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Reflection
Questions (5
possible test
questions):
COMETS, ASTEROIDS, AND METEORS
COMETS…
Comets are loose collections of _________, dust, or _______________ particles whose
_________________ are usually very long, narrow ellipses. You can think of a comet as a “dirty
______________________.”
The comet’s head…
When a comet gets close enough to the ______________, the energy in the sunlight turns the ice into gas,
releasing __________ and _______________. Clouds of gas and dust form a fuzzy outer layer called a
_______________. A comet’s coma has a solid inner core called a ____________________. The nucleus
and coma (the comet’s head) is the _________________________ part of a comet.
The comet’s tail…
As a comet approaches the sun and heats up, some of the gas and dust stream outward, forming a
__________________. The name “comet” means “___________________________ star” in Greek.
Most comets have two tails, a gas tail and a dust tail. Both tails usually point ____________________
from the sun due to the force of ______________________________ from the sun. A comet’s tail can be
more than _______________ million kilometers long.
Origins of comets…
Most comets are found in one of two distant regions of the solar system- the _______________________
belt and the _________________ cloud.
The Kuiper belt is a doughnut shaped region that extends from beyond __________________________
orbit to about _________ times Earth’s distance from the sun.
The Oort cloud is a spherical region of __________________ that surrounds the solar system out to more
than __________________ times the distance between ________________ and the sun.
ASTEROIDS…
Asteroids are ________________ objects in space that are too small and ____________________ to be
considered real _____________________. Most asteroids revolve around the sun between the orbits of
__________________ and _____________________. This region of the solar system is called the
______________________________________.
METEOROIDS…
A meteoroid is a chunk of rock or dust in space. Meteoroids come from ___________________ or
________________________. Some form when asteroids ___________________ in space; others form
when a comet breaks up and creates a __________________ of dust that continues to move across the
solar system.
METEORS…
When a meteoroid enters Earth’s ________________________, friction with the air creates heat and
produces a streak of __________________ in the sky- a meteor.
METEORITES…
If the meteoroid is _____________________ enough, it may not burn up completely. Meteoroids that pass
through the atmosphere and hit Earth’s ____________________ are called meteorites.
Summary
(5 sentences)
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