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Components of the Solar System
(What our Solar System is made of)
By Ms. Nguyen
Asteroids
Huge boulders made of iron and nickel (metal)
Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter (divides the inner and outer planets)
Comes in ALL different sizes Not all asteroids stay in belt Astronomers track them to avoid
collision with Earth. Collisions are NOT very likely to
happen
Asteroid Belt
Meteoroid
Shooting stars or falling stars A piece of rock or clump of dirt
floating around in space Orbit the sun Most are the size of a grain of sand Billions and Billions of them Pieces of rock and dust that melt off
comets as they come close to the sun
Meteoroids
Meteor
When a meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere
Most vaporize and completely burn off before hitting the ground
Meteors
Meteorites
When a meteor hit the ground or shatter above the ground
Meteorites
Comets
GIANT, dirty snowballs in space Made of frozen gases with tiny piece
mixed rocks and dust Stays in space orbiting the Sun Something needs to hit it for it to fall
out of orbit Some fall into the sun and are
destroyed Some fly away never to be seen again Some fall into a new orbit
Comets
Haley’s Comet
Orbits the sun once every 76 years Last seen in 1986 When is the next time you will see it?
More about comets
As it approach the sun, it begins to melt
Then all the gas vapor and dust are blown away from the nucleus (head) by solar wind
Creating a tail Tail of comet always points AWAY
from the sun So sometimes it may appear to fly
backwards
Comet Structure