Transcript Other Objects in Space

Other Objects in Space
1. Asteroid Belt
between Mars and Jupiter
2. Oort Cloud
-Located beyond Pluto
surrounding the solar system
3. Comets
• Made of dust, rock
particles, ice,
methane, and
ammonia.
4. Life of a Comet
• A comet will vaporize as it nears the sun.
A tail will form behind the comet-always
pointed away from the sun-blasted that
direction by solar winds. As it moves away
from the sun, it re-freezes and the tail
disappears. Overtime, it will completely
melt and disappear.
http://science.nationalgeographic.com/
science/space/solar-system/asteroidscomets-article.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKbDnU
byUPA
Life of a comet
5. Meteoroids
• As comets
vaporize and break
up, they leave
behind small
particles of dust
and rocks. These
are meteoroids.
Meteoroid Trail/Orbit
6. Meteors
• A meteoroid that
enters Earth’s
atmosphere (speeds
of 15-70 km/s) and
burns up is called a
meteor.
• Each time Earth
passes through an old
comet orbit, a meteor
shower occurs.
7. Meteorite
• If a meteor is too
large to burn up
completely, it will
strike the Earthnow it’s called a
meteorite.
Meteorites
Meteor Crater
formed about
50,000 years ago
when a 100-footwide (30-meterwide) meteor
weighing 100,000
tons slammed
into the Arizona
desert at an
estimated 12
miles (20
kilometers) a
second. The
resulting
explosion
exceeded the
combined force of
today's nuclear
arsenals and
created a 0.7mile-wide (1.1kilometer-wide),
650-foot-deep
(200-meter-deep)
crater.
The two lakes shown here, are the result of some of
the largest impact craters still preserved on the
surface of the Earth. NASA officials said asteroids
currently threatening Earth could devastate an entire
region, but not the entire globe.
Lake Bosomtwe in Ghana, Africa
Lake Manicouagan in Quebec, Canada,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41TaVF439-c
Moon Craters
8. Asteroid Belt
• Have not formed a planet due to the
gravitational pull of Jupiter.
Asteroids
The round shape of
Ceres, the largest object
in the asteroid belt
between Mars and
Jupiter, suggests that its
interior is layered like
Earth's. First classified
as an asteroid, Ceres
was recently also labeled
a dwarf planet. It has a
diameter of about 590
miles (950 kilometers)
and it contains about a
third of the asteroid belt's
total mass.
http://science.nat
ionalgeographic.
com/science/spa
ce/solarsystem/asteroids
-cometsarticle.html
9. Why do I care?
• Comets, asteroids and meteorites formed
early in the history of the solar system.
Studying these objects helps scientists
learn how the Earth formed and how other
Earth-like planets may also form in the
Universe.
• Plus, knowing where these things are
might help us avoid being killed by it.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/u-s-takes-asteroid-threat-seriously-1412119610?tesla=y&mg=reno64wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB11393057870935543402104580170411995497300.html
http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/10/17/this-giant-astroid-could-hit-earth-within-20-years/
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/