Comets & Asteroids
Makayla Walker
Describe a Comet
- A comet is classified as a celestial object consisting of a nucleus of ice and dust and, when near the sun, a "tail" of gas and dust particles pointing away from the sun.
- May look like a fuzzy faint but bright ball with 2 tails in the sky.
- Comets are made of old leftovers of the sun, planets, and moons formed together.
Explain when, where, and how they are formed
- Composed of Rock, Dust, and Ice
- It is the "leftovers " of planets, the sun, and moons
- Formed in space which orbits around the the solar system and is soon enough pulled by some type of force to planets
- In Earths case it's pulled by Gravity
Compare and Contrast the orbit of a Comet to planetary orbit
Compare
- They all revolve around the Sun (orbit)
- The Comet goes closer to and further from the sun than the planets
- Comets are much faster and last a lot longer than a year
Describe what comets look like from afar and from Earth
- From Earth it looks like a fuzzy ball of fire
- Close up the comet looks like a ball of rock and fire
Why do Comets have a tail
- When a Comet gets close to the sun it starts to heat up
- The ice particles Transforms into a vapor
- The solar wind sweeps the vapor back making a tail
Halley's Comet
- Has orbited the Sun for 75 years.
- Is seen from earth every 75-76 years
- Website says predicted next perihelion is July 28, 2061
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
- Founded March 24, 1993
- It broke apart and collided with Jupiter
Hyakutake
- It's orbital period is 113,707 years
- Found January 31, 1996
- It was Extremely close to earth in March 1996
What are Astroids?
A small rocky body orbiting the Sun.
What are they made of?
- The ones closest to the sun are usually made so carbon. The ones further away are usually made of silicate rock
- The Metallic rocks are 80% iron and 20% is a mix of nickel, iridium, palladium, platinum, gold, and many other metals
How are they formed?
Almost like Comets, Asteroids are leftovers from the formation of the Solar System.
Facts
- Most asteroids are usually on the asteroid belt
- Asteroids are also closer to the sun than comets
- Asteroids are also much bigger than comets
- Scientists have found that There are millions of asteroids in space and only about 4,000 comets
Difference between an Asteroid, Meteor, and Meteorite
- A meteor is the flash of light that we see in the night sky when a small chunk of interplanetary debris burns up as it passes through our atmosphere. "Meteor" refers to the flash of light caused by the debris, not the debris itself.
- The debris is called a meteoroid . When the meteoroid hit the ground it becomes a meteorite
- Asteroids are generally larger chunks of rock that come from the asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
Explain what a Near Earth Asteroid is
- Near Earth Objects are comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter Earths neighborhood
Event Information
Asteroid Impact
- A Asteroid entered the Earths Atmosphere over Russia in the city Chelyabinsk.
- It exploded over the city causing many injured people and damaged buildings
- The people were mostly hurt by glass which was ruptured by the sound wave of the explosion
- Only 2 people were severely injured but there were no casualties
When?
Friday, Feb 15, 2013, 03:15 PM
Where?
Russia, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Chelyabinsk
The 2014 Da14
- Asteroid 2014 DA14 will return to Earths periphery in 2046, on February 15, it will fly by at a distance of a million miles