Comets, Asteroids and Meteors

Where do comets originate in our solar system?

• The Oort Cloud

• Saturn's rings

• The Asteroid belt

• The Kuiper Belt

Comets are made of rocks, _____ and dust

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS1-1

In which direction do comets tails stretch?

• towards the sun

• away from the sun

what term best describes a small asteroid?

• Meteor

• comet

• pebble

• planetoid

draw the location of the asteroid belt located

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-3

Scientists think that a comet or asteroid hitting the Earth may have been responsible for the extinction of the _____________

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS3-2

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

Identify a term that best describes a very large asteroid (hint: remember Ceres)

• jovian

• meteorite

• meteor

• Planetoid/dwarf planet

Answer explanation

In 2015, NASA sent an expedition known as the Dawn Mission to Ceres, where it discovered water on the asteroid. The Dawn Mission also studied the second largest asteroid in the solar system - Vesta - in 2011 and 2012.

When a meteor comes into contact with the Earth's surface, it is known as a _________

True or False: An asteroid's atmosphere is made up of oxygen and carbon dioxide

• True

• False

Answer explanation

An asteroid has no atmosphere.

The orbit of a "short-period" comet around the sun takes...

• 200,000 years

• 200 years or less

• 50 years

• 200 years or more

Answer explanation

Short-period comets originate in the Kuiper belt and their orbits take 200 years or less. Long-period comets originate in the Oort Cloud and can take anywhere from 200 to 30 million years to orbit the sun!

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-1

NGSS.MS-ESS1-2