Minor Members of the Solar System

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Minor Members of the Solar System

• Asteroids, Comets, and Meteorites

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Asteroids

• Small rocky bodies that have been likened to
  flying mountains
• Largest asteroid Ceres
• Most lie between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
• Many have irregular shapes

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Comets

• Pieces of rocky and metallic materials held
  together by frozen gases
• Most interesting and unpredictable bodies in the
  solar system
• Comets tail always faces away from the sun

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Types of Comets

• Coma the fuzzy gaseous component of a comets
  head
• 1. two solar forces contribute to this
  formation
• - radiation pressure and solar wind

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• Kuiper Belt a region beyond Neptune where
  comets have short orbital periods
• Most Kuiper belt comets move in nearly circular
  orbits that lie roughly in the same plane as the
  planets

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• Oort Cloud spherical shell around the solar
  system formed by the comets that are distributed
  in all directions from the sun.

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Haleys Comet

• Haleys Comet most famous short
  period comet
• Orbital period every 76 years
• Nucleus potato shaped
• Surface irregular and full of craterlike pits

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Meteoroids

• Small solid particle that travels through space.
• Originate from 1 of the 3 sources
• 1. interplanetary debris that was not swept
  up by the planets during the formation of the
  solar system
• 2. material from the asteroid belt
• 3. sold remains of comets that once traveled
  near Earths orbit.

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Meteors

• Meteoroids that do not enter Earths atmosphere
  and burn up
• Meteor showers result when Earth encounters a
  swarm of meteoroids traveling in the same
  direction and same speed as Earth

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Meteorite

• A meteoroid that actually reaches Earths surface