Topic 2.

1: Comets, Meteors, and Asteroids

Asteroids
- sometimes called minor planets
- rocky remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6
billion years ago.
- the current known asteroid count is: 1,113,527
- examples of an asteroid: Asteroid Ida

Classifications of asteroids:
Main Belt Asteroids
- orbit within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Trojan Asteroids
- share an orbit with a larger planet but do not collide with it because they
gather around 2 special places in the orbit.
- The Jupiter trojans form the most significant population of trojan asteroids. There are
trojans on Mars and Neptune. Earth has two Trojan asteroids.

Near-Earth Asteroids and Near Earth Crossers

- have orbits that pass close to that of Earth. Asteroids that actually cross
Earth's orbital path are known as Earth-crossers.
- Near earth crossers are near earth asteroids that HAVE passed the earth’s orbit
while Near Earth Asteroids PASS CLOSE to the Earth’s orbital path
- examples: Amor, Apollo, and Aten are near-Earth asteroids; Apollo and Aten are
Earth-crossers

DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test): WORLD’S FIRST

PLANETARY DEFENSE
On Monday, Sept. 26, DART successfully impacted its asteroid target in the world's first
planetary defense technology demonstration. As a part of NASA’s overall planetary
defense strategy, DART’s impact with the asteroid will help to determine whether
asteroid deflection using a spacecraft is a viable technique for protecting the planet
from an Earth-bound asteroid or comet, if one were discovered. The last images of the
asteroid Dimorphous surface taken by the DART spacecraft before its impact.
(NASA/JHUAPL)
Comet
A comet is an icy, small solar system body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms
and begins to release gasses through a process called outgassing. This produces a
visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail.

Classification of Comets:
Short-period comets
- complete their orbit around the Sun in less than 200 years
- their orbits are about 30-100 AU from the Sun.
Examples:
Tempel-1 comet - every 5 ½ years
Halley’s comet - every 76 years
Long-period comets
- complete their orbit around the Sun in thousands or millions of years.
- their orbits are around 100,000 from the Sun.
Examples:
Comet Hale-Bopp (1997)
Comet Hyakutake (1996)

Origin of Comets
Short-period comets come from the Kuiper Belt, a disc-like belt of icy
bodies that exists beyond Neptune.
Long-period comets come from the Oort cloud, beyond the orbit of Pluto
up to the outermost region of the Sun.
Meteoroids
Meteoroids are fragments of rocky or metallic materials that vary in size and are
extremely common in outer space.
Meteoroids result from:
• breakup of comets as they come close to the Sun
• the collision of asteroids between the paths of Mars and Jupiter (asteroid belt)
• the debris that comets shed as they travel through space
• rocky pieces that break off from the Moon and Mars after celestial bodies impact
their surfaces

Meteors and Meteorites

When a meteoroid has entered the Earth’s atmosphere, it is called a meteor or
bulalakaw in Filipino).
Small meteors may vaporize completely before reaching the Earth’s surface, but the
bigger ones may survive and reach the ground, in which case they are now called
meteorites.

Meteoroid vs. Meteor vs. Meteorite

A meteoroid is a small, or very small piece of material falling towards earth.
Meteoroids are far up in the sky.
A meteor is the effect this has: a streak of light, sometimes called a falling star.
Meteorites have already landed on Earth.
A meteorite is what's left of it when it reaches the ground. Meteors are falling down to
Earth streaking light when they break down in the atmosphere.

So, they start as a meteoroid in the sky. Then, they fall like a meteor flashing light.
Next, when it lands on Earth, we call it a meteorite.

Asteroids vs. Comets vs. Meteors

Asteroid - rocky body smaller than a planet that orbits the sun
Comet - Icy body that releases gasses as it orbits the Sun
Meteor - Streak of light seen when a meteoroid heats up in the atmosphere
Meteoroid - Rocky or metallic fragment of an asteroid, comet, or planet.
Meteorite - Meteor fragment that reaches the ground
Topic 2.1.2 : Comets, Meteors, and
Asteroids
BELIEFS & MYTHS ABOUT COMETS, METEORS, AND ASTEROIDS

Greeks and Romans believed that the appearance of comets and meteors was a sign
that something serious was about to happen.

In the spring of 44 BC, a comet that appeared was interpreted as a sign of respect for
Julius Caesar. The comet burned in the sky during the funerary games held for Caesar.
Emperor Augustus celebrated the comment and commemorated his father on coins.

In Christian tradition, the Perseidmeteor shower has long been connected to the
martyrdom of StLawrence. The martyrdom supposedly took place on August 10,when
the meteor shower was at its height, and so the shooting stars are equated to the
saint’s tears.

Chinese astronomers kept extensive records of comets. Extensive comet atlases have
been found dating back to the Han Dynasty,and associate the different cometary
forms with different disasters. Although the Chinese also regarded comets as "vile
stars," their extensive records allowed later astronomers to determine the true nature
of comets.

Why do we need to study comets, asteroids, and meteors?

We are Explorers
Humans are driven to explore the unknown, discover new worlds,and push the
boundaries of our scientific and technical limits. For A Broader PerspectiveIf we didn’t
study outer space, we would not know many things about our own planet, including
what kind of planet it is in comparison to other planets, information about its orbit,and
why it has been able to sustain life while many other planets have not.

Clues About Our Origin

By visiting the near Earth objects, we can look for answers to some of humankind's
most compelling questions, such as: how did the solar system form and where did
theEarth's water and other organic materials such as carbon come from?