Download Animated Planets PowerPoint Presentation

May 23
Learning Target: Demonstrate the properties and
make-up of a comet
Vocabulary: 1. coma 2. ion tail 3. dust tail
Agenda:
Comet lab
Dr. Lutz
Because you asked……..
The next visible comet is Comet Faye. Comet Faye's last
perihelion was on November 15, 2006. It reached an apparent
magnitude of 9.5 during that orbit. The orbital period of Comet
Faye is 7.55 years
Its next perihelion will occur on May 29, 2014. During this next
appearance, its apparent magnitude is expected to be around 12.
The appearance of Comet Faye will come a few short months
after what many expected to be one of the brightest comets in
history, Comet ISON.
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Because you asked……..
The three main parts of the comet: the nucleus, coma,
and tail. Comets are composed of rock, dust, ice and
frozen gases such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide,
methane, and ammonia. Comets contain a variety of
organic compounds, some of these are methanol,
hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, ethanol, and ethane.
Complex molecules such as long-chain hydrocarbons
and amino acids may also be in comets.
Watch for a little history this summer
This picture, taken by the European Space
Agency's Rosetta spacecraft this spring shows
the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
emitting a halo of dust and gas as it approaches
the sun. Rosetta will make history later this
year when it orbits and lands on the comet's
surface.
Comets get their coma, when the sun heats
frozen gases erupting from the surface. Dust
particles remain in orbit around the nucleus, and
make it appear much larger.
Rosetta launched in 2004 but has taken a break
the last three years. ESA is activating its
instruments for the final approach to the comet
in August.
Professor Lutz is researching the physical
characteristics of planetary nebulae, their central
stars and how planetary nebulae fit into stellar
evolution. She also analyzes the spectra of
symbiotic stars (binaries containing an evolved
hot star and a cool star) to determine their
chemical compositions, velocities and variability.
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What is sublimation?
What is the coma?
What is the ion vs. dust tail?
What is the nucleus?
What is the hydrogen envelope?