Name: ________________________ Period: __________

Spring Break Packet

Comets, Meteors, & Asteroids The Smaller Bodies in Our Solar System

Comets
We usually think of our solar system as the sun and the eight planets that orbit it. Comets,
asteroids, and meteoroids also belong to our solar system.
A comet is an icy body that orbits the sun. The center of a comet is called the nucleus. It is a
small, solid ball surrounded by gases, water, and dust. These things are frozen into a kind of
dirty snowball. The nucleus can be a few kilometers or a few miles in diameter. The cloud of
dust and gases around the nucleus is called the coma. Together, the nucleus and the coma
form the comets head. The third part of the comet is called the tail. Comets only have tails
when they are close to the sun.
Comets travel in large orbits around the sun. When they are far from the sun, they travel
about 2,000 miles per hour. As they get closer to the sun, they speed up. They may go as fast
as 100,000 miles per hour! As a comet approaches the sun, its icy body begins to melt. This
releases gas and dust. The solar winds push against the coma, making a tail that streams
from the nucleus. The tail of a comet may be millions of kilometers long. It is usually curved
because of the movement of the comet.
The tail of a comet is blown outward by the solar wind, so the tail always points away from the
sun. As the comet nears the sun, the tail is behind it. When the comet moves away from the
sun, the tail is in front of it. The tails of some comets are visible from Earth. As the comet
continues its orbit and gets farther from the sun, its tail disappears.
Some comets make many revolutions around the sun. The most famous is Halleys Comet.
Edmund Halley discovered it in 1682. It revolves around the sun once every 76 years. The tail
of Halleys Comet has been measured at about 93 million miles, the same distance from the
Earth to the sun. Halleys Comet last came near Earth in 1986 and will return in 2062. Other
comets make only one orbit before disappearing into outer space. Meteor showers sometimes
occur when the Earth passes through the dusty orbit of a comet.
Meteor showers are seen when the dust from the comet passes into Earths atmosphere. The
dust may have been left there in space for hundreds of years. Then we can see hundreds of
meteors in one night. Once a year in August and in November, Earth passes through the
spots where a comet left its dust. In August, the Perseid meteor shower is seen on Earth. The
Leonid meteor shower happens in November. As comets pass through the solar system, they
can be broken into pieces. In 1994, comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was broken into 20 pieces by
Jupiter's gravity. Scientists watched as the pieces crashed into Jupiters atmosphere.

Meteors, Meteoroids, and Meteorites

A meteor is a bright streak of light we see in the sky. It only lasts for a few seconds. People
often call meteors falling stars or shooting stars because they look like stars falling from the
sky. The brightest meteors are called fireballs. While it is in space, it is called a meteoroid.
Meteoroids that reach the Earth are called meteorites. It is a meteor when it is passing
through the atmosphere.
A meteoroid is a chunk of metallic or stony matter. Some of these may have been pieces of
asteroids. When it enters the Earth's atmosphere from outer space, air friction heats the
meteoroid so that it glows. It creates a shining trail of gases and melted particles. Most
meteoroids burn up before reaching the Earth. Some leave a trail that lasts several seconds.
Millions of meteors occur in the Earth's atmosphere every day. Most meteoroids that cause
meteors are about the size of a pebble.
Meteoroids travel around the sun in different orbits and at different speeds. The fastest ones
move at about 26 miles per second. When it enters the Earths atmosphere, its speed
combines with the speed of Earths movements and can reach 264 miles per hour!
There are three kinds of meteorites. They are stony, iron, and stony-iron. Meteorites are the
oldest rocks ever found. They date back to the beginning of the solar system. Thousands of
small meteorites have been found in Antarctica. Scientists study meteorites for clues to the
types of material that formed the planets.

Asteroids
Asteroids are large chunks of rocky material with some metals in it. There is large group of
asteroids orbiting the sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. This is called the asteroid
belt. Most of the asteroids in our solar system are found there. They orbit the sun just as the
planets do. They are too small to be planets. Astronomers think that the asteroid belt is made
up of material that was never able to form into a planet, or it could be parts of a planet that
broke apart long ago. The asteroid belt contains millions of asteroids. The largest asteroid is
about one-fourth the size of our moon.

Anticipation Guide - Comets, Meteors, & Asteroids

1. Read the statements and decide if you Agree or Disagree with each statement.
2. While you read the passage Comets, Meteors, & Asteroids The Smaller Bodies in Our Solar System,
go back and look at your responses. Decide if you are going to keep you original answer or change your
decision. Circle the answer you feel is correct after reading.
3. Finally, write a sentence proving your answer using Evidence from the text. . You must write your
evidence sentence even if you answered the statement correctly.
Before

Claim

After

Agree

Disagree

1. Comets orbit the

planets.

Agree

Disagree

Agree

Disagree

2. The center of a comet

is called the core.

Agree

Disagree

Agree

Disagree

3. Comets travel
between 0 and 2,000
miles per hour.

Agree

Disagree

Agree

Disagree

4. A comet is made of
rock, dust, and gases

Agree

Disagree

Agree

Disagree

8. A shooting star
occurs when a star burns
out while traveling across
the night sky

Agree

Disagree

Agree

Disagree

9. Most meteoroids
freeze before reaching
Earth.

Agree

Disagree

Agree

Disagree

10. Meteoroids fall all

over Earth.

Agree

Disagree

Agree

Disagree

5. Asteroids revolve
around the Sun between
the orbits of Earth and
Mars

Agree

Disagree

Agree

Disagree

6. Asteroids have orbits

similar to Earths.

Agree

Disagree

Agree

Disagree

7. Asteroids are mostly

solid rock.

Agree

Disagree

Evidence From The Text

Comets, Meteors, & Asteroids s Worksheet

Directions: Use the article, Comets, Meteors, & Asteroids The Smaller Bodies in Our Solar System to fill in
the missing information in the cart below. Then, answer the questions.

Origin

Size

Comets
Kuiper Belt and Oort
Cloud

Asteroids

c.

Composition d.

Orbit

f.

Meteoroids

a.

b.

Smaller than a planet but

larger than meteoroids

Smaller than comets or

asteroids

Rock

e.

g.

Orbit the sun like a comet

if it came from a comet,
orbit like an asteroid if it
came from an asteroid

1. What is the composition of each part of a comet?

2. How does a comets appearance change as it approaches the sun? Why does this occur?

3. Draw the orbit of a comet (dont forget to include the tail).

Sun

4. What causes a meteoroid to become a meteorite?

5. How can you tell a meteor from a comet?

6. Why do meteoroids usually disintegrate rather than fall to Earth?

7. Why is a shooting star an inaccurate name for a meteor?

Planet Comparison Tables

Inner Planets = Rocky, Metallic, Dense, Terrestrial Planets

Mercury
Distance from Sun
3.2 Light-Min
1st Planet From the sun
Surface Temperature -173C427C
Avg. diameter @
4,879 km
equator
Rotation period
58 Earth days 19 hours
(days)
Revolution period
(years)
Interesting Fact #1

88 days

Thin atmosphere
Hydrogen
Helium

Interesting Fact #2

0
0

Rocky crust
Resembles the moon
Ancient lava flows
Mile-high cliffs

Moons
Rings

Earthquake fault lines

Outer Planets = Gaseous Gas Giants

Jupiter
Distance from Sun
43.3 Light-min
5th Planet From the sun
Surface Temperature -110C
Avg. diameter @
142,984 km
equator
Rotation period
9 hours 54 min
(days)
Revolution period
11 Earth years 313 Days
(years)
Interesting Fact #1
Clouds of frozen
ammonia (NH3)
Methane (CH4)
Water vapor & ice in
lower layers

Venus
6.0 Light-min
2nd Planet From the sun
464C
12,104 km

Earth
8.3 Light-min
3rd Planet From the sun
-13C37C
12,756 km

243 Earth days 16 Hrs

(Retrograde = Spins opposite
direction)
224 days 17Hrs

24Hrs

0
0

78% Nitrogen
21% Oxygen
1% Traces of other
gases

Oceans, Rivers, & Lakes

Mountains
Volcanoes
Glaciers

Thick/toxic/dense
Rains Sulfuric acid
Carbon Dioxide
Nitrogen
Sulfur Dioxide
Carbon Monoxide
Argon
Flat angular rocks
Volcanoes
Mountains
Valleys
Hottest planet

1
0

Saturn
1.3 Light-Hours
6th Planet From the sun
-140C
120,536 km

Uranus
2.7 Light-Hours
7th Planet From the sun
-195C
51,118 km

4
8
4

10 hours 42 min

17 hours 12 min

29 Earth years 155 Days

83 Earth years 273 Days

No energy source
13% Helium (He)
85% Hydrogen (H) in thin
upper atmosphere
H2O & Methane
No solid surface

27 (Titania is the largest.)

Yes (Thinnest rings of all the

planets)

Interesting Fact #2

No solid surface

Hydrogen (H)
Helium (He)
Ammonia (NH3)
Methane (CH4)
Other toxic compounds
No solid surface

Moons

63 (4 named: Io, Europia,

Ganymede, Callisto)
Yes

62 (4 named: Titan, Enceladus,

Iapetus, Mimas)
Yes

Rings

365 days 6hrs

Directions: Use the Planet Comparison Charts on the other side to answer the questions.
1. List the planets from LARGEST to smallest. *use the diameter* (1-largest, 8-smallest)
1. ____________________ 2. ____________________ 3. ____________________
5. ____________________ 6. ____________________ 7. ____________________

4. ____________________
8. ____________________

2. List the planets in order from closest to the sun to farthest from the sun (1-closest, 8-farthest)
1. ____________________ 2. ____________________ 3. ____________________ 4. ____________________
5. ____________________ 6. ____________________ 7. ____________________ 8. ____________________
3. List the planets from hottest to coldest (1-hottest, 8-coldest)
1. ____________________ 2. ____________________ 3. ____________________
5. ____________________ 6. ____________________ 7. ____________________

4. ____________________
8. ____________________

4. List the planets from longest day to shortest day (1-longest day, 8-shortest day)
1. ____________________ 2. ____________________ 3. ____________________
5. ____________________ 6. ____________________ 7. ____________________

4. ____________________
8. ____________________

5. List the planets from longest year to shortest year (1-longest year, 8-shortest year)
1. ____________________ 2. ____________________ 3. ____________________
5. ____________________ 6. ____________________ 7. ____________________

4. ____________________
8. ____________________

6. List the planets from most moons to least moons (1-most moonds, 8-least moons)
1. ____________________ 2. ____________________ 3. ____________________
5. ____________________ 6. ____________________ 7. ____________________

4. ____________________
8. ____________________

7. What are the inner planets known as? _______________________________________________________________

8. What are the outer planets known as? _______________________________________________________________
7. Create a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting the terrestrial planets & gas giants.

Terrestrial Planets
Gas Giants