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Comets, Asteroids and Meteors. Vagabonds of the Universe. Zone 3 of the Solar System. Zone 3 consists of 200 million icy objects that orbit the Sun It includes the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud. Kuiper Belt. Orbits the area outside of Neptune
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Comets, Asteroids and Meteors Vagabonds of the Universe
Zone 3 of the Solar System • Zone 3 consists of • 200 million icy objects that orbit the Sun • It includes the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud
Kuiper Belt • Orbits the area outside of Neptune • Includes several dwarf planets, specifically Pluto • Includes Short Orbit Comets Pluto, Charon, and its newly discovered moons via Hubble Telescope
Oort Cloud • A cloud of ice and dust where icy bodies orbit outside the Kuiper Belt • Includes Long Orbit Comets • The solar system’s deep freeze
Comet • Comet – a large chunk of ice and dust with a long elliptical orbit Halley’s Comet
Parts of a Comet • coma– a hazy cloud surrounding the nucleus • nucleus – center of a comet, also called the head • tail – the melting material from a comet • When a comet nears the sun, the solar wind pushes the material away from the sun, so the comet’s tail always points away from the sun
Asteroid • Asteroid – a rocky or metallic body that orbits the sun. • Many are found in the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter
Meteoroid • Meteoroid – a chunk of rock or dust in space traveling around the Sun • Can be IRON based, STONE based, or a blend called STONY-IRON
Meteor • Meteor – when a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere, burns completely • Also called a shooting star
Meteorite • Meteorite – when a meteor actually hits the surface of the Earth, does not burn up in the atmosphere