LRS 8 2nd Periodical Test

Reviewer in Science
(Continuation)

Ecliptic – other planets that orbit the sun lie near the plane of Earth’s orbit.
Astronomers – divide the solar system into two distinct regions
o Inner solar system – includes four terrestrial planets( mercury, venus, earth
and mars.
o Outer solar system – consists of three gaseous planets (Jupiter, Saturn and
Neptune)
Asteroid belt – between the inner and outer solar system
Johannes Kepler – his Law of planetary motion describes the orbits of planest as
ellipses.
Perihelion – closest distance from the sun.
Aphelion – farthest distance

Other Member of Solar System

Asteroids
– are called miniature planets or planetoids are rocky celestial bodies that
vary in brightness (albedo), size, shape and composition.
- was coined by Sir William Herchel who discovered the planet Uranus,
based on latin terms ater
Asteroid belt – situated in the main belt that extends from 55 to 600 million
Kilometres.
Origin of Asteroids

Olbers – amateur astronomer who discovered the asteroid Vesta.

Exploided Planet – asteroid that were remnants of a planet that had been
shattered by an explosion.
Failed Planet Explanation – contends that the asteroids are leftovers of the
original materials that did not form into a planet
Classification of Asteroids

Composition
Three Categories
o C type – are dark in color because they are composed of carbon.
o S type (stony) – they are light colored and composed of a mixture of
nickel, magnesium silicates, and iron similar to the rocks that composed the
the earth.
o M type – asteroids are the bright asteroids composed purely of iron and
nickel and are concentrated at the innermost region of the belt.
Orbital Characteristics
- refer to the locations where asteroids revolve(orbit) in the solar system
- these asteroids classified as :
o Near- Earth asteroids – are asteroids that are relatively close to earth
3 group of NEA
 Apollo asteroids – asteroids that cross but spend most of their time
outside earths orbit
 Athens asteroids – cross and spend most of their time in erath’s
orbit
 Armor asteroids – asteroids that approach but do not cross earth’s
orbit
o Trojan Asteroids- located near Jupiter’s orbit and lie within the asteroid
Belt.

Albedo – amount of light reflected by planet or any celestials objects.

Comets – referred to as “dirty snowballs are found to be mixture of ice
and dust.
Oort Cloud – name after Jan Oorth a dutch astronomer
- a large spherical cloud around the orbits of the planets
estimated to be about 100, 000 AU from the sun
 Kuiper Belt – others come from another region closer to the sun lying
roughly near Neptune and some distance beyond pluto.
- name after Gerald Kuiper
Parts of a Comet
o Nucleus – solid mass that composed of ice frozen gas, rocks and dust.
o Coma – a large bright cloud of dust and gas that surrounds the nucleus
o Tail – that extends from the nucleus
The two components of tail:
 Dust tail – forms as gases and plasma escape from the nucleus
 Ion tail - a long visible glowing tail that forms when the comet is near
the sun

Eccentric – means, the orbits are not confined to the plane of the solar system

Comets are Grouped into two types:

o Short period comets – complete their orbits in 200 years or less and
they make several recorded returns.
o Long period comets – complete their orbits in more than 200 years and
their passing near the sun is a once in a lifetime experience

March 10, 2013 – a non- periodic comet named Pen-STARRS became visible in
the night sky.

Meteoroids, Meteors and Meteorites

Meteoroids – small chunks of outer space debts that are attracted by Earth’s
gravity.

Meteor (shooting star or falling star) – it travels at great speed (10 and 70
km/sec) and vaporizes appearing as a bright streak of light in the sky.

Meteorite – if the meteor survives the frictional heating with earth’s atmosphere
and strikes the ground.
Meteor Showers – celestial event which several meteors enter earth’s atmosphere
at great speeds on parallel trajectories Other Member of Solar System
Famous Meteor Shower
o Perseids – can be observed annually and its peak could fall in either july or
august.
o Leonids – originates from the constellation Leo and are considered the “King
of Meteor Showers
o Orionids – happens every 75 to 76 years. This shower occurs during October
when earth passes through the orbit of Halley’s Comet.

o Quadrantids – coming from the debris of the asteroid 2003EH1.

o Geminids - come from the debris of an asteroid named 3200 Phaeton, which
is a near –Earth asteroid.