Asteroids, Meteors, and Comets Vocabulary

The ____________________ is the inner layer of a comet’s head.

• Coma

• Nucleus

• Asteroid

• Tail

A(n) ____________________ is a large, rock-shaped object in space that orbits the Sun and is generally smaller than a planet.

• Asteroid

• Nucleus

• Meteor

• Meteoroid

The ____________________ is the outer layer of a comet’s head.

• Nucleus

• Coma

• Tail

• Comet

A(n) ____________________ is a chunk of ice and dust traveling through space.

• Nucleus

• Coma

• Comet

• Tail

A(n) ____________________ is a rocky object, much smaller than an asteroid, that orbits the Sun.

• Meteor

• Meteoroid

• Meteorite

• Asteroid

A(n) ____________________ is a meteor that has traveled through the atmosphere and hit or landed on Earth’s surface.

• Meteor

• Meteoroid

• Meteorite

• Asteroid

A(n) ____________________ is a rocky object that produces a streak of light in the sky as it enters Earth’s atmosphere.

• Meteor

• Meteoroid

• Meteorite

• Asteroid

The ____________________ is the gas and dust pushed away from a comet, due to solar wind, which can be millions of kilometers long.

• Coma

• Tail

• Comet

• Nucleus