Meteors, Comets, and Artificial Satellites

Meteor

Meteor

The brief burst of light that results when a small, solid object naturally falls to Earth from space; meteors are also known as shooting stars or falling stars.

Meteoroid

A small, solid object in space, usually a fragment from an asteroid or comet, that orbits the Sun.

Meteorite

A solid object from space that has fallen to the surface of Earth.

Cometary Meteoroids

These are fluffy little dust particles shed by comets.

Asteroidal Meteoroids

Range in size from microscopic particles to boulders are chips from asteroids, which are rocky bodies that orbit the Sun.

Micrometeorites

These are so small that they don’t create enough friction to burn up or disintegrate in the atmosphere, so they sift slowly down to the ground.

sporadic meteor

When you see a "shooting star" outside on a night, it's most likely a ____.

meteor shower

A _____ when numerous meteors appear and all appear to have originated from the same location among the stars.

Fireball

A dazzlingly bright meteor.

Bolide

A fireball that explodes or produces a loud noise even if it doesn’t break apart.

Radiant

The region of the sky or direction in space where a meteor shower appears to be coming from.

Quadrantids’ radiant

It is in the northeast corner of the constellation Bootes, the Herdsman.

Geminids

These are a meteor shower that seems to be associated with the orbit of an asteroid rather than a comet.

Leonids

These are unusual meteor shower that occurs around November 17 every year, usually to no great effect.

comet

It is visible for days, weeks, or even months while a meteor is only visible for a few seconds.

Comets

A stuck-together mixture of ice, frozen gases, and solid particles — the dust or “dirt”.

Nucleus

The head of a comet.

Coma

The gas and dust form a hazy, shining cloud around the nucleus.

Dust Tail

A smooth, sometimes gently curved appearance; usually a pale yellow.

Plasma Tail

A stringy, sometimes twisted, or even broken appearance; usually a blue color.

Ikeya-Seki

In 1965, Comet _____ could be seen next to the Sun in broad daylight if you held up your thumb to block the bright solar disk.

West

In 1976, Comet _____ was visible to the naked eye even in the night sky over downtown Los Angeles, one of the worst places to see celestial objects.

IRAS-Iraki-Alcock

In 1983, Comet ____ could be seen by the naked eye, actually moving in the night sky.

Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp

In the 1990s, the bright comets _____ appeared out of the blue and were witnessed by millions of people worldwide.

McNaught

In 2007, Comet became _____ the most brilliant comet since Ikeya-Seki in 1965, and for some lucky observers in the Southern Hemisphere, it was visible during the day.

Lovejoy

In 2011, Comet _____, spotted by a novice astronomer in Australia, traveled through the sun's extremely heated solar corona.

artificial satellite

It is a creation that humans have launched into space and is orbiting the Earth or another celestial body.

Hubble Space Telescope

It gives unparalleled views of the stars and distant galaxies and lets you view the universe in ultraviolet and infrared light that’s otherwise blocked by the thick layers of Earth’s atmosphere.

Iridium satellite

It usually appears as a moving streak of light that gets remarkably bright and then fades after several seconds. It moves much more slowly than a meteor.