The Solar System

1
The Solar System

• Asteroids, Meteroids and Comets

2
Objectives

• Explain why comets, asteroids, and meteroids are
  important to the study of the formation of the
  solar system
• Describe the similarities of and differeces
  between asteroids and meteroids
• Explain how cosmic impacts may affect life on
  Earth

3
Did You Know???

• In space, astronauts cannot cry, because there is
  no gravity, so the tears can't flow.
• Source - http//www.factscollection.com/Cosmic20S
  pace-2.html

4
Comets

• Comets A small body of ice and rock loosely
  packed together
• Comets are leftovers of when the solar system was
  forming

5
Comet Tails

• As a comets passes close enough to the sun it
  gets 2 tails, an Ion tail and a Dust tail
• A comet only has a tail
• as it gets closer to the
• sun

6
Comet Tails
7
Comet Orbits

• Comets pass close to the sun in one part of their
  orbit and far in another part of their orbit

8
Comet Orbits
9
Hale-Bopp Comet
10
Hykutake Comet
11
Halleys Comet
12
Asteroids

• Asteroids - rocks much smaller than planets that
  revolve around the Sun
• Asteroids can be made of different metals or
  rocks and are not always round

13
Asteriod Belt

• Asteroid Belt The region between Mars and
  Jupiter where most of the asteroids in the solar
  system orbit

14
Asteroids of the Solar System
15
Asteroids of the Solar System
16
Kuiper Belt

• Kuiper Belt The region beyond Neptune similar
  to the asteroid belt, made of many small bodies

17
Eros
18
Eros (closer)
19
Gaspra
20
Ida
21
Hektor
22
Meteoroids

• Meteoroid A small rocky body that travels
  through space. (No orbit)
• Meteorite A meteoroid that reaches the surface
  of the Earth without burning up in the Atmosphere
• Meteor A meteoroid that burns up in Earths
  atmosphere

23
Impacts on Earth
24
Manicouagan Crater Quebec (Canada)
25
Barringer Crater Arizona (U.S.)
26
Barringer Crater Arizona (U.S.)
27
Bosumtwi Crater Ghana (Africa.)
28
Goses Bluff Crater Australia
29
Chicxulub Crater Yucatan (Mexico)
30
Craters from Space
31
Review

• The photosphere is the visible part of the sun on
  the earth
• The Sun id not burning, it creates energy through
  nuclear fusion
• The suns nuclear fusion comes from changing
  hydrogen into helium
• Sunspots are colder spots on the suns surface
• Solar Flares are hit spots that shoot out from
  the sun
• Earths magnetic field and atmosphere protect it
  from the sun

32
Journal

• What do you believe we could learn about our
  solar system by studying what asteroids and
  comets are made of?