Comets & Asteroids
Rebecca Davis
Comet Section
- A comet is an object in space made out of ice and dust.
- Comets were formed around 4.6 billion years ago.
- Comets were formed in space.
- Comets are formed from the left over material from where the planets formed.
- A comet is smaller than a planet and the gravitational pull from the surrounding planets and moons have a greater effect on the orbit. The course of a comet can be changed as it passes near something with a greater gravitational pull than itself.
- The planets have a set course for their orbit. A comet does not have a set orbit it just floats through space.
- A comet looks like a ball with a tail with the naked eye.
- A comet has a tail when it close to the sun because when it comes close to the sun the ice melts and becomes a solid vapor releasing the dust and the solar wind creates a tail.
Comets can be seen anywhere
Comets can be different colors
Halley's Comet
Chasing Comets in space
This video is about scientists in Switzerland making a sample of a comet. They have resorted to making samples because comets are so far away it takes forever to get to the comet and getting a sample is really hard. The samples are not exactly what you would think they should look like, they are rectangular and are very holy. Making these samples is not that hard, but you need to be extremely careful using the ingredients. One of the ingredients in liquid nitrogen which is at -200 degrees.
Asteroid Section
- An asteroid is a rocky body orbiting the sun.
- In space, a large rocky body in orbit around the sun is an asteroid. Smaller particles orbiting around the sun is a meteorite. When a meteorite enters the earths atmosphere and vaporizes it becomes a meteor.
- Objects that have been pushed by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to come close to earth.
- An important asteroid is the asteroid that hit earth 65 million years ago. This asteroid was a 10-kilometer asteroid hit north of the Yucatan Peninsula causing a global firestorm and killed the dinosaurs.
Asteroid in orbit
Crater made by an asteroid that hit earth
Crater made by am asteroid that hit earth
News Article
Scientists have known about asteroids for a long time but now we have the technology to track them. Scientists in Russia have found out that there is an asteroid that could possibly hit earth. Although it is unlikely that it will hit earth it could happen. One scientist says that it definitely won't hit earth in the next 2 years. The course of the Asteroid has multiple possible crash zones. It could hit us, Mars, Venus, or Mercury.
Sources
Sources
Comets
"HubbleSite - Reference Desk - FAQs." HubbleSite - Reference Desk - FAQs. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2014.
Google definitions
Asteroids
"Near Earth Objects." Near Earth Objects. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2014.
"Frequently Asked Questions." Frequently Asked Questions. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2014.
"History of Asteroid Impacts." History of Asteroid Impacts. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2014.
"370-Meter-Wide Asteroid Could Hit Earth, Russian Scientists Warn." Science 2.0. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2014.