Comets, Dwarf Planets, Asteroids, and Meteor Questions

1. In 2006, astronomers decided that (a)   would no longer be considered a planet.

2. All comets have a ___________________ that is composed of ice and rock.

• tail
• nucleus
• coma

3. There are two regions in the Solar System where comets might come from, the ____________________ belt and the __________________ cloud.

• Asteroid, Kuiper
• Kuiper, Oort
• Asteroid, Oort

4. A spherical region that surrounds the Solar System that extends from the Kuiper Belt to almost halfway to the nearest star and that contains billions of comets is called a/an ______________________________.

• Asteroid Belt
• Kuiper Belt
• Oort Cloud

5. List the 5 current dwarf planets. ___________________, ___________________, _____________________, _______________________, and ___________________.

• Ceres
• MakeMake
• Eris
• Pluto
• Haumea

6. A/an _______________________ is a small, irregularly shaped, rocky object that orbits the sun.

• comet
• asteroid
• meteor
• meteorite

7. A bright streak of light that results when a meteoroid burns up in Earth’s atmosphere is called a ____________________.

• comet
• asteroid
• meteor
• meteorite

8. Most _____________________ are located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

• asteroids
• dwarf planets
• comets
• meteors
• meteoroids

9. A _______________________ is a small body of ice, rock, and dust that follows a highly elliptical orbit around the sun.

• meteor
• asteroid
• comet
• meteoroid
• meteorite

10. The __________________________ is a region of the Solar System that begins just beyond the orbit of Neptune and contains small bodies made mostly of ice.

• Oort Cloud
• Kuiper Belt
• Asteroid Belt