comets asteroids and meteors Flashcards
what is a comet
they are described as giant dirty snowballs and are composed of frozen gases rocks and dust
where do comets originate from
they originate from two areas in our solar system kuiper and the oort cloud
where is the kuiper belt , what comets come from here , how long does it take these comets to orbit the sun
the kuiper belt is located beyond the orbit of planet neptune
short period comets come from here
it takes them 200 years to orbit the sun
where is the oort cloud what comets come from here and how long does it take them to orbit the sun
the oort cloud surrounds the outer limits of our solar system
long period coments come from here
it takes them 200 years to 30 million years to orbit the sun
what is the rosetta mission
the esa and nasa sent a space probe to a moving comet the space probe sent data back to earth that will help us understand more about comets
whats an asteroid
small rockey stuctures with no air or atmosphere
where are asteroids located
they are located in the solar systems astroid belt that is located between mars and jupiter
what is a meteor
a small asteroid
what are planetoids
a large asteroid that is too small to be a planet
what is asteroid ceres
the largest asteroid in the solar systen
what is asteroid vesta
second largest asteroid in the solar system
which way does a commets tail point
away from the sun
