Meteoroids, Meteors, Meteorites

Multiple Choice

How does a meteor compare to a meteorite? 

• A meteor is moving through Earth's atmosphere and the meteorite actually lands on Earth
• A meteorite is moving through the Earth's atmosphere and the meteor actually lands on Earth
• Meteors are made up of Carbon and meteorites are made of ice
• They are the same thing

Multiple Choice

What do comets and asteroids have in common?

• They both have a long elliptical orbit
• They orbit the sun between Mars and Jupiter
• They are both made up of rock, ice, and gas
• They are both leftovers from the materials that formed the solar system

Multiple Choice

What is one difference between an asteroid and comet?

• A comet orbits the sun and an asteroid does not
• An asteroid is formed from leftovers from the formation of the solar system and a comet is not 
• When a comet comes near the sun it loses material while an asteroid typically remains solid
• An asteroid orbits the sun in the oort cloud while a comet orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter

Multiple Choice

They are sometimes called shooting stars

• interplanetary dust
• asteroids
• comets
• meteors

Multiple Choice

Sometimes I am called a "dirty snowball". I have a hydrogen cloud, coma, and a nucleus. I am invisible except when near the sun. What am I?

• Asteroid
• Star
• Meteor
• Comet

Multiple Choice

When a meteor hits Earth, what is it called?

• meteorite
• meteroid
• meteor

Multiple Choice

One similarity between asteroids, comets and meteoroids is that they all:

• are made of rock
• come from the Asteroid Belt
• come from the Oort Cloud
• orbit the sun

Multiple Choice

What is this object?

• Meteoroid

• Meteor

• Meteorite