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Comets, Asteroids, and Meteors

Terms in this set (29)

Comet
A loose collection of ice, dust, and small rocky particles, typically with a long narrow orbit.
Coma
A comet's consists of a nucleus and a fuzzy outer layer of a comet.
Kuiper belt
A doughnut shaped region that stretches from around Pluto's orbit to about 100 times Earth's distance from the sun.
Oort cloud
A spherical region of comets that surrounds the solar system.
Nucleus
The solid inner core of a comet.
Asteroid
Rocky objects revolving around the sun that are too small and numerous to be considered planets.
Asteroid belt
The region of the solar system between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, where many asteroids are found.
Meteoroid
A chunk of rock or dust in space.
Meteor
A streak of light in the sky produced by the burning of a meteoroid in Earth's atmosphere.
Meteorite
A meteoride that passes through the atmosphere and hits Earth's surface.
Gravity and Inertia
The 2 factors that combine to keep Earth and the moon in their orbits are
Inertia
The tendency of a moving object to continue moving in a striaght line or a stationary object to remain in place is called
Gravity
All objects are attracted to each other by the force of
Comets or asteroids
Meteoroids usually come from
Mars and Jupiter
The asteroid belt is located
The masses of the objects and the distance between them
The strength of the force of gravity depends on
Most are less than 1 km in diameter and up to 300 km
What are the size of asteroids?
Inertia
If you are in a car that stops suddenly your body keeps moving because it has
About as large as a mountain excluding the tail
What are the size of comets?
Smaller than comets and asteroids
What are the size of meteoroids?
Composition and orbit
What are the two ways Earth is similar to comets, asteroids, and meteoroids?
Rock
What is the composition of asteroids?
Ice, dust, small rock particles
What is the composition of comets?
Rock or dust
What is the composition of meteoroids?
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto
What is the order of the planets starting from the the SUN?
Leftover pieces of the early solar system; most are found between Mars and Jupiter
What is the origin of asteroids?
Pluto
Which planet is now consider to be a dwarf or proto planet?
Meteor
What is the scientific name for a shooting star?
Meteor
When a meteoroid enters Earth's atmosphere, it produces a streak of light called a
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