The Second Class Citizens of the Solar System
Hi, this is Jack at my epic blog! Breaking news: there are other things besides planets in the Solar System! These other things may not get all the glory, but they're worth talking about. If only because that's our assignment for this week. Let's address these second-rate space inhabitants one by one.
Comets
Comets may not be the "stars" of the universe (get it?), but they are extremely rare objects in space. They come from either the Kuiper Belt or the Oort Cloud, which are large groups of asteroids. They can be in either of those places for billions of years! Until, one sad day, they crash into the wrong comet. The crash sends them shooting in the direction of our Inner Solar System. That's where we meet them. And that's where they will ultimately MEET THEIR END!
Physically, they're like the snowballs of the universe. They are frozen balls made up of rock, ice, dust, methane, and ammonia. Ever wonder what they look like? Here's a pic:
Epic, huh?
Comets have four parts: a nucleus, (the solid part), a coma, (no, it's not
asleep, it means the aura around it), a dust tail, and a ion (gas) tail.
Here's a diagram of the parts of the comet. Get ready for a snooze fest:
Just kidding, diagrams are epic! Back to comets.
A comet can spend billions of years in the Kuiper Belt or the Oort Cloud, but once they get close to the sun, it's the beginning of the end. The comets begin to melt. That's where the brilliant tails come from. After a few thousand years, they're reduced to nothing more than a little ice and dust.
Betcha didn't know this: Scientists consider comets to be small worlds, and sometimes call them planetesimals.
Well, that's a comet.
Asteroids
Asteroids and comets have a few things in common. They're both considered leftovers from the giant cloud of gas and dust that ultimately formed the universe billions of years ago. An asteroid is a lump of . . . rock. Plain, old rock. They always have north and south poles. Just like Earth! As I have already brilliantly stated above, a comet is a chunk of rock too, but it also contains ice, dust and gases. Here's a picture on an asteroid:
Another difference between asteroids and comets: asteroids orbit the sun in an asteroid belt that runs between Mars and Jupiter, while comets orbit from way further away.
Betcha didn't know this: Although it's sometimes hard to tell if you're looking at an asteroid or a comet, a comet appears "fuzzy" when viewed through a telescope.
Meteoroids, Meteorites, and Meteors
Ok, so what's the difference between meteorites, meteors, and meteoroids? Everything starts with meteoroids:
- Meteoroids are little chunks of rocks and debris from space.
- Meteoroids become meteors (aka shooting stars) when they interact with a planet's atmosphere and cause a streak of light in the sky.
- Debris from meteoroids that make it to the surface of a planet are called meteorites.
Got it? Good.
This is what a meteor looks like:
It's hard to get a good picture of a meteoroid because we usually see them after they become meteors.
Meteorites can be as small as a grain or as large as a boulder. Most meteorites are either iron, stony, or stony-iron. Cool, huh?
Meteor showers are associated with comets. Comets often leave a dusty trail when they come around the sun. The Earth passes through these dusty comet trails. This allows debris to enter the Earth's atmosphere, where it burns up. The burning up of the debris creates fiery and colorful streaks (which are the meteors) in the sky:
Meteoroids, meteors, and meteorites cannot support life. But betcha didn't know this: they may have provided the Earth with amino acids, which are the building blocks of life!
Comets, asteroids and meteorites give us clues to the origins of the Universe. Have they told us everything there is to know? We don't know! So . . . even though they are the "second class citizens" of the Solar System, and even though they are very, very old, I think that scientists should continue to study them. Who knows what discoveries are on the horizon.
Thanks for reading my blog.
Content Links
Picture Links
No comments:
Post a Comment