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OTHER OBJECTS IN SPACE

OTHER OBJECTS IN SPACE. ASTEROIDS. Very small irregularly shaped, rocky bodies Orbit the Sun No atmosphere or internal heat Can hit a planet if it gets close enough to be pulled in by gravity. ASTEROID BELT. Hundreds of thousands found. Mostly located between Mars and Jupiter

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OTHER OBJECTS IN SPACE

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  1. OTHER OBJECTS IN SPACE

  2. ASTEROIDS • Very small irregularly shaped, rocky bodies • Orbit the Sun • No atmosphere or internal heat • Can hit a planet if it gets close enough to be pulled in by gravity

  3. ASTEROID BELT Hundreds of thousands found Mostly located between Mars and Jupiter Formed at same time as rest of solar system Jupiter’s massive gravity kept them apart

  4. NEAR-EARTH ASTEROIDS • Have orbits that cross Earth’s orbit • Over 4,500 known in solar system • Large asteroids in Earth’s past have • caused mass extinction • of organisms

  5. METEORS • Forms a streak of light • across the sky • Often called shooting stars • Light from meteor burning • as it flies through Earth’s • atmosphere

  6. METEOROIDS • Debris left behind by comets • Large as boulders called asteroids • Small as tiny grains of sand called interplanetary dust • Sometimes cluster together with long tails

  7. METEORITES • Meteor that does not completely • burn up in the atmopshere • Provide clues about our solar • system • Some from asteroids • Some are from nearby bodies • like Mars

  8. METEORIODS, METORS, AND METEORITES • Meteoroid is dragged toward • Earth by gravity • It enters the atmosphere • Friction heats the object • As it flies in Earths atmosphere • it leaves a trail of glowing • gases it is now a meteor • Most meteors never reach Earth • Small core remains and hits • Earth it is called a meteorite

  9. COMETS • Small icy objects that orbit the Sun • Highly elliptical orbits • Close to sun outer layers of ice melt • Vaporized gas and dust form a “coma” • Gases in coma and tail reflect light • from sun • Comets disappear when they move • away from the sun • Comet’s period is length of time from • one visit close to Earth and the next

  10. COMETS Where do they come from? Short period comets – 200 years or less come from the Kuiper belt – a region beyond Neptune Long period comets – thousands or millions of years come from a very distant region of the solar system –Oort cloud Comets may have brought water into the early Earth

  11. DWARF PLANETS • Objects that have not cleared their • orbits of smaller objects • Not enough gravity to clear objects • Five dwarf planets in our solar system • Ceres • Pluto • Makemake • Haumea • Eris

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