Components of the Solar System

(What our Solar System is made of)

By Ms. Nguyen

Asteroids

Huge boulders made of iron and nickel (metal)

Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter (divides the inner and outer planets)

Comes in ALL different sizes Not all asteroids stay in belt Astronomers track them to avoid

collision with Earth. Collisions are NOT very likely to

happen

Asteroid Belt

Meteoroid

Shooting stars or falling stars A piece of rock or clump of dirt

floating around in space Orbit the sun Most are the size of a grain of sand Billions and Billions of them Pieces of rock and dust that melt off

comets as they come close to the sun

Meteoroids

Meteor

When a meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere

Most vaporize and completely burn off before hitting the ground

Meteors

Meteorites

When a meteor hit the ground or shatter above the ground

Meteorites

Comets

GIANT, dirty snowballs in space Made of frozen gases with tiny piece

mixed rocks and dust Stays in space orbiting the Sun Something needs to hit it for it to fall

out of orbit Some fall into the sun and are

destroyed Some fly away never to be seen again Some fall into a new orbit

Comets

Haley’s Comet

Orbits the sun once every 76 years Last seen in 1986 When is the next time you will see it?

More about comets

As it approach the sun, it begins to melt

Then all the gas vapor and dust are blown away from the nucleus (head) by solar wind

Creating a tail Tail of comet always points AWAY

from the sun So sometimes it may appear to fly

backwards

Comet Structure