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Comets

Comets. Fire In The Night Sky. Physical Characteristics. Definition : Object made of dust, rock, & frozen water, methane, or ammonia Comet Parts Nucleus – solid core Coma – streams of dust & gas Gas Tail – ions swept away by solar wind

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Comets

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  1. Comets Fire In The Night Sky

  2. Physical Characteristics • Definition : • Object made of dust, rock, & frozen water, methane, or ammonia • Comet Parts • Nucleus – solid core • Coma – streams of dust & gas • Gas Tail – ions swept away by solar wind • Dust Tail – dust particles illuminated by the Sun • Comet tail always points away from the Sun

  3. Comet Orbits • Location • Short Period Comets – Kuiper Belt (30 AU to 50 AU) • Long Period Comets – Oort Cloud (50,000 AU) • Famous Comet Periods • Halley’s Comet : 75.32 years • Next seen in 2061 • Great Comet of 1680 : 9,400 years • Great September Comet of 1882 : 772 years • Great January Comet of 1910 : 57,300 years • Hale-Bopp : 2,530 years • Hyakutake : 70,000 years

  4. Comet Surface & Atmosphere • Temperature Range: -223˚C to -173˚C • Geology • Dry, dusty surface • Ices hidden underneath the crust • Frozen gases • CO2, CO, methane, ammonia • Known as “dirty snowballs” • DNA & RNA may form on some comets

  5. Comet Discovery • Recorded in ancient Chinese bone oracles many millennia ago • Considered a bad omen • Edmond Halley : (1705) • Identified the period of the comet • Deep Space 1 : (2001) • Discovered hot & dry surface of Comet Borrelly • Deep Impact : (2005) • Discovered ice below surface on Comet Tempel 1 • Rosetta : (2104) • Orbiting Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko and landing on surface

  6. Comets Facts • 4,894 known comets in 2013 • Lexell’sComet : (1770) • Closest passing comet in history • Never seen again – “lost comet” • Comet struck Sahara Desert 28 mya • Comets create meteor showers as they break up • Comets may be the source of life on Earth • Contain water and amino acids

  7. Comets Video • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUPRlAuZXtc

  8. Literature Cited • www.sostation.com/stars/Comets.htm • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comets • http://space.about.com/od/comets.htm • http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6037844.stm • http://space.about.com/od/asteroid/a/cometsdiscovery.htm

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