OTHER SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS
Comets, Asteroids, and Meteors
ASTEROIDSAsteroid - rocky body that varies in diameter that has a pitted irregular surface
Some have satellites orbiting them
Thousands orbiting the Sun in asteroid belt
Asteroid Belt - rocky planetesimals that orbit between Mars and Jupiter
Occasionally collide and break into smaller fragments
Asteroid Belt
METEORSMeteoroid - any interplanetary material that enters atmosphere
As it passes through atmosphere it’s heated by friction and burns - produces streak of light called a meteor
Meteorite - a meteor that does not burn up completely and strikes the ground
Produce impact craters
IMPACT CRATERSEvidence of impacts are lost over time - erosion and plate tectonics
Meteor Crater - Arizona
KUIPER BELTKuiper Belt - small group of solar system bodies that are mostly rock and ice that lie outside orbit of Neptune
30 to 50 AU from the Sun
COMETSComets - small, icy bodies that have highly eccentric orbits around sun
Come from oort cloud
Oort Cloud - collection of comets located between Kuiper Belt to 100 000 AU from Sun
Occasionally, their orbit is disturbed by gravity of another object - thrown into inner solar system
COMETSWhen a comet comes close to the sun it evaporates, forming a head and one or more tails
Head - small solid core surrounded by glowing gas
Tail - gas and dust that is pushed away from comet by particles of solar radiation from Sun
Tail always points away from Sun
PERIODIC COMETSPeriodic Comets - comets that repeatedly return to inner solar system (regular permanent orbit around Sun)
Halley’s Comet - 76 year period
Each time it comes near Sun it loses some of its matter, leaving behind a trail of particles left in Earth’s upper atmosphere - meteor shower
Most meteors are caused by dust particles from comets
DWARF PLANETSDwarf Planet - object that, due to its own gravity, is spherical in shape, orbits the Sun, is not a satellite, and has not cleared the area of its orbit of smaller debris.
At least 12 other objects whose classification is undecided
Eris Dysnomia Ceres PlutoCharon
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