Chapter 20 - Section 5 - Comets, Asteroids and Meteors Flashcards
Where are most asteroids found?
in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
What is a comet? a loose collection of ice
dust and small rocky particles whose orbits are usually very long narrow ellipses
What is a coma?
the fuzzy outer layer of a comet made up of clouds of gas and dust
What is a nucleus?
the solid inner core of a comet
What is Kuiper belt?
doughnut-shaped region of comets that extends from beyond Neptune’s orbit to about 100 times Earth’s distance from the sun.
What is Oort cloud?
spherical region of comets that surrounds the solar system out to more than 1,000 times the distance between Pluto and the sun.
What is an asteroid?
rocky objects in space
What is the asteroid belt?
Area between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter . Where most asteroids are found.
What is a meteoroid?
a chunk of rock or dust in space.
What is a meteor?
a streak of light in the sky caused by when a meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere
What is a meteorite?
meteoroids that pass through the atmosphere and hit Earth’s surface
Where do meteoroids come from?
comets or asteroids
Craters on the moon were formed by __________.
meteoroids
