Solar DebrisAsteroids, Meteors and Comets
Asteroids-Locations-Types-Meteors-Impacts
What is an asteroid? A small solar system object in orbit
around the sun composed mostly of rock
Sometimes called “Minor Planets”
Location of Asteroids Near Earth Asteroids:
› Asteroids that orbit within the earth’s orbit› NEA
NEA asteroids Mathilde 1950 DA
› May hit earth in 2880
Location of Asteroids Main Belt Asteroids:
› Asteroids that orbit between Mars and Jupiter
› AKA Asteroid Belt› Have stable orbits› Largest Asteroid - Ceres
Location of Asteroids Trojans:
› Asteroids that are trapped in Jupiter’s orbit due to it’s strong gravitational pull
› Lagrange points 60 degrees in front/behind Jupiter
Location of Asteroids Most asteroids
located in the asteroid belt
Types of asteroids C-type S-Type M-type
C-type Composition-
Carbonaceous (lots of carbon)
Color-Very dark Percent- Most common
type of asteroid (75%) Primitive
› Unchanged since formation
› Can be used to study early solar system
S-type Composition-Silicate
(SiO2) Color-Light in color
› easier to see Percent-Make up
15% of asteroids Some primitive some
differentiated› Geologic activity has
changed some of the rocks
M-Type Composition - Metallic Origin-Metal cores of
larger asteriods that broke apart
Color-Bright and reflective
Percent-Rare (5-10%) Differentiated
› Have melted since they formed.
Solar Debris Day 2Meteorites and Impacts
Meteor vs. Meteorites Meteorites:
› Small pieces of › asteroids that› hits the earth's › atmosphere
Terminology Meteoroid is a small object traveling through
space...it could have once been part of an asteroid 'Shooting Star' occurs when a meteoroid enters the
atmosphere. . Meteor Showers occur when the dust particles
from an aged comet pass through the Earth's atmosphere
Meteor is the bright fireball seen when a sizeable meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere and begins to burn...
Meteorite is the resulting body that has traveled through the atmosphere, survived the entry, and has landed on Earth
Meteorites 37,000 – 78,000 tons of material fall to
the earth each year Most are dust sized particles Shooting stars occur when meteriods
enter the atmosphere and start ot burn up
Types of Meteorites Stony Iron Stony-Iron
Stony Composition –
Silicate Rock Most common type Hardest to find
because it looks like rock
Primitive Contain Chondrules
Chondrule Small organic
particles left over from the formation of the solar system
Iron Composition – Metal
(iron and nickel) Not common type Easy to find iron
meteorites because unoxidized iron does not form on earth
DifferentiatedPieces of M-Type
asteroids
Stoney-Irons Composition – Mix
of Silicate and Metal Very Rare Easier to find then
stoneys because of the iron
Location Deserts
› Metal detectors easily detect iron› Very little erosion to destroy meteorites
Location Antartica
› Metal detectors easily detect iron› Very little erosion to destroy meteorites› Meteorites contrast with snow› Moving glaciers push meteorites into piles
Exit Slip Contrast s, m and c type asteriods Compare and Contrast stoney, iron,
iron-stoney meteorites Tell me what a meteor shower is
Warm-up What are the three types of Asteriods? What are the three types of
Meteorites?
Terrestial Impacts a. Asteroids have hit the Earth in the
past and WILL hit the earth in the future
Earth Impacts
Impact Craters Barringer Crater
› (1.2 km Diameter)
Manicouagan Impact Crater › (70 km in
Diameter(
Impact Craters Vredefort Crater
› (140 km Diameter)
Richat Crater › (38 km in
Diameter(
Known Impact Craters
Chiczulub Crater
Moon Impacts
Crater Chain Tycho Crater
Mars Impact
Crater Structure
Crater Ejecta Blanket –
› a layer of debris surrounding an impact layer
Breccia – › crushed rock underneath the impact site
Tektites: › small glassy rocks that were melted during
impact and blown through the air› Found in the Ejecta blanket
Tektites
Shocked Quartz Minerals that get compressed due to
impact Found below the craters
Comets
What is a comet? Small solar system body that orbits the
sun Collections of ice, dust and rocky
particles Different from asteroids because of the
tail
Comet’s Tail Exhibits a visible
coma and tail when it gets close enough to the sun
The tail is a result of solar radiation
Coma/Tail Coma
› Streams of dust and gas released from the atmosphere around the comet
Tail› Streams of dust
and gas that point in slightly different directions
› Dust reflects sun
Locations of Comets
Oort Cloud Large Spherical cloud of billions of
comets Surrounds the solar system 50000 to 100000 AU
Kuiper Belt Kuiper Belt
› A belt of millions of comets from 30 to 100 AU from the sun
› From the orbit of neptune outward› Discovered in 1992
Kuiper Belt Orbit
Kuiper Belt Objects Quaoar
› Distance: 43 AU› Diameter: 800
miles
Quaoar’s Orbit
Kuiper Belt Objects Sedna
› Distance: 86 AU› Diameter: 1000
miles› Probably has a
moon
Kuiper Belt Objects Pluto
› Distance: 39.5 AU› Diameter: 1470 miles› Has moon: Charon
PlutoSimilar size and same composition as
other KBO’s
Large Kuiper Belt Objects:Eris “Xena” 2400 kmPluto 2320 kmSedna ~1800 km136472 1800 km136108 1600 kmQuaoar 1300 km
Meteor Showers Comets leave a trail of debris behind
them that may be meteor showers
Comets
Major annual meteor showers:Shower name Date Comet Comet
Period
Quadrantid Jan 3 ? ?Lyrid April 21 Thatcher 415 yrsEta aquarid May 4 Halley 76 yrsPerseid Aug 11 Swift-Tuttle 105 yrsOrionid Oct 31 Encke 3 yrsLeonid Nov 16 Temple-Tuttle 33 yrsGeminid Dec 13 Phaethon 1.4
Zodiacal Light Comet dust scattered through our solar
system that can be seen directly under a dark/clear sky
Can be seen in the east a few hour before sunrise
Importance of studying CometsSince Comets originate at the edges of our solar system, the Sun’s heat and radiation have not affected comets since their formation.
Because of this, comets still contain volatile elements from the solar system formation that have been baked out of other objects, such as
asteroids and planets.
Therefore, comets are important to study. Their volatile elements give us unique information from the formation of our solar system.
Comet Impacts