Meteoroids! Asteroids!

Comets!

Oh, my!
What makes up our Solar System?

• The sun
• Planets
• Moons
• Asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter)
• Lots of space
• All sorts of bits and pieces of rock
Meteorite, Meteoroid, Meteor?
What’s the difference?
 Meteorite vs. Meteoroid
• Meteoroid = while in space a meteorite is
called a meteoroid
• Meteorite = a small rock or rocky grain that
strikes Earth’s surface

• So the difference is just based on where

the rock is when you are describing it
 Meteor
• Sometimes called a
“Shooting Star”
• When a meteorite
enters Earth’s
atmosphere, friction
causes them to burn
up, producing a
streak of light
 Where do they come from?
How big are they?

• Pieces of rock that broke off other objects

• Sizes range from as small as a pebble or
as big as a huge boulder
 Are they dangerous?
• Most meteoroids disintegrate before
reaching the earth by burning up in Earth’s
atmosphere
• Some leave a trail that lasts several
minutes
• Meteoroids that reach the earth are called
meteorites. Large ones can cause
damage
 Bondoc Meteorite
• Bondoc Peninsula within the province of
Quezon
 Flagstaff, Arizona
• 49,000 years ago
• Meteorite about 150
feet in diameter
• Weighed 650 pounds
• Energy = 2.5 million
tons of dynamite
• 4000 feet wide, 650 Barringer Meteorite Crater
feet deep
• Still visible today
 What’s a “Meteor Shower”?
• Usual rate = six meteors per hour
• During a Meteor Shower = rate may be as
high as 60 meteors per hour
• Occur when Earth passes through the tail
or debris of a comet
 Comets
• Bodies in space made up of ice, dust,
small gritty particles
• Sometimes called “dirty snowballs”
• When close to the sun, ice vaporizes,
producing a spectacular streak of gas,
referred to as a “tail”
• Many in a regular orbit around the sun
Comets
 Where do comets come from?
• Many ordinate in a region called the Oort
cloud which is located beyond the orbit of
the dwarf planet Pluto

• Others originate in the Kuiper Belt beyond

the orbit of Neptune

• This region is filled with billions of comets

 Famous Comets
• Comet Hale-Bopp

• Halley’s Comet

• Comet Kohoutek
A Comet’s Tail
 Comets that were visible in the
Philippines :
• Halley’s Comet ( 1910 & 1986)
 Comets that were visible in the
Philippines :
• Comet Ikeya Seki in 1965
- Considered the brightest comet in the last
1000 years
 Comets that were visible in the
Philippines :
• Comet Kohoutek in 1973
 Comets that were visible in the
Philippines :
• Comet West in 1976
 Comets that were visible in the
Philippines :
• Comet Hyakutake in 1996
 Comets that were visible in the
Philippines :
• Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997
 Comets that were visible in the
Philippines :
• Comet McNaught and Holmes in 2008
 Asteroids
• An irregularly shaped
rocky object in space
(like a space potato)
• May be the shattered
remains of objects left
over from the time
when the planets
were formed
 How big are asteroids?
• Larger than meteoroids
• (In fact, the main difference between
meteoroids and asteroids is their size.)

• Size ranges from 10 feet across to bigger

than a mountain
 Asteroids

• Approx. 150,000 asteroids

in the Solar System
• Most are in a band that orbit
the sun between Mars and
Jupiter (Asteroid Belt)
 TROJANS

• Group of asteroids that

share an orbit with a
large planet or moon
• Ex: Jupiter Trojans
JUPITER TROJANS
 Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs)
• Asteroids that cross Earth’s orbit are
called Near-Earth Asteroids or NEAs
• There are 7 075 NEAs already found, with
500-1000 of them at least 1 km in
diameter.
• NEA / Earth collision are very rare
• But if it did, the affect of the impact would
depend on the size of the asteroid
 TUNGUSKA EVENT 1908
• The scientist believed that the impact was
caused by either a comet or an asteroid
that was about 38 m in diameter.
• Massive explosion which caused the
destruction of an estimated 80 million
trees in an area of more than 2000 square
km.
• The explosive force is estimated to have
been 1000 times that of the atom bomb
dropped in Hiroshima.
TUNGUSKA EVENT 1908
 Large Asteroid hits Earth
65 Million Years Ago

• Catastrophic Collision
• Asteroid 6 to 12 miles
in diameter
• Near the Yucatan
Peninsula in the Gulf
of Mexico
 Large Asteroid hits Earth
65 Million Years Ago

• Collision produced an explosion =

100 trillion tons of dynamite
• Gouged out a crater about 60 miles in
diameter
 8 ASTEROIDS NAMED AFTER
FILIPINOS

6282 Edwelda
- Combined first names of Edwin Aguirre
and Imelda Jason in 1985 in recognition of
their accomplishments in the field of
astronomy.
 11697 Estrella & 12088
Macalintal
- Were named respectively after Allan
Noriel Estrella and Jeric Valles
Macalintal, both students from Manila
Science High School, who jointly win
the first grand award in Physics at 2002
Intel International Science and
Engineering Fair in Louisville,
Kentucky.
 12522 Rara

- Was named after Prem Vilas Fortan

M. Rara of the Integrated Development
School, Mindanao State University-
Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT)
who won the Second Grand Award in
Microbiology at the 2002 Intel
International Science and Engineering
Fair in Louisville, Kentucky.
 13241 Biyo

- Was named after Dr. Josette

T. Biyo of the Philippine Science
High School Western Visayas
campus for winning the Intel
Excellence in Teaching Award
in 2002.
 4866 Badillo
- Was named in 2005 after
Father Victor L. Badillo,S.J., the
founder of the Philippine
Astronomical Society. This
honor was granted for his
contribution to popularizing
astronomy in the Philippines.
 6636 Kintanar
- Was named in 2005 after Dr.
Roman Lucero Kintanar for his
public service, his contribution
to the modernization and
advancement of the Philippine
weather forecasting,
 An asteroid will eventually be
named after Miguel Arnold Reyes
-A PSHS student who won the
second grand award in the 2011
International Science and
Engineering Fair held in Los
Angeles, California