comets, asteriods, meteors, meteorites, meteoroid

comets

composed of metal, dust, ice, and elements like sodium and argon. Follows an elliptical path

exocomets

comets found outside the solar system

comet hale-bopp

passed near earth in 1996 and 1997

nucleus

also called as core; composed of ice, rock, and metal. Measure approximately 100 meters to 10 kilometers. Where the comet's mass is concentrated

ice dirtballs

nuclei that have large quantity of dust

coma

the spherical cloud of dust and gas that surrounds the nucleus. Comet’s head

Ion (or plasma) tail

comet tail formed when the solar wind separates gases from the coma, pushing them outward away from the Sun in a straight path.

Dust Tail

comet tail formed when the solar wind separates dust from the coma, pushing it outward away from the Sun in a slightly curved path.

Hydrogen envelope

surrounds the coma; usually found between two
tails; becomes larger as comet approaches the
sun

Short-period Comets

less than 200 years; come from kuiper belt

Long-period Comets

more than 200 years; originate from the oort cloud

sungrazers

comets that crash in the sun

Kuiper belt

beyond the orbits of the solar system

Oort Cloud

found far beyond the kuiper belt

Halley’s Comet

Found every 76 years

Asteriods

The largest minor bodies in the solar system; Considered minor planets – Planetoids; Composed of rocky metals that are mostly Iron and Nickel; Chunks of rocks with diameter sizes range from 10 meters to 530 kilometres across that orbit the sun ;Do not have regular shape; Originate from the Asteroid Belt

C-Type(carbonaceous Asteriods)

more than 75% known asteroids; extremely dark or almost black; consist of clay and silicate rocks

S-Type(silicaceous asteriods)

Includes about 17% of known asteroids; Relatively bright, reddish to greenish in color, and contain stony materials, nickel iron, and magnesium silicate materials

M-Type(metallic asteriods)

Includes the remaining percentage of known asteroids; Contain more metallic elements ; Relatively bright, reddish in color, and made up mostly of pure nickel-iron

Asteriod Belt

A portion in the solar system located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter; Holds more than 200 asteroids larger than 100 km in diameter; Scientists estimate that the belt also contains between 1.1 million and 1.9 million asteroids larger than 1 km in diameter and millions of even smaller one.

main belt asteriods

refers to a cluster of asteroids located in the
"missing planet" gap between Mars and Jupiter

Trojan

known to dwell along Jupiter’s orbital path and lie within the asteroid belt. The asteroids Hector, Diomedes, Agamemnon, Petrocius, and other asteroids within this region circle the sun for 12 years.

near-earth asteriods

can get close enough to Earth to cross the Earth’s orbital path

the Amor group

Members of the Amor group pass close to the Earth’s orbit, but never
cross it.

The Apollo Group

Members of the Apollo group cross Earth’s orbit, but spend most of
their time outside the orbit of the Earth

Aten Group

Members of the Aten group also cross the Earth’s orbit, but spend most
of their time inside the orbit of the Earth

Atiras group

Members of the ‘interior-to-Earth’s orbit’ asteroids (IEOs) spend all of their time inside the orbit of the Earth (they do not cross Earth’s orbit)

how are asteriods formed?

Asteroids are said to be remnants of the formation of the solar
system (about 4.6 billion years ago); Scientists believe that asteroids can tell us something about how the solar system was formed billions of years ago because
asteroids have not really changed through the years

danger of asteriods

Asteroids can spell danger especially if they hit Earth; Numerous asteroids have already struck Earth, but scientists say that there will be more asteroids that will hit out planet

alvarez hypothesis

hypothesis about the extinction of dinosaurs due to an asteriod; luis and walter alvarez

meteoroids

Small pieces of stony or metallic space debris that are usually parts of comets that break apart orbiting the Sun; Mostly consist of iron and nickel; Go around the sun at different velocities; as fast as 42 km per second within Earth’s orbit

how are meteors formed?

small fragments of asteriods

meteors

meteoroid passing through the atmosphere; shooting stars or falling star

meteor shower

a phenomenon when many meteors appear from the same point as a
result of the Earth passing through the former path of a comet. The
debris released by the comet causes the meteor shower.

fireballs

brightest meteors

why do meteors glow?

velocity of the meteor in the atmosphere; chemical composition of the meteoroid

meteorite

meteor that makes an impact on the earth’s crust