Comets, Asteroids and Meteors

{ Chapter 20

 A loose collection of ice, dust and small rocky particles  Orbits are very long and narrow ellipses  Comprised of 2 parts: Head and Tail  Originate from either Kuiper belt or Oort cloud Comets

 Two Parts: Head and Tail  Comet’s Head: Comprised of Coma and Nucleus  Brightest part of comet  Nucleus is the solid inner core  Coma: Clouds of gas and dust  Coma created by Suns energy  Comet Tail: Sun heats up gas and dust of comet creating tail  Tail always points away from Sun Anatomy of a Comet

Comet

Comet

Comet

Comet in orbit

 Asteroids: rocky objects too small to be considered Planets  Revolve around Sun between Mars and Jupiter  Asteroid Belt Asteroids

Asteroids

Asteroids

Asteroids

 Meteoroids: Chunks of rock or dust in space  Come from comets or asteroids  Meteor: Created as a meteoroid enters the atmosphere  Meteorite: Meteoroids that pass through atmosphere and hit Earths Surface Meteoroids

Meteor

Meteor Shower