (space
debris)
If the meteor doesn’t completely burn up, than a meteorite-chunk not
burned up-would hit the Earth’s surface.