Asteroids, Meteors, and Comets
Chris Shroyer
Asteroids- larger than meteoroids, 3 different types
C-type= mostly made of carbon, very common
M-type= mostly made up of metals, very rare
S-type= mostly made up of silicon, reflect light
Meteoroids, meteors, meteorites
Meteoroids- When it is still in space
Meteor- When it is still in earth's atmosphere
Meteorite- When it hits the ground, much smaller
Comets
Nucleus-frozen center made of ice, gas, dust, very small
Coma- roughly spherical, gas surrounding nucleus, composed of water vapor, carbon dioxide, ammonia, dust, neutral gases.
Dust tail- made of dust, fades away from sun
Ion tail- charged gas, faces away from sun
Haley's comet is a famous comet.