Asteroids, Comets, and Meteors Quiz

Asteroids, Comets, Meteors

• Asteroids are small, rocky objects, mostly located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
• Meteoroids are pieces of metal or rock in the solar system, smaller than asteroids.
• Meteors are meteoroids that enter Earth's atmosphere. Friction causes them to burn up, creating a bright streak of light, called a shooting star.
• Meteorites are meteoroids that survive the atmospheric entry and reach Earth's surface.

Comets

• Comets are chunks of ice, dust, and rock with a very long elliptical path around the Sun.
• As a comet nears the Sun, the ice on the comet sublimates (changes directly from a solid to a gas) and turns into gas.
• Solar winds and radiation push this gas away from the Sun, forming a coma (a fuzzy cloud of gas and dust).

Planets

• Planets must orbit a star.
• Planets must be massive enough to be pulled into a sphere by gravity.
• Planets must dominate its orbit (larger mass than anything that crosses its orbit).
• All eight planets orbit on a plane.

The Solar System

• The Sun is the center of the solar system, comprising 99.85% of its mass.
• The Sun produces energy, including light as electromagnetic radiation and charged particles called solar wind.
• Inner solar system planets are small, rocky and made from metal. Some planets have craters and few moons (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars).
• Asteroid belt contains asteroids which are irregular in shape, composed of metal and rock, up to 950 km in size and one dwarf planet: Ceres.
• Outer solar system planets are large gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune), mostly gases, with many satellites and rings.

The Sun (cont'd)

• The Sun's surface is not smooth. It has features like sunspots, which are cooler, darker regions.
• The number of sunspots varies over an 11-year cycle. More sunspots indicate higher solar activity, including solar flares.
• Solar flares are explosive events on the Sun's surface that release large amounts of energy.
• Solar prominences are enormous, glowing arcs or structures that rise tens of thousands of kilometers above the Sun's surface.
• Solar winds are streams of charged particles from the sun that can interfere with electronics and create auroras.
• Seasons on Earth are due to Earth's axis being tilted at 23.5 degrees.

Night and Day; Celestial Sphere; Ancient Astronomy

• Earth's rotation causes day and night.
• The celestial sphere is an imaginary sphere on which celestial objects are projected.
• Ancient peoples used the celestial sphere to understand the positions of stars, and for timekeeping, navigation, planting crops, and astronomical events.
• Earth's axis is tilted at 23.5 degrees, affecting the seasons. Constellations (formed by groups of stars) only visible during specific times of year.

Models of the Universe

• Geocentric Models placed Earth at the center of the universe, with other celestial bodies orbiting it.
• Heliocentric Models placed the Sun at the center of the universe, with Earth and other celestial bodies orbiting it.

Conversion, Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram, Cosmic Microwave Background

• 1 AU (Astronomical Unit) = 1.5 x 10^11 meters (distance between the Earth and the Sun).
• The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram is a graph that plots stars based on their luminosity and temperature.
• About 90% of stars are main sequence stars.
• The Cosmic Microwave Background is the afterglow of the Big Bang.

Test your knowledge about asteroids, comets, and meteors with this quiz. Explore their characteristics, differences, and the fascinating processes that occur as they travel through our solar system. Perfect for space enthusiasts and students alike!