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SOL 6.8 Comets, Asteroids, and Meteors

Total questions: 45

Worksheet time: 30mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

What is a Comet?

a)

a rock that orbits the sun

b)

a glowing group of dust particles

c)

a ball of ice and dust that orbits the sun

d)

a ball of fire that orbits the sun

2.

What is #5 in the picture?

a)

Venus

b)

Sun

c)

Asteroid Belt

d)

Saturn

3.

What is a chunk of rock, metal, or dust in space?

a)

Meteor

b)

Comet

c)

Meteoroid

d)

Meteorite

4.

The belt between Mars and Jupiter

a)

Comets

b)

Asteroid

c)

Meteors

d)

Stars

5.
They are sometimes called shooting stars
a)
interplanetary dust
b)
asteroids
c)
comets
d)
meteors
6.

A meteorite is DIFFERENT from a comet mainly because

a)

has a tail of ice and gas

b)

is found in orbit between Jupiter and Mars

c)

enters the Earth's atmosphere and hits the ground

d)

has a nucleus mad of rock and snow.

7.

Sometimes I am called a "dirty snowball". I have a blue ion tail, a dust tail, a coma, and a nucleus. I am invisible except when near the sun. What am I?

a)

Asteroid

b)

Star

c)

Meteor

d)

Comet

8.
The tail of a comet usually faces
a)
toward the sun
b)
toward the Earth
c)
away from the Sun
d)
away from the Earth
9.

I am several kilometers in diameter, originate beyond the outer gas giant planets, thought to have struck early Earth, consists of ice and dust.

a)

comet

b)

asteroid

c)

meteor

d)

star dust

10.
We are composed mainly of rock and metal.
a)
comets and stars
b)
stars and meteors
c)
asteroid and meteors
d)
comets and asteroid
11.
I am a rock entering a planet's atmosphere.
a)
meteor
b)
meteorite
c)
asteroid
d)
comet
12.

The tails of a comet are called...

a)

Blue ion gas tail and dust tail

b)

Hydrogen tail and gas tail

c)

Dust tail hydrogen tail

d)

Coma and gas tail

13.
Burns and vaporizes as it nears the sun.
a)
asteroid
b)
meteoroid
c)
comet
d)
meteorite
14.
Where do comets originate from?
a)
our imagination
b)
the sun
c)
The Oort Cloud and Kuiper belt 
d)
unicorn landia  
15.

what is the comets tail made out of?

a)

gases

b)

dust

c)

all of the above

d)

ice

16.
What is the composition of most comets?
a)
rock, ice, salt, carbon
b)
rock, ice, magma, frozen gases
c)
ice, dust, rock, frozen gases
d)
ice, dust, rock, soil
17.
A small space rock that makes it into Earth’s surface without burning up is called a ...
a)
Meteor
b)
Meteoroid
c)
Asteroid
d)
Meteorite
18.
What is the layer that surrounds the nucleus of the comet called?
a)
Coma
b)
Hydrogen Cloud
c)
Outer nucleus
d)
Asteroid
19.

What do comets and asteroids have in common?

a)

They all are made of ice

b)

They all hit Earth's surface

c)

They all orbit the sun

d)

They have nothing in common

20.

Which of the following describes a Comet?

a)

Shooting star

b)

Generally found between Mars and Jupiter

c)

Orbit the sun like a planet

d)

Composed of a nucleus, coma, and tails

21.
I am a rock entering a planet's atmosphere.
a)
meteor
b)
meteorite
c)
asteroid
d)
comet
22.
When a meteoroid STRIKES the surface of the earth scientists refer to them as:
a)
Asteroids
b)
Comets
c)
Meteors
d)
Meteorites 
23.

What are meteors made of?

a)

chunks of rocks and/or metals

b)

Ice

c)

Air

d)

Gas and debris

24.
A shooting star is actually a...
a)
Comet
b)
Meteoroid
c)
Meteorite
d)
Meteor
25.
What is the very core of a comet called?
a)
Coma
b)
Comet
c)
Nucleus
d)
Hydrogen Cloud
26.
Found in the Oort Cloud
a)
asteroid
b)
meteoroid
c)
comet
d)
meteor
27.

What is the region of the solar system far beyond the orbit of the dwarf planet Pluto in which billions of comets orbit unless one is pulled into a highly eccentric elliptical orbit by a star such as our sun.

a)

Oort Cloud

b)

Asteroid Belt

c)

Earth Belt

d)

Stratus Cloud

28.

A region of the solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune, believed to contain many comets, asteroids, and other small bodies made largely of ice.

a)

Leather Belt

b)

Orion's Belt

c)

Kuiper Belt

d)

Chain Belt

29.

Which of these is the smallest?

a)

Asteroids

b)

Comets

c)

Meteroids

d)

Planets

30.

Which of these can be the largest?

a)

Asteroids

b)

Comets

c)

Meteroids

d)

Meteorites

31.

Which of these can become a shooting star?

a)

Asteroids

b)

Comets

c)

Meteroids

d)

Planets

32.

Many asteroids are found between Mars and which other celestial body?

a)

Moon

b)

Earth

c)

Jupiter

d)

Saturn

33.

What causes the tail of a comet to become visible?

a)

Earth

b)

Moon

c)

Sun

d)

Asteroid

34.

When a comet nears the sun, what happens to the nucleus?

a)

Becomes solid

b)

Becomes visibile

c)

Becomes gas

d)

It disappears

35.

You could name this if you were the first to see it.

a)

comet

b)

asteroid

c)

moon

d)

star

36.

Passes by the Sun approximately every 76 years.

a)

Ion's Comet

b)

Edmund's Comet

c)

Halley's Comet

d)

You're Comet

37.

This is a rocky mass up to several hundred kilometers wide and revolves around the sun.

a)

comet

b)

asteroid

c)

moon

d)

star

38.

This planet's gravity holds most asteroids in the area beyond Mars.

a)

Mars

b)

Uranus

c)

Venus

d)

Jupiter

39.

A small piece of an asteroid.

a)

meteor

b)

meteoroid

c)

meteorite

d)

asteroid

40.

Shooting stars

a)

meteor

b)

meteorite

c)

meteoroids

41.

Forms when a meteoroid hits the Earth's atmosphere.

a)

meteor

b)

meteoroids

c)

meteorites

42.

A piece of meteor that lands on Earth.

a)

asteroid

b)

meteor

c)

meteorite

d)

meteoroid

43.

Why don't more asteroids hit Earth?

a)

Earth's atmosphere burns them up

b)

They don't like Earth

c)

Most asteroids orbit in the asteroid belt

d)

They do, we just don't see them

44.

The coma and tail only form when the comet gets close to ______________.

a)

Earth

b)

Jupiter

c)

Sun

d)

Venus

45.

The shape of comet's paths are ________________.

a)

circular

b)

elliptical

c)

irregular