Comets! Asteroids!

Meteors!

Oh, my!
What makes up our Solar System?
• The sun
• Planets
• Moons
• Meteors
• Comets
• Asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter)
• Lots of space
• All sorts of bits and pieces of rock
 Comets
• Bodies in space made up of ice, dust,
small gritty particles
• Sometimes called “dirty snowballs”
• When close to the sun, ice vaporizes,
producing a spectacular streak of gas,
referred to as a “tail”
• Many in a regular orbit around the sun
• They are remnants from the formation of
our solar system 4.6 billion years ago
Comets
Three Basic Parts of a Comet
1. Nucleus- believed to be solid
containing the chunk of dust, ice
or frozen gas, water vapor and
other materials.
2. Coma – which surrounds the
nucleus, composed of gas and
small bits of rocks and dust.
3. Tail – made of gas or dust
particles, or both.
- may have one or more tails.
- A comet has a tail when it is near
the sun due to the melting of icy
constituents and dust blown away
by the solar wind making it very
bright and causing it to form its tail
disappears.
 Where do comets come from?
• Many originate in a region called the Oort
cloud which is located beyond the solar
system
• Others originate in the Kuiper Belt
beyond the orbit of Neptune
• This region is filled with billions of comets
Groups of Comets according
to their order of appearance
1. SHORT PERIOD COMETS (Kuiper
Belt)– are those with orbits that take less
than 200 yrs.
Ex. Halley’s Comet – most famous comet of
the 20th century.
Edmund Halley predicted it to appear every
75 to 79 yrs.
240 BCE – earliest appearance
1986 – last appearance
2061 – predicted to reappear

2. LONG PERIOD COMETS ( Oort

Cloud)
- Have orbital period of more than 200 yrs.
Famous Comets
*Comet Hale-Bopp – contain
Argon which was believed to explain
the very bright appearance of the
comet in 1997
*Halley’s Comet
*Comet Hyakutake – discovered by Yuji
Hyakutake, reached the closest point to
earth in its path through the inner solar
system on March 25, 1996
A Comet’s Tail
 Asteroids
• An irregularly shaped
rocky object in space
(like a space potato)
• May be the shattered
remains of objects left
over from the time
when the planets
were formed
 How big are asteroids?
• Larger than meteoroids
• (In fact, the main difference between
meteoroids and asteroids is their size.)

• Size ranges from 10 feet across to bigger

than a mountain
 Asteroids
• Most are in a band that orbit the sun
between Mars and Jupiter (Asteroid Belt).
Scientists estimated that there are more
than 750,000 asteroids (Asteroid Belt)
• Asteroids are also called minor planets or
planetoids.
 Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs)
• At least 1000 asteroids orbit outside of the
Asteroid Belt – these could be a danger to
Earth
• Asteroids that cross Earth’s orbit are
called Near-Earth Asteroids or NEAs
• But if it did, the affect of the impact would
depend on the size of the asteroid
CLASSIFICATION OF ASTEROIDS
According to their size:
*Ceres – (named after the Roman goddess
of agriculture and as the protecting goddess
in Sicily)
- Largest asteroids with a diameter of 940
km
* Pallas - second to the largest, with a
diameter of 540 km.
* Vesta – with a diameter of 510 km.
Other asteroids that range from 50 t 100
km in diameter
* Ida – about 36 miles wide.
• 1991 BA - is one of the smallest
measuring only 20 feet across.
According to their color and composition
• C-type asteroids or carbonaceous
asteroids - are greyish in color and the
most common; 75% of the asteroids fall
in this category and they inhabit the
main belt.
• S-type asteroids or silicaceous
asteroids- are made up of iron and
magnesium silicate making them greenish
to reddish in color. 17% of this type
dominating the inner asteroid belt.
• M-type asteroids or metallic asteroids –
are rich in metallic substances such as
nickel-iron, giving them reddish in color.
Inhabit the middle region of the main belt
According to their position:
• Athens – lie outside the asteroid belt, near
the orbit of Mars including Ceres, Pallas,
Juno and Vesta.
• Apollos – lie near earth, which sometimes
crosses Earth’s orbit including
Icarus(reached the Earth at about 6 million
km.) Geographos( reached Earth about
9km), Eros(reached Earth about 485,000
miles
• Trojan – known to dwell along Jupiter’s
orbital path and lie within the asteroid belt.
Meteoroid, Meteor, Meteorite
What’s the difference?
 Meteor
• Sometimes called a
“Shooting Star”
• When a meteorite
enters Earth’s
atmosphere, friction
causes them to burn
up, producing a
streak of light
 Where do they come from?
How big are they?

• Pieces of rock that broke off other objects

• Sizes range from as small as a pebble or
as big as a huge boulder
 Are they dangerous?
• Most meteoroids disintegrate before
reaching the earth by burning up in Earth’s
atmosphere
• Some leave a trail that lasts several
minutes
• Meteoroids that reach the earth are called
meteorites. Large ones can cause
damage
 Flagstaff, Arizona
• 49,000 years ago
• Meteorite about 150
feet in diameter
• Weighed 650 pounds
• Energy = 2.5 million
tons of dynamite
• 4000 feet wide, 650 Barringer Meteorite Crater
feet deep
• Still visible today
 What’s a “Meteor Shower”?
• Usual rate = six meteors per hour
• During a Meteor Shower = rate may be as
high as 60 meteors per hour
• Occur when Earth passes through the tail
or debris of a comet
• Presides (mid-August)
• Leonids (mid-November)
 What do Scientists Think
Happened?
• Forests were wiped clean for a distance of
300 to 600 miles in all directions
• 300 foot wave struck the coast of Texas
• Powerful Earthquakes
• Landslides destroyed long stretches of
coastline
 What do Scientists Think
Happened
• Explosion threw huge amounts of debris
into the air, covering large parts of North
America
• Poisonous gases and dust soared high
into the atmosphere, spread over most of
the Earth, and then fell back onto the
Earth’s surface
 What do Scientists Think
Happened
• Sunlight was blocked from reaching the
Earth’s surface for many months
• Temperatures plummeted to the freezing
point in normally warm areas
• Not enough sunlight for photosynthesis
• Plants died . . . Animals died
• Many animals became extinct (including
many types of dinosaurs)
 The Rise and Fall of Life on Earth

• See the dip around 65 Million years ago?

• This represents the extinction of about 75% of all
the species alive at that time.
 Is the Earth in danger of a large
asteroid impact?
• Not that we know of!
• None of the asteroids or comets
discovered so far is on a collision course
with Earth.
• However, we can't speak for those that are
not yet discovered. In principle, one of
those could hit any time, but statistically
the chances are very small.
 Torino Scale
• A system used to rate the hazard level of
an object moving toward Earth
 Review
• Q: What is the difference between a
meteoroid, meteororite, and a meteor?

• Meteoroid = while in space a meteorite is

called a meteoroid
• Meteorite = a small rock or rocky grain that
strikes Earth’s surface
• Meteor = “Shooting Star”
 Review
• Q: What is the difference between an
asteroid and a meteoroid?
• The main difference is the size of the
object.

• Q: Which is larger, asteroid or meteoroid?

• Asteroids are larger than meteoroids.
 Review
• Q: Why is it important to study smaller
bodies in our Solar System such as
comets or asteroids?

• They help us learn about the history of our

Solar System.
 Review
• Q: Why do planets and moons with
atmospheres have less impact craters
than those without atmospheres?

• The atmosphere slows and burns smaller

objects like meteorites, thus many do not
reach the surface to create an impact.
 Review
• Bright streaks of light that result when
rocky bodies burn up in the atmosphere
are called ___________.
• Frozen bodies made of ice, rock, and dust,
sometimes called “dirty snowballs” are
called _____________.
• Small, rocky bodies that revolve around
the sun are called ______________.
 Review
• Bright streaks of light that result when
rocky bodies burn up in the atmosphere
are called meteors.
• Frozen bodies made of ice, rock, and dust,
sometimes called “dirty snowballs” are
called comets.
• Small, rocky bodies that revolve around
the sun are called asteroids.
 Review
• Q: Discus what could happen if the Earth
experienced another large asteroid impact.
How would it affect life on Earth?

• Forests flattened for many miles

• If asteroid landed in water, it would cause
giant waves and landslides
• Powerful Earthquakes
 The devastation continues…
• Poisonous gases and dust fills the
atmosphere, blocks out the sun
• Temperatures drop drastically
• No photosynthesis = plants die = animals
die
• Some animals become extinct
 Review
• Q: Where is the Asteroid Belt?
• Asteroid Belt is between Mars and Jupiter

• Q: What is the Torino Scale?

• A system used to rate the hazard level of
an object moving toward Earth
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 CHARACTERISTICS

Appears as a streak in
the sky
Frozen ball of dust

Is visible in our sky

Made up of rock
Orbits the Sun
Orbits between Jupiter
and Mars

Often called “Shooting

Stars”
Usually burns up the
Earth’s atmosphere