Comets, Asteroids and Meteoroids GRS

The Solar SystemName ____________________________ Date____________________ Class ____________The Solar System ■ Guided Reading and StudyComets, Asteroids, and MeteorsThis section describes the other objects in the solar system, including comets,asteroids, and meteors.Use Target Reading SkillsAs you read about comets, asteroids, and meteoroids, fill in the graphic organizerbelow to compare and contrast their origin, size, and composition.Feature Comets Asteroids MeteoroidsOriginKuiper belt and Oortclouda. b.Size c. d. Smaller than comets orasteroidsComposition e. Rock f.Comets1. What are comets?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2. What are the three main parts of a comet?a. ________________________ b. ________________________c. ________________________3. What forms a comet’s tail?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________4. Is the following sentence true or false? A comet’s tail can be more than100 million kilometers long. ________________________© Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Prentice Hall. All rights reserved.

Name ____________________________ Date____________________ Class ____________The Solar System ■ Guided Reading and StudyComets, Asteroids, and Meteors (continued)5. If the orbit of a comet is 500 times the distance between Pluto and thesun, which region is it in? Explain how you know.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Asteroids6. Rocky objects revolving around the sun that are too small and toonumerous to be called planets are called ________________________.7. Where is the asteroid belt?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________8. What happened when an asteroid collided with Earth 65 millionyears ago?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________MeteorsMatch the term with its definition.Term____ 9. meteoroid____ 10. meteor____ 11. meteoriteDefinitiona. A meteoroid that has passed throughthe atmosphere and hit Earth’s surfaceb. A chunk of rock or dust in spacec. A streak of light caused by the burningup of a meteoroid in the atmosphere12. Where do meteoroids come from?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________13. The craters on the moon were caused by the impact of________________________.© Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Prentice Hall. All rights reserved.