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Comets and Asteroids

What they are Where the are They and Us. Comets and Asteroids. Comets – What they are. Comet – A body that produces a coma of gas and dust; a small, icy body that orbits the Sun Made of ice and dust

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Comets and Asteroids

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  1. What they are Where the are They and Us Comets and Asteroids

  2. Comets – What they are • Comet – A body that produces a coma of gas and dust; a small, icy body that orbits the Sun • Made of ice and dust • Comets form tails when they pass through the inner solar system because solar radiation turns ice into gas • A comets tail always points away from the Sun • Range in size from 1 mile (think the distance from EWA to the Walmart) to 200 miles (think the distance from the bottom of NC to the top of NC) wide

  3. Anatomy of a Comet

  4. Comets – Where they are • Most comets are found in the Kuiper Belt (about 50 AU from the Sun) and the Oort Cloud (about 50,000 AU from the Sun) • A few comets orbit in the inner solar system due to gravitational tug • Comets may or may not orbit the Sun in the same direction as the planets

  5. Anatomy of a Comet

  6. The Life of a Comet • Scientists believe comets originated from the leftover debris from the creation of the solar system about 4.6 billion years ago • When comets are in the Kuiper Belt or the Oort Cloud, they are balls of ice • The comet head (coma) forms when the comet enters the inner solar system. The tail forms as a result of soar radiation turning the ice directly into gas and dust. • Comets lose ice and dust when they pass through the inner solar system • Eventually comets lose too much ice and break apart

  7. Comets – They and Us • Comets are usually undetectable to the naked eye, but may become visible when passing through the inner solar system • Meteor showers occur when Earth passes through a stream of particles left behind by a comet in its orbit • A notable comet: Halley’s comet

  8. Halley’s Comet • http://science.discovery.com/videos/100-greatest-discoveries-shorts-halleys-comet.html • Halley’s Comet can be seen from Earth about every 75 years • It is the only short period comet clearly visible with the naked eye

  9. Asteroids – What they are • Asteroid – A small, solid, rocky body that orbits the Sun. • Asteroids are made of rocks and metals • They do not form tails • Range in size from 1000 km (the width of North Carolina) to less than 1 km (halfway from EWA to the Walmart). • Irregular shapes due to weak gravitational pull • Surfaces covered with craters, broken rock and dust

  10. Asteroids – Where they are • Asteroids are found in the asteroid belt, located between Mars and Jupiter • They orbit the Sun in the same direction as the planets • There are over 4,000 asteroids in the asteroid belt • http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/fireballs-from-space-shorts-asteroid-belt.html

  11. Asteroids – They and Us • Asteroids are almost always undetectable to the naked eye • Asteroids produce meteors (streaks of light) upon entering Earth’s atmosphere and produce meteorites if they survive the trip through the atmosphere and hit the ground • Leave impact craters when they hit the Earth

  12. Barringer Meteor Crater, AZ

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