Download 1 - Humble ISD

Name: _________________________________ Date: __________________ Period: _______
Dwarf and Minor Planet Webquest
1. Go to this url: www.universetoday.com/34727/minor-planets/
Use the information on this site to answer the following questions:
1.1. What does the term “minor planet” refer to?
1.2. What was the first minor planet discovered?
1.3. How long has the term been in use?
1.4. What separates dwarf planets from the more irregularly shaped small solar system bodies?
1.5. How many minor planets are registered? How many more are added each month?
1.6. What were the first Asteroids named after?
1.7. What did astronomers think asteroids were at first?
1.8. What are some categories for minor planets?
1.9. What are Trans-Neptunian Objects?
1.10. How can Ceres be classified?
2. Go to this URL: http://tinyurl.com/Pluto-Planet-Please
Alternate url: http://www.universetoday.com/13573/why-pluto-is-no-longer-a-planet/#
Use the information on this site to answer the following questions:
2.1. When was Pluto discovered and by whom?
2.2. How did comparing photographic plates allow Pluto to be discovered?
2.3. What was Pluto named for?
2.4. How does Pluto’s mass compare to Earth’s? How big is Pluto?
2.5. Pluto and its moons are now known to be just a large example of a collection of objects called…
2.6. How many icy objects are out there with Pluto?
2.7. What bombshell did Mike Brown and his team drop in 2005?
2.8. What is the name of this object?
2.9. How does its size and mass compare to Pluto?
Dwarf and Minor Planets
ACT12.2
Page 1 of 3
Name: _________________________________ Date: __________________ Period: _______
Dwarf and Minor Planet Webquest
2.10. What organization decided the status of Pluto and the other objects?
2.11. What are the three requirements to be a planet?
2.12. What does “cleared its neighborhood” mean?
2.13. If an object doesn’t meet the third requirement for being a planet, what is it?
2.14. What mission is going to study Pluto and when will it get there?
3. Go to this url: nineplanets.org/asteroids.html
Use the information on this site to answer the following questions:
3.1. When was the first asteroid discovered?
3.2. By the end of the 19th Century, how many minor planets had been discovered?
3.3. How many have been discovered by now?
3.4. How many asteroids are known to be larger than 200 Km?
3.5. How many are in the 1 Km range?
3.6. How does the total mass of all the asteroids compare to Earth’s moon?
3.7. What is the largest asteroid, and what percentage of the total mass of the asteroids does it
contain?
3.8. What are asteroids classified by?
3.9. Complete the following:
o
________________, includes more than 75% of known asteroids: extremely dark (albedo
0.03); similar to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites; approximately the same chemical
composition as the Sun minus hydrogen, helium and other volatiles;
o
________________, 17%: relatively bright (albedo .10-.22); metallic nickel-iron mixed with
iron- and magnesium-silicates;
o
________________ , most of the rest: bright (albedo .10-.18); pure nickel-iron.
Dwarf and Minor Planets
ACT12.2
Page 2 of 3
Name: _________________________________ Date: __________________ Period: _______
Dwarf and Minor Planet Webquest
o
There are also a __________________ or so other rare types.
3.10. Surprisingly, asteroid Mathilde's density turns out to be not much greater than that of water.
What does this suggest?
3.11. What is another way that asteroids are categorized?
3.12. Complete the following:
____________________: located between Mars and Jupiter roughly 2 - 4 AU from the Sun; further
divided into subgroups: Hungarias, Floras, Phocaea, Koronis, Eos, Themis, Cybeles and Hildas (which
are named after the main asteroid in the group).
___________________: ones that closely approach the Earth
___________________: semimajor axes less than 1.0 AU and aphelion distances greater than 0.983 AU;
___________________: semimajor axes greater than 1.0 AU and perihelion distances less than 1.017 AU
___________________: perihelion distances between 1.017 and 1.3 AU;
___________________: located near Jupiter's Lagrange points (60 degrees ahead and behind Jupiter in its
orbit). Several hundred such asteroids are now known; it is estimated that there may be a thousand or
more altogether. Curiously, there are many more in the leading Lagrange point (L4) than in the trailing
one (L5). (There may also be a few small asteroids in the Lagrange points of Venus and Earth (see Earth's
Second Moon) that are also sometimes known as Trojans; 5261 Eureka is a "Mars Trojan".)
3.13. What is interesting about asteroid 4 Vesta?
3.14. What does that imply?
3.15. How many asteroids are visible with the naked eye?
4. Go to the following url:
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/common/content/BlinkComparator/blinkComparator.html
This animation simulates the blink comparator used by Clyde Tombaugh to discover Pluto. It will
allow you to rapidly switch between images, or “blink” them. By doing this, you will look for
something moving.
4.1. In the lower left, find the box for “Blink Mode.” Click “Manual”.
4.2. Click on the “BLINK” button to switch to the second image.
4.3. Continue to click on the “BLINK” button to switch between images. While you are doing this,
scan the images to find the object that is moving. It will be the dot that is one position on one
image and another spot on the second.
4.4. When you think you have found Pluto, drag the “Pluto 1” and “Pluto 2” boxes to show where you
think it is. Then click on “SUBMIT LOCATIONS” to see if you are correct.
4.5. If you weren’t correct, try zooming in.
Dwarf and Minor Planets
ACT12.2
Page 3 of 3