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WorksheetsSolar System Debris
Total questions: 40
Worksheet time: 20mins
What method was used to discover Pluto in 1929-1930?
look at irregularities (wobbles) in the motions of Uranus and Neptune
use one of the first radio telescopes to measure cold radio waves from Pluto
take pairs of photographs several days apart and “blink” them
Pluto was discovered by Galileo through one of his first telescopes.
What is this?
Asteroid
Comet
Meteor
Meteorite
A main difference between asteroids and comets is that asteroids are mostly composed of rock and comets are mostly composed of
metals.
carbon compounds.
ice.
water vapor.
Astronomers don’t really know what comets are made of.
What is this?
Asteroid
Comet
Meteor
Meteorite
More than 75% of the known asteroids
cross the Earth’s orbit at least once as they revolve around the Sun.
are made of icy material that is highly reflective.
were once part of a planet as large as Jupiter.
lie farther out from the Sun than the orbit of Saturn.
can be found in a belt between Mars and Jupiter.
What is this?
Asteroid
Comet
Meteor
Meteorite
Why do most astronomers today think that we have an asteroid belt and not a planet between Mars and Jupiter?
A planet exploded and broke apart.
Io’s volcanoes produced asteroids.
Jupiter’s gravity prevented material from accreting
The Sun’s wind stops “blowing” there.
What is this?
Asteroid
Comet
Meteor
Meteorite
Halley’s Comet was given that name because Edmond Halley was
the first person to ever see the comet.
the one who discovered that the orbit of the comet was such that it should return every 76 years or so.
the chief scientist who designed the probe that flew by the comet.
the first person to be hurt by pieces falling off the comet.
the prime minister of England at the time the comet was discovered.
What is this?
Asteroid
Comet
Meteor
Meteorite
A meteor shower is produced when
a large number of sporadic meteors are observed.
Earth passes through the asteroid belt.
massive particles are carried outward from the sun by the solar wind and enter Earth’s atmosphere.
Earth passes through the orbital path of a comet.
meteors cause condensation in the upper atmosphere that leads to early morning rains.
What is this?
Asteroid
Comet
Meteor
Meteorite
The short-period comets do not have randomly oriented orbits because
they are affected by the sun’s gravity.
they are affected by the solar wind.
they formed in the Kuiper Belt, a belt-shaped region in the plane of the solar system.
their orbits are altered by the drag of their tails in the solar wind.
they all were originally objects ejected from the asteroid belt.
What is this?
Asteroid
Comet
Meteor
Meteorite
Apollo Asteroids are significant because
they cross into Earth's orbit.
they were found during the Apollo missions to the moon.
they all were originally objects ejected from the asteroid belt.
they are affected by solar wind.
they are made of water ice.
What is this?
Asteroid
Comet
Meteor
Meteorite
Comets have been viewed as 'signs from the heavens" and leaders have used them to influence groups of people.
True
False
What comet is this painting associated with?
Halley's Comet
Hale-Bopp
Shoemaker-Levy 9
Temple-Tuttle
All meteorites that hit the ground are large and cause significant damage.
True
False
In which direction does its tail move as a comet orbits the Sun?
always towards the Sun
in multiple directions at once
always away from the Sun
always in the same direction outward from the comet
A comet that hit the earth is what caused the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.
True
False
Eventually a comet's ___ will sublimate (vaporize) completely after many trips around the Sun.
frozen ices
debris field
coma
tail
Meteorites give us a glimpse of what the solar system was composed of as it was forming ~4.5 billion years ago.
True
False
Most "long period" comets - whose orbits are 200 years or more - likely originate from the
Kuiper Belt.
asteroid belt.
Oort Cloud.
about the orbit of Pluto.
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) came together to decide on a definition of a planet. The definition states that a planet must do all of the following EXCEPT:
Orbit the Sun
Be massive enough that its gravity keeps it spherical
Clear its orbit of other debris
Orbit in the same plane as the rest of the solar system.
Very small particles from a comet's tail periodically hit Earth. This is called a
meteor shower.
alien intervention.
asteroid shower.
meteoroid bombardment.
Between the orbits of what two planets is the asteroid belt located?
The asteroid belt is located between the orbits of Earth and Mars.
The asteroid belt is located between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn.
The asteroid belt is located between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus.
The asteroid belt is located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
Because Pluto has not cleared its orbital path of debris, it was reclassified from a planet to a . . .
asteroid.
meteor.
moon.
dwarf planet.
The dwarf planet Pluto is one of the largest objects located in the Kuiper Belt.
True
False
Why do researchers believe that asteroids in the asteroid belt are primal rocks that did not merge into a planet?
The total mass of the asteroids in the asteroid belt is much smaller than that of any terrestrial planet in our solar system.
The differences in chemical compositions of the asteroids are too large for them to have originated in a single body.
Jupiter's gravity could have prevented these objects merging into a single body.
All of the above.
None of the above.
What is the defining property of the Trojan asteroids?
Their orbital periods are exactly one year, like ours.
They have orbits that cross the orbit of the Earth, but not that of Venus.
They have orbits at the distance of Jupiter and 60 degrees ahead of or behind it.
They have orbits between Saturn and Uranus.
Like Pluto, they are in a 3:2 resonance with Neptune.
Meteors are ___ that burn up as it enters Earth's atmosphere.
chunks of comets
asteroids
meteoroids
meteorites
What part of a comet has only been seen by a space probe?
meteoroid trail
dust tail
ion tail
coma
nucleus
Charon's orbit:
lies exactly in Pluto's orbital plane.
is highly inclined to Pluto's orbital plane.
is perpendicular to Pluto's equator.
is retrograde.
has not been determined yet.
The body which wiped out the dinosaurs was about:
as big as our Moon.
as big as one of Mars' moons.
a few hundred meters across.
as big as a 747.
as big as an SUV.
The major impact in the Yucatan wiped out the dinosaurs:
about 450 million years ago.
about 200 million years ago.
about 65 million years ago.
about 36 million years ago.
less than 2 million years ago.
What is a meteorite?
A meteoroid that is made of minerals
A meteor that has burned up completely and disappeared in Earth's atmosphere
A meteoroid that has landed in the ocean
A meteor that has made it through Earth's atmosphere and landed on Earth.
Why it is rare for a meteorite to make it to Earth?
The Earth's atmosphere usually burns it up.
Meteorites are only found near the asteroid belt.
They only make it through holes in the ozone layer.
They are deflected off ice crystals in the upper atmosphere.
