Ay [T4] - The Solar System Flashcards
What are comets made of and what size are they typically in diameter?
Comets are made mainly of ice and dust - they’re remains of the formation of the solar system, typically 10km in diameter
What is the tail of a comet?
Most visually impressive part.
Steam of dust and gas left behind the comet as it travels and reacts to the Sun’s radiation
What are the names of the two tails that comets have?
Ion tail and Dust tail
What is the ion tail caused by?
Solar wind excites elements in the tail
What direction does the ion tail face?
Same direction as sun
What is the Dust tail?
Bits of comet breaking off because it heats up as it passes close to the sun
What is the coma?
The thin atmosphere formed around the nucleus, created by gases expelled from the core
What is the nucleus?
Solid core of comet (rocky, icy part)
What is the difference between a dwarf planet and a planet?
Dwarf planets don’t have a clear path, or “cleared its neighborhood” of objects, because there are lots of similar sized objects nearby
What is the difference between a meteor, meteoroid and meteorite?
A meteoroid is before it comes into the Earth’s atmosphere and burns up
A meteor is when it’s in the Earth’s atmosphere and is burning up
A meteorite is when it’s hit the ground on earth and is just pieces of rock on the ground
What happens to a meteor while in the Earth’s atmosphere?
The temperature of it increases enough to give off light
What 4 areas can our solar system be roughly split up into?
The terrestrial planets, the asteroid belt, the gas giants and the kuiper belt.
What are the terrestrial planets?
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
4 relatively small planets made of rock surrounding iron cores
What is the asteroid belt?
A large ring of asteroids separating the terrestrial planets from the gas giants
What are the gas giants?
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
4 larger planets orbiting the sun
What is the kuiper belt?
A large collection of small solar system objects (asteroids, meteorites and comets)
What is the Oort Cloud?
The edge of the Sun’s gravitational field
What is the heliosphere?
The edge of the Sun’s magnetic field
1 AU = ? m
1 AU = 1.5 × 10¹¹m
What are short and long period comets?
Short period comets: take less than 200 years to orbit around the sun once
Long period comets: take more than 200 years to orbit around the sun once
Where do short period comets with a period less than 20 years originate?
The Kuiper Belt
Where do long period comets originate?
The Oort Cloud
1 ly = ? m
1 ly = 9.5 × 10¹⁵m
Would there be meteor showers on the moon?
No, because a meteor is only a meteor if it’s in an atmosphere, and the moon does not have an atmosphere
What type of orbit do comets have, and where do they move fastest?
Elliptical orbit
Move fastest closest to the sun
What is the ecliptic plane?
The plane that the sun and planets approximately lie on
What does planets being on the same plane tell us?
They formed roughly at the same time, from the same disc of material
What does aperture mean?
Opening
What are the 3 types of telescopic power?
Collecting power/light grasp, magnifying power and resolving power