Asteroids, Comets and Meteors

1
Asteroids, Comets and Meteors

• Whats the Difference?

2
What is an Asteroid?

• An asteroid is a rocky, metallic object that
  orbits the sun in the Asteroid Belt between Mars
  and Jupiter
• It can be known as a planetoid or minor planet.

3
How Big Is an Asteroid?

• Asteroids can range in size from tiny pebbles to
  about 578 miles in diameter (which is the size of
  TEXAS!)

4
The Asteroid Belt

• The Asteroid Belt is located between Mars and
  Jupiter.
• It is composed of about 40,000 asteroids.
• It may be material that never formed into a
  planet. Jupiters gravity keeps the asteroids
  from swaying into the inner planets.

5
An Interesting Asteroid Fact

• A gravitational pull of a planet can pull an
  asteroid out of its solar orbit.
• Astronomers theorize that the two moons of Mars,
  Phobos and Deimis, are captured asteroids.

6
Meteoroids, Meteors and Meteorites

• Meteoroids are broken pieces of asteroids.
• A meteors is a meteoroid that has entered the
  Earths atmosphere. To us, we call it a shooting
  star.
• Meteorites are meteors that fall to the Earths
  surface.

7
Barringer Crater

• Over 50,000 years ago, a meteorite fell in
  Arizona.
• The result was the Barringer Crater between
  Flagstaff and Winslow, Arizona.
• The crater is 1 mile wide and 570 ft. deep.

8
What is a Comet?

• It is a small, icy celestial body that orbits
  around the Sun
• It has a nucleus, coma (blob of gas) and a tail.
• A comet is referred to as a dirty snowball.

9
Kuiper Belt

• Comets come from the Kuiper Belt
• The Kuiper Belt orbits around the sun and is
  located beyond Neptune

10
Halleys Comet

• A famous comet is Halleys comet after Sir Edwin
  Halley. It has an average orbit of 76 years
  because the gravitational pull of major planets
  alter its revolution.
• The next time Halleys comet will be seen will be
  in 2062. How old will you be?