How Well Do I Know Comets, Meteors, and Asteroids?

Comets, Meteors, & Asteroids Wrap-Up

Here are some slides and questions to review and quiz yourself on the information from EPS 5! If you are still having a hard time, let me know and we can find another way to review the information :)

The characteristics of comets include:
- Ice
- Methane
- Organics
- Dust,
- Rock
The size of comets ranges between 750 to 20,000 meters

Characteristics?

Giant mass of ice, rock, and other materials that formed near the OUTSIDE of the Solar System

It orbits the Sun in an elliptical path and disintegrates as it gets CLOSER to the Sun (this forms a characteristic "tail")

What Are They?

Let's Start with Comets

Multiple Choice

1) What are comets made of?

• ice

• rock

• other materials

• all of these are included in comets

Fill in the Blank

2) The following items make up a comet: _____, methane, organics, dust, and rock.

Drag and Drop

3) Comets can range between 750 and ​ _ meters in size.​

Placeholder

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

20,000

2,000

200,000

Comets can be found in 3 places:
1) Oort Clouds (pictured to the left)
2) Kuiper Belt
3) Orbits

​

Where can Comets be found in space?

distant "cloud" of rock

surrounds the Solar System VERY FAR AWAY

Oort Cloud

What Are These Three Places?

Kuiper Belt

Orbits

a region of icy objects

found at the edge of our Solar System BEYOND Neptune

Narrow paths that go around the Sun

Typically long

Fill in the Blank

4) Comets can be found in the following three places: ____________, the Kuiper Belt, and orbits.

Match

5) Match the following locations with where they are in the Solar System.

• Oort Clouds

• Kuiper Belt

• Orbits

a "cloud" of rock VERY far from our SS

icy objects beyond Neptune

narrow paths around the Sun

• a "cloud" of rock VERY far from our SS

• icy objects beyond Neptune

• narrow paths around the Sun

The pull of a planet OR other objects that are near the comet CHANGE the direction of its orbit

#1)

The gravitational pull of the SUN takes over and starts the comet on a NEW orbital path around the Sun!

​​#2)

How Do Comets Get to Earth??

Open Ended

6) Explain the two ways that a comet can get to Earth.

Comets are chunks of rock and ice FROZEN TOGETHER
- This is sometimes referred to as a dirty snowball

As the comet nears the Sun, ice and other frozen gases SUBLIMATE (turn to a gas from a solid)

​

What Do Comets Look Like?

​​A comet's tail ALWAYS points away from the SUN!!! It is NOT always behind the comet!

Multiple Choice

7) As a comet nears the sun, the ice and gases ______________.

• turn to liquid

• melt

• sublimate (turn to solid)

Fill in the Blank

8) Comets are chunks of rock and _____ frozen together.

Fill in the Blank

9) A comet's tail ALWAYS points ___________ from the Sun!

space rocks that are the size of sand grains to a tiny asteroid

Meteoroids, Meteors, & Meteorites

Now On to Meteors

​Meteoroid

Meteor

a burning up meteoroid moving toward Earth through the atmosphere

Meteorite

a meteoroid that survives the fall and lands on Earth!

​Characteristics?

Meteors are leftover debris from comets or asteroids! They are made of:
- Just Rock,
- Rock AND Metal, OR
- Just Metal

The size of meteors ranges between 20 feet to the size of a sand grain (smaller than an asteroid)

Match

10) Match the following words and definitions.

• Meteor

• Meteoroid

• Meteorite

burning up meteoroid

space rock (size of sand grain)

meteoroid that survived fall to Earth

• burning up meteoroid

• space rock (size of sand grain)

• meteoroid that survived fall to Earth

Multiple Choice

11) Meteors are leftover debris from a ________ or asteroid!

• meteorite

• comet

Fill in the Blank

12) TRUE OR FALSE: Meteors are ONLY made of rock and metal combined.

Multiple Choice

13) Meteors can be as small as a sand grain or as big as ___ feet.

• 20

• 200

• 2

• 2,000

Meteors are in the path of a COMET

OR

Falling into Earth's atmosphere (this creates a Meteor Shower)

Months that Showers happen:
- August = Perseids
- October = Orionids
- November = Leonids
- December = Geminids

​

Where Are Meteors Found in Space?

Multiple Choice

14) TRUE OR FALSE: Meteors are found in the path of a comet.

• True

• False

Match

15) Match the following months to the name of the meteor showers that happen.

• August

• October

• November

• December

Perseids

Orionids

Leonids

Geminids

• Perseids

• Orionids

• Leonids

• Geminids

Gravity between Earth and the meteoroid INCREASES as it gets CLOSER!

Meteoroid is pulled into EARTH's atmosphere!

As it moves through Earth's atmosphere, it BURNS UP!

​

How Do Meteors Get to Earth?

an oddly shaped rock that is too small to become spherical (like a planet)

Meteoroid

What Do Meteoroids, Meteors, & Meteorites Look Like?

Meteor

Meteorite

a streak of light as it enters Earth's atmosphere and burn up (a shooting star)

a burnt rock that is charred on the outside

Multiple Choice

16) A meteor gets to Earth by _______ pulling it closer to Earth, causing it to burn up!

• the atmosphere

• gravity

Match

17) Match the following words with their appearance.

• Meteorite

• Meteor

• Meteoroid

a burnt rock

a streak of light as enters atmosphere

oddly shaped rock

• a burnt rock

• a streak of light as enters atmosphere

• oddly shaped rock

Physical characteristics depend on how FAR the asteroids formed from the Sun
Some are made of clay and rock
Some are made of metals, such as nickel and iron
SIZE: 10 meters to hundreds of kilometers!

Characteristics?

Asteroids are huge hunks of rock and metal

They are smaller than dwarf planets

Asteroids orbit the Sun

What Are They?

Last, But Not Least, Asteroids!

Multiple Choice

18) Asteroids are...

• giant masses of ice, rock, and other materials formed at the outer edges of Solar System

• huge hunks of space rock and metal that orbit the Sun

• space rocks that get pulled in towards Earth and start to burn up, sometimes hitting Earth

Fill in the Blank

19) Asteroids are made of clay and rock or some metals depending on how ____ they formed from the Sun.

Most asteroids are found in the ASTEROID BELT (this is found in between MARS AND JUPITER)


Asteroid belt was NOT able to form into a planet due to the strong gravitational pull of JUPITER


NEO's (Near-Earth Asteroids) orbit the Sun and cut across the INNER PLANETS


TROJANS share orbits of a planet (Juipter, Neptune, Earth, and Mars have Trojan asteroids)

​

Where Are Asteroids Found in Space?

Multiple Choice

20) Where are NEO's located?

• on the outskirts of the Solar System

• in the Asteroid Belt

• orbiting the Sun and cutting across inner planets

Fill in the Blank

21) Trojans share orbits with a ____________.

Multiple Choice

22) TRUE OR FALSE: Only a few asteroids are found in the ASTEROID BELT.

• True

• False

Asteroids get pulled AWAY from the Asteroid Belt by GRAVITY

THIS STARTS A NEW TRAJECTORY AROUND THE SUN

It MAY INTERSECT Earth's Orbit

How Do Asteroids Get to Earth?

NASA sent a mission named LUCY to study Trojan asteroids

GRAVITY on MOST ASTEROIDS is MUCH LESS than on the moon, meaning things are held more WEAKLY

Facts

Asteroids are MASSIVE and oddly shaped

Covered in DUST and IMPACT CRATERS

Looks

What Do Asteroids Look Like?

Multiple Choice

23) Asteroids are pulled away from the _________________ by gravity, which causes the to intersect the orbit of Earth.

• Kuiper Belt

• Oort Cloud

• Asteroid Belt

Fill in the Blank

24) TRUE OR FALSE: Asteroids are small and spherical.

Multiple Choice

25) Asteroids are covered in...

• dust and impact craters

• ice

• metals

Open Ended

26) Why was LUCY sent by NASA into space?