Chapter 11 Flashcards
What are asteroids
They are rocky objects in the inner solar system
What are comets
They are icy bodies spending most of their time in the outer solar system
What is a meteor
A meteor is the streak of light that appears at night, it has a glowing trail of hot gas and vaporized debris left by a solid object heated by friction and moves through the earths atmosphere
What is a meteor called if it is in space
A meteoroid
What is a meteor called if it reaches the earth
A meteorite
What are the three categories of meteorites
Iron,stony,and stony-iron
What are stony meteorites
Small chunks of rocky material called chondrites. They contain organic carbon rich compounds
How do asteroids get near earths orbit and the inner solar system
Near-earth objects such as Pluto grab them with their gravitational force and bring them in
What is the structure of a comet
They have a tail that may stretch over 100 million kilometers, a coma that is a gaseous atmosphere that can reach a diameter of 100,000 km and a nucleus which is roughly 10 km across and contains the comets mass.
Where do most comets come from
The Oort Cloud
How often do comets pass by earth
They are usually one time but if they are a short-period comet then less than every 200 years
Where do short period comets come from
They come from the Kuiper belt
What is the point in the sky where meteors seem to come from called
It is called the radiant
What is the cause for a meteor shower
A comet filling its orbit with dust and then passing through the earths orbit
