Meteoroids! Asteroids!

Comets!
Oh, my!

What makes up our Solar System?

The sun
Planets
Moons
Asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter)
Lots of space
All sorts of bits and pieces of rock

Meteorite, Meteoroid, Meteor?

Whats the difference?

Meteorite vs. Meteoroid

Meteoroid = while in space a meteorite is
called a meteoroid
Meteorite = a small rock or rocky grain
that strikes Earths surface
So the difference is just based on where
the rock is when you are describing it

Meteor
Sometimes called a
Shooting Star
When a meteorite
enters Earths
atmosphere, friction
causes them to burn
up, producing a
streak of light

Where do they come from?

How big are they?
Pieces of rock that broke off other objects
Sizes range from as small as a pebble or
as big as a huge boulder

Are they dangerous?

Most meteoroids disintegrate before
reaching the earth by burning up in Earths
atmosphere
Some leave a trail that lasts several
minutes
Meteoroids that reach the earth are called
meteorites. Large ones can cause
damage

Flagstaff, Arizona
49,000 years ago
Meteorite about 150
feet in diameter
Weighed 650 pounds
Energy = 2.5 million
tons of dynamite
4000 feet wide, 650
feet deep
Still visible today

Barringer Meteorite Crater

Whats a Meteor Shower?

Usual rate = six meteors per hour
During a Meteor Shower = rate may be as
high as 60 meteors per hour
Occur when Earth passes through the tail
or debris of a comet
Presides (mid-August)
Leonids (mid-November)

Comets
Bodies in space made up of ice, dust,
small gritty particles
Sometimes called dirty snowballs
When close to the sun, ice vaporizes,
producing a spectacular streak of gas,
referred to as a tail
Many in a regular orbit around the sun

Comets

Where do comets come from?

Many ordinate in a region called the Oort
cloud which is located beyond the orbit of
the dwarf planet Pluto
Others originate in the Kuiper Belt beyond
the orbit of Neptune
This region is filled with billions of comets

Famous Comets
Comet Hale-Bopp
Halleys Comet
Comet Kohoutek

A Comets Tail

Asteroids
An irregularly shaped
rocky object in space
(like a space potato)
May be the shattered
remains of objects left
over from the time
when the planets
were formed

How big are asteroids?

Larger than meteoroids
(In fact, the main difference between
meteoroids and asteroids is their size.)
Size ranges from 10 feet across to bigger
than a mountain

Asteroids
Approx. 150,000 asteroids in the Solar
System
Most are in a band that orbit the sun
between Mars and Jupiter (Asteroid Belt)
Why are there all of those asteroids
between Mars and Jupiter and not another
planet?

Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs)

At least 1000 asteroids orbit outside of the
Asteroid Belt these could be a danger to
Earth
Asteroids that cross Earths orbit are
called Near-Earth Asteroids or NEAs
NEA / Earth collision not likely
But if it did, the affect of the impact would
depend on the size of the asteroid

Large Asteroid hits Earth

65 Million Years Ago
Catastrophic Collision
Asteroid 6 to 12 miles
in diameter
Near the Yucatan
Peninsula in the Gulf
of Mexico

Large Asteroid hits Earth

65 Million Years Ago
Collision produced an explosion =
100 trillion tons of dynamite
Gouged out a crater about 60 miles in
diameter
How would an event like this affect Earth?

What do Scientists Think

Happened?
Forests were wiped clean for a distance of
300 to 600 miles in all directions
300 foot wave struck the coast of Texas
Powerful Earthquakes
Landslides destroyed long stretches of
coastline

What do Scientists Think

Happened
Explosion threw huge amounts of debris
into the air, covering large parts of North
America
Poisonous gases and dust soared high
into the atmosphere, spread over most of
the Earth, and then fell back onto the
Earths surface

What do Scientists Think

Happened
Sunlight was blocked from reaching the
Earths surface for many months
Temperatures plummeted to the freezing
point in normally warm areas
Not enough sunlight for photosynthesis
Plants died . . . Animals died
Many animals became extinct (including
many types of dinosaurs)

The Rise and Fall of Life on Earth

See the dip around 65 Million years ago?

This represents the extinction of about 75% of all
the species alive at that time.

Is the Earth in danger of a large

asteroid impact?
Not that we know of!
None of the asteroids or comets
discovered so far is on a collision course
with Earth.
However, we can't speak for those that are
not yet discovered. In principle, one of
those could hit any time, but statistically
the chances are very small.

Torino Scale
A system used to rate the hazard level of
an object moving toward Earth

Review
Q: What is the difference between a
meteoroid, meteororite, and a meteor?
Meteoroid = while in space a meteorite is
called a meteoroid
Meteorite = a small rock or rocky grain
that strikes Earths surface
Meteor = Shooting Star

Review
Q: What is the difference between an
asteroid and a meteoroid?
The main difference is the size of the
object.
Q: Which is larger, asteroid or meteoroid?
Asteroids are larger than meteoroids.

Review
Q: Why is it important to study smaller
bodies in our Solar System such as
comets or asteroids?
They help us learn about the history of our
Solar System.

Review
Q: Why do planets and moons with
atmospheres have less impact craters
than those without atmospheres?
The atmosphere slows and burns smaller
objects like meteorites, thus many do not
reach the surface to create an impact.

Review
Bright streaks of light that result when
rocky bodies burn up in the atmosphere
are called ___________.
Frozen bodies made of ice, rock, and
dust, sometimes called dirty snowballs
are called _____________.
Small, rocky bodies that revolve around
the sun are called ______________.

Review
Bright streaks of light that result when
rocky bodies burn up in the atmosphere
are called meteors.
Frozen bodies made of ice, rock, and
dust, sometimes called dirty snowballs
are called comets.
Small, rocky bodies that revolve around
the sun are called asteroids.

Review
Q: Discus what could happen if the Earth
experienced another large asteroid impact.
How would it affect life on Earth?
Forests flattened for many miles
If asteroid landed in water, it would cause
giant waves and landslides
Powerful Earthquakes

The devastation continues

Poisonous gases and dust fills the
atmosphere, blocks out the sun
Temperatures drop drastically
No photosynthesis = plants die = animals
die
Some animals become extinct

Review
Q: Where is the Asteroid Belt?
Asteroid Belt is between Mars and Jupiter
Q: What is the Torino Scale?
A system used to rate the hazard level of
an object moving toward Earth