7)+Other+Objects+-+Ch.+3.4

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Other Solar System Bodies

(Kuiper Belt & Oort cloud)

=__*Comets, Meteoroids, Asteroids __=

***Comets** [|click here for extra stuff!]
-made of frozen gas & dust

 -come from oort

 -have VERY elongated elliptical orbits

 -get smaller each pass around Sun as they melt

 -have 2 tails: ion & dust

 -ion tail always points away from sun

 -parts: nucleus, coma, ion tail, dust tail

 -famous comets to look into: Halley’s, Hayakutake,Comet Hale-bopp

**The Bizarre and Tragic Hale-Bopp Inspired Heaven's Gate Event in March 1997**
http://www.cnn.com/US/9703/26/mass.suicide.too/index.html

 http://www.cnn.com/US/9703/27/suicide/index.html

Fun with comet orbits: http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/comets/comet_model_interactive.html

-huge chunks of rock and/or metal in space -majority found in the asteroid belt -thought to be left over bits from formation of solar system 4.6 billion years ago that Jupiter’s gravity interfered with forming a planet -some near Earth asteroids with names are seen at the right
 * <span class="style_20" style="line-height: 17px;">*ASTEROIDS **

3 Types of Asteroids:
 * 1) a. <span class="style_18" style="line-height: 11px;">monolith - one rock
 * 2) b. <span class="style_18" style="line-height: 11px;">binary - 2 rocks held side-by-side by gravity
 * 3) c. <span class="style_18" style="line-height: 11px;">rubble pile - cluster of rocks held together by gravity


 * there may be as many a over a Billion asteroids/meteoroids in the asteroid belt!

IMPACT??? http://youtu.be/viUhEMNz3Qc

<span class="style_23" style="line-height: 13px;">-Identical to asteroids except in size, meteoroids are just mini-versions of their bigger “cousins”
 * <span class="style_20" style="line-height: 17px;"> METEOROIDS **<span class="style_21" style="line-height: 15px;">[|click here for more]

<span class="style_23" style="line-height: 13px;"> -meteoroids can be as small as a grain of sand like the bits of dust that come off of comets’ tails

<span class="style_24" style="color: #a22020; line-height: 14px;">The only difference between the following terms is their location:

<span class="style_22" style="color: #a22020; line-height: 16px;">1. Meteoroid- <span class="style_25" style="color: #a22020; line-height: 16px;">out in space

<span class="style_22" style="color: #a22020; line-height: 16px;">2. Meteor- <span class="style_25" style="color: #a22020; line-height: 16px;">burningin Earth’s atmosphere (often misnamed “shooting stars”)

<span class="style_22" style="color: #a22020; line-height: 16px;">3. Meteorite- <span class="style_25" style="color: #a22020; line-height: 16px;">strikes Earth’s surface

Check yourself:


 * 1) How are comets different from asteroids/meteoroids in composition, orbit, origin, and shape?
 * 2) What are the three different names for meteoroids, and how do they differ?
 * 3) What are the three types of Asteroids?