Download Week 7 Notes Comets, Meteors, and Asteroids

Week 7 Notes
Comets, Meteors, and Asteroids
Ch 3, Section 5
Page 104 – 107
I. COMETS
a. A __COMET__ is a dirty __SNOWBALL__ about the size of a
__MOUNTAIN__
b. Comets are loose collections of __ICE__, __DUST__, and
small __ROCKY__ particles.
c. Comets orbits are usually very __LONG__ narrow
__ELIPSES__
A. A Comet’s Head
a. The cloud of __GAS__ and __DUST__ that comes off the
head when a comet gets near the __SUN__ is called the
__COMA__
b. The __SOLID__ inner core of a comet is called the
__NUCLEUS__
B. A Comet’s Tail
a. Gas and Dust from a comet’s __HEAD__ streams out to form
a __TAIL__
b. Comet means __LONG-HAIRED STAR__ in Greek
c. Most comets have __2__ tails: __GAS TAIL__ and __DUST
TAIL__
d. The comet’s __TAILS__ point __AWAY__ from the __SUN__
e. A __COMET’S__ tail can be more than __100__ million
kilometers long. (62 million miles)
C. Origin of Comets
a. The __KUIPER BELT__ is a doughnut-shaped region that
extends beyond __NEPTUNE’S__ orbit to about __100__ times
Earth’s __DISTANCE__ to the sun.
b. The __OORT CLOUD__ is a __SPHERICAL__ region that
__SURROUNDS__ the Solar System about 1,000 time the
distance between __PLUTO__ and the __SUN__
II. ASTERIODS
a. Objects in __SPACE__ that are too __SMALL__ and
__NUMEROUS__ arec called __ASTEROIDS__
b. __MOST__ asteroids __REVOLVE__ around the sun between
the orbits of __MARS__ and __JUPITER__
c. The area between Mars and Jupiter is known as the
__ASTEROID BELT__
d. __ASTERIODS__ are thought to be __LEFT-OVER__ parts of
the __SOLAR SYSTEM__ that never formed into a __PLANET__
III. METEORS
a. A __SHOOTING STAR__ is actually called a __METEOR__
b. On average there is a __METEOR__ every __10__ minutes
c. A __METEROID__ is a chunk of __ROCK__ or __DUST__ in __SPACE__.
Meteoroids come from __COMETS__ or __ASTEROIDS__
d. When a meteoroid enters __EARTH’S__ atmosphere __FRICTION__ with
the air creates __HEAT__ and produces a streak of __LIGHT__ in the sky.
e. __METEOROIDS__ that are too __BIG__ make it pass the
__ATMOSPHERE__ and hit Earth’s surface are called __METEORITES__
f. The __CRATERS__ on the __MOON__ were formed by __METEOROIDS__