Asteroids, Comets, Meteoroids, and Craters

Asteroids, Comets, Meteoroids, and Craters

Multiple Choice

What is the biggest planet in our solar system?

• Earth

• Jupiter

• Saturn

• Uranus

Multiple Select

The big asteroid belt in our solar system is between what two planets?

• Earth

• Mars

• Jupiter

• Saturn

3 Types of Space rocks

• Comets

• Asteroids

• Meteoroids

Comets

• Small icy object that orbits the sun

• 3 Parts: a nucleus, a coma, and a tail

• Nucleus: a core of ice rock and dust.

• Coma: a cloud of dust and gas that forms when a comet gets close to the sun.

• Tail: gas from the coma that trails a comet pushed by solar wind

Comets

• Comets orbit the sun, in broad orbits

• Halley's Comet takes 75 years to orbit the sun

• The Hale-Bopp comet takes 2,533 years to orbit the sun.

Multiple Select

Which of the choices are characteristics of comets?

• coma

• tail

• green light

• ice

The Asteroid Belt

• Between Mars and Jupiter is a large band of asteroids

• Scientists think these were dust pieces that never formed a planet

• Or, they could be pieces of planets hit by asteroids

Multiple Choice

The total mass of all of the asteroids in the asteroid belt is less than the mass of Earth's Moon.

• True

• False

Asteroids

• irregularly shaped rocks

• Can be very large

• Large asteroids are sometimes called minor planets or planetoids

• Some asteroids even have a core like a planet

• Ceres was once classified as an asteroid, but is now considered a dwarf planet.

Ceres

• Largest object in the asteroid belt

• Classified as a dwarf planet

• Smaller than our moon

• Visited by a space craft/probeMay have water; possibility of life.

Vesta

• The largest asteroid in the asteroid belt

• Has a crust, mantle, and a core.

• Accounts for about 9 percent of the mass of all asteroids.

Multiple Choice

What is the largest asteroid in the asteroid belt?

• Ceres

• 4 Vesta

• Bennu

• Eros

Meteoroids and Meteors

• A shooting star is actually a meteor

• A meteor is a flash of light created by a meteoroid as it burns through our atmosphere

• Meteoroids are small pieces of dust or rock in space.

• Scientists think they are the left by comets

Meteor Showers

• There are a number of regular meteor showers

• Quatranids happen in late December

• Perseids happen late July through late August

• Leonids and Geminids happen through November and December

Multiple Choice

Which are smallest?

• Planets

• Meteoroids

• Comets

• Asteroids

Meteorites

• A meteor that makes it to Earth is called a meteorite

• There are 3 categories of meteorites: stony, iron, and stony-iron.Meteorites are very common - you can buy them.

• Stony-iron are the rarest, they are made of iron, nickle and rock.

Craters

• Craters are formed when large meteroids make it through Earth's atmosphere and collide with Earth

• There are smaller and larger craters all over the Earth. Some are easily spotted some are hidden.

• The last large crater is believed to have been formed 4000 years ago.

Space Rocks

• Asteroids ar large space rocks

• Comets are are small icy objects that orbit the sun. They have a nucleus, a coma, and a tail.

• Meteors are small space rocks and dust.

• All orbit the sun in some way or another.

• Craters are holes cause by meteoroids hitting the Earth (or other objects).

Multiple Select

Which objects are typically smaller than planets?

• asteroids, meteors, and stars

• Stars, comets, and asteroids

• Asteroids, comets, meteors

• Stars and nebula

Multiple Choice

What type of body has a nucleus, a coma, and a tail?

• asteroids

• meteoroids

• comets

• planets

Multiple Choice

Which kind of body can become a shooting star?

• meteroids

• comets

• asteroids

• planets

Open Ended

Why does the moon seem to have more craters than the Earth?

Have Great Afternoon!