Comets
Where do comets get their names from?
After the person who discovered them
What is the Kuiper Belt?
Region just beyond Neptune that contains small bodies made mostly of ice
What is a meteor?
Piece that falls through and burns up in Earth’s atmosphere
What are asteroids?
Debris left over from the formation of the solar system
What is aperture?
The diameter of the telescopes main light collecting surface
Where do long-period comets originate?
The Oort Cloud
What is the largest object of the Kuiper Belt?
Pluto
What is the composition of a meteor?
Comet dust, debris from planetary object collisions, left over material from solar system formation
Asteroids are also known as?
Minor planets
What is a reflecting telescope?
Uses mirrors to gather light and uses an eyepiece to focus the light
What did the Stardust probe do?
Visited Comet Wild 2 to collect samples
What is beyond the Kuiper Belt?
The Scattered Disk
What are the three types of meteorites?
Stony, Iron, Stony-iron
What is the first discovered asteroid?
Ceres
What is an objective lens?
Lenses in front of the telescope to gather light
What is the structure of a comet?
Nucleus, coma, hydrogen envelope, gas and dust tails
What is the largest dwarf planet by mass?
Eris
What does Halley's comet have to do with meteors?
It's the parent body of two meteor showers.
Jupiter’s gravity creates gaps in the?
Asteroid belt
What is focal length?
Distance between the primary light collector and where it focuses the light rays
What is the nickname for comets?
Dirty snowballs
What is unique about Sedna’s surface?
One of the reddest objects in the solar system caused by hydrocarbon sludge
What is a sporadic meteor?
Random pieces of debris moving around the sun in random orbits
What is Ahuna Mons?
A cryovolcano on Ceres
What is the James-Webb telescope?
Space telescope to image long-wavelength visible light to mid-infrared.