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Grade 8 Comets Asteroids Meteoroids
Grade 8 Comets Asteroids Meteoroids
Grade 8 Comets Asteroids Meteoroids
to
SPACE
The inner
solar
system
(1900)
The inner
solar
system
(2000)
Near Earth Objects
Comets,
Asteroids,
and Meteors
Comets
• Icy bodies that orbit the sun
• Comes from the Kuiper belt or
the Oort cloud
• Composed of ice, frozen gases
(ammonia, methane, and CO2),
and other organic compounds
The Oort Cloud
• Discovered in 1950 Jan Oort, beyond Pluto
Kuiper Belt
• Similar to Asteroid belt but found beyond
neptune.
Kuiper Belt
Oort Cloud
Comets
• Diameter ranges from 1-10 km
• Orbits the sun every 75-100,000+
+ years
Comet Structure
• Nucleus
– 10 km “Dirty Snowball”
• Coma
– Cloud of evaporated ices and ions
– may be 100,000 km in diameter
• Tail
– Always points away from Sun
“A star with hair”
tail (dust)
nucleus
(~10 km)
tail (ions)
~107 km
Trojans
What would happen if a 10 km Asteroid collided with Earth?
• Craters on Earth
− More than 150 impact
craters identified on
continents
− Few impact sites
identified in oceans
Why?
An iron meteorite 100 feet across and 70,000 tons slamed into the Earth at
about 43,000mph in the Arizona desert near Flagstaff 40,000 years ago.
Barringer Crater is 4,100 feet wide and 571 feet deep.
Arizona’s Meteor Crater, the most famous
example
Meteoroids, Meteors, Meteorites
• Small pieces of
space debris
(usually parts of
comets or asteroids)
that are on a
collision course with
the Earth are called
meteoroids
Meteoroids, Meteors, Meteorites
• When meteoroids
enter the Earth's
atmosphere they
are called
meteors.
Meteoroids, Meteors, Meteorites
• If the meteors
survive and strike
the surface of the
Earth they are
called meteorites.
Meteors - Shooting Stars
• Most meteoroids are tens of meters in
diameter or less.
• Enter Earth’s atmosphere and become
meteors or “shooting stars”.
• Most meteors are tiny specks of dust.
• Larger meteors produce fireballs.
Microscope image
Carbonaceous Chondrites contain complex
organic molecules
• Amino acids, fatty acids,
other so-called
“building blocks of life”
• Did building blocks of
life come to Earth from
space?
• Did life itself come to
Earth from space?
– “Panspermia” theory
Carbonaceous Chondrites
May contain organic compounds that may hold
keys to how life developed in the Solar System.
Iron meteorites
• Made of iron and nickel
• Pits made during atmospheric entry (hot!)
Iron Meteorites
primarily iron and nickel
Iron meteorites: from core of differentiated
asteroids
The making of future meteorites!
Crystalization pattern of the iron is unique
Stony-Iron meteorites - the prettiest
• Crystals of olivene (a rock mineral) embedded in iron
• From boundary between core and mantle of large
asteroids?
Achondrites: from Mars and Moon
• From Mars:
– Tiny inclusions have same elements and isotope
ratios as Martian atmosphere (measured by
spacecraft on Mars)
• From the Moon:
– Astronauts brought back rocks from several
regions on the Moon
– Some achondrites match these rock types exactly
Meteorite ALH84001
Near Earth Objects: will Earth have another
collision soon?