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Published byFrederick Hines Modified over 9 years ago
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Minor Members of the Solar System
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Asteroids: Small Rocky Bodies Most asteroids lie in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter Their orbital periods are between 3 & 6 years
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Comets: “Dirty Snowballs” Pieces of rocky and metallic materials held together by frozen gases (including water) Has a small nucleus of a few kilometers in diameter Many develop a “tail” (or even two tails) as they near the sun
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The Sources of Comets Kuiper Belt: Short period comets coming from a region beyond Neptune and lie roughly in the plane of the solar system The Oort Cloud: Long orbital periods coming from a spherical shell far beyond Pluto
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Meteoroids Originate from one of three sources: 1.Interplanetary debris not swept out (yet!) by the formation of the planets 2.Material from the asteroid belt 3.The solid remains of comets that traveled near the Earth’s orbit
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Meteors and Meteorites A meteor is a meteoroid that enters the Earth’s atmosphere and burns up A meteoroid that hits the surface of the Earth is a meteorite
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Whiteboard Summary 1. Where among the planets are asteroids are most likely located? 2. What are the common components of a comet? 3.What is the difference between and meteor and a meteorite?
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