Which Way Do

Comet Tails
Point?
 How does moving the ball affect the
direction in which the strings point?

What determines which way the tail

of a comet points?
LET’S GO!
COMETS
Image of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp), taken on 1997 April 04, with a 225mm
f/2.0 Schmidt Camera (focal length 450mm) on Kodak Panther 400 color slide
film with an exposure time of 10 minutes. The field shown is about 6.5°x6.5°. At
full resolution, the stars in the image appear slightly elongated, as the camera
tracked the comet during the exposure.
“dirty snowball”

Are chunks of ice and dust

whose orbits are usually very long,
narrow ellipses.
COMA IS THE OUTER LAYER
WHICH IS COMPOSED OF
GAS AND DUST.

NUCLEUS IS THE INNER

LAYER OF A COMET.

TAIL IS ALSO COMPOSED

OF GAS AND DUST. IT
LOOKS LIKE HAIR.
ORIGIN: KUIPER BELT AND OORT CLOUD

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION: ICE (FROZEN WATER), FROZEN GASES

(AMMONIA, METHANE, AND CARBON DIOXIDE), & OTHER
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS (CARBON-CONTAINING COMPOUNDS)
 How did Halley’s
Comet get its
name?

Comet 1P/Halley as taken March 8, 1986 by W. Liller, Easter Island, part of the
International Halley Watch (IHW) Large Scale Phenomena Network.
ASTEROIDS
Complete Asteroid 2012 DA14 Flyby Coverage of NASA.
Most Asteroids revolve around the sun
between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Rocky Fragments

Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta are

among the dozen asteroids that are
over 250 kilometers across.
Meteor Crater near Winslow, Arizona, USA
ORIGIN: MAIN ASTEROID BELT

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION: SILICATES (OLIVINE AND

PYROXENE), IRON, & NICKEL
METEORS
A meteoroid is a chunk of rock or dust in space.

A meteor is a streak of light formed when a

meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere.

Meteorites are meteoroids that pass through

the atmosphere and hit the Earth’s surface.
METEOR = SHOOTING STAR?
ORIGIN: FRAGMENTS OF A COMET OR ASTEROID

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION: VARIES IN EVERY METEORITES

(e.g. meteorite found in Paitan, Ilocos contains Iron, Magnesium Iron Silicate, & pyroxene)
COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE
CHARACTERISTICS OF COMETS,
METEORS, & ASTEROIDS.
DO SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT
COMETS, ASTERIODS AND
METEORS HAVE SCIENTIFIC
BASIS?
Direction: Write T if the statement is true and F if
otherwise.

__1. A shooting star is another name for comet.

__2. Meteoroids usually come from comets or
asteroids.
__3. Superstitious beliefs about comets, meteors, and
asteroids usually have scientific basis.
__4. A comet is most likely a frequent “visitor” of
Earth than asteroid.
__5. Meteor showers doesn’t occur on earth.