Comet & Asteroid Assignment
By Christian Gray
Comets
- Comets are an object made of ice and dust that gets a "tail" when it gets close to the sun.
- Comets form when the remains of planets.
- Comets orbit the sun in a weird oval shaped when planets orbit the sun in a circular shape.
- From far away, comets look like balls of ice flying through space. From close up they look like rocks letting out gases and dust.
- The picture to the right is a picture of the comet ISON which scientist figured out recently to be a dud.
Video
This video was made by HISTORY. It is meant to teach the viewer about comets and a little bit about asteroids. It explains how comets have weird orbits. Also, why they get tails when they get close to the sun.
Video Citation
"The Universe: Comets." YouTube. HISTORY, 10 Sept. 2010. Web. 09 Dec. 2014. <https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=R8L_JcXJO4c>.
Asteroids
- Asteroids are rock in space that orbit the sun. They are to small to be considered planets, so people call them " minor planets".
- A meteorite is a lot smaller than asteroids and comets. Asteroids are medium sized rocks that orbit the sun. Finally, meteors are referred to the flash of light caused by a meteorite.
- A near-earth asteroid that has come to close to the earth or has been moved by the earths gravity.
- One theory is that an asteroid hit our planet and caused the dinosaurs to become extinct.
- The picture to the left shows an asteroid that came extremely close to the earth on Sunday September 5, 2014
Article
In this article, a Russian astrophysicist discovered a new asteroid that could be on a course to hit the earth.
News Article Citation
"Russian Scientist Discovers Huge New Asteroid That Could Crash to Earth | News."The Moscow Times. N.p., 7 Dec. 2014. Web. 09 Dec. 2014. <http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-finds-huge-new-asteroid-warns-could-crash-to-earth/512692.html>.