1. Comets, Asteroids and Meteors
Chapter 20

2. 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

3. 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

4. Comet

5. Comet

6. Comet

7. Comet in orbit

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

9. Asteroids

10. Asteroids

11. Asteroids

12. 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

13. Meteor

14. Meteor Shower