Comets, Asteroids and Meteors Chapter 20

Comets A loose collection of ice, dust and small rocky particles Orbits are very long and narrow ellipses Comprised of 2 parts: Head and Tail Originate from either Kuiper belt or Oort cloud Comets

Anatomy of a Comet Two Parts: Head and Tail Comet’s Head: Comprised of Coma and Nucleus Brightest part of comet Nucleus is the solid inner core Coma: Clouds of gas and dust Coma created by Suns energy Comet Tail: Sun heats up gas and dust of comet creating tail Tail always points away from Sun Anatomy of a Comet

Comet

Comet

Comet

Comet in orbit

Asteroids Asteroids: rocky objects too small to be considered Planets Revolve around Sun between Mars and Jupiter Asteroid Belt Asteroids

Asteroids

Asteroids

Asteroids

Meteoroids Meteoroids: Chunks of rock or dust in space Come from comets or asteroids Meteor: Created as a meteoroid enters the atmosphere Meteorite: Meteoroids that pass through atmosphere and hit Earths Surface Meteoroids

Meteor

Meteor Shower