MINOR MEMBERS OF

THE SOLAR SYSTEM

 COMETS
Comets – are icy celestial
bodies that are formed in the
outer regions of the Solar
System.

-They are made up of:

frozen gases of water
ammonia
methane “Dirty snowballs” – due to
carbon dioxide their frozen and rocky
 small pieces of rocky and metallic structure
materials
Parts of a Comet
• Comets are frozen when they are distant from
the sun.
• However, as they approach and heated by the
sun, solar energy vaporizes the frozen gases,
producing a glowing head called a coma

• Tail - is an extension of the coma and is

developed as the comet approaches the sun.
- most comets have 2 tails:
Plasma tail – made up of ionized gas
Dust tail – made up of small solid
particles

• Nucleus – has an icy composition

• Tails are directed away from the
sun. (*plasma tail-points
straight away from the sun;
*dust tail – slightly curves
towards orbital path)

• Two solar forces are known to

contribute to this formation:
 Solar wind – carries the plasma
tail outward and away from the sun.
 Radiation pressure – pushes
away the dust tail in a slightly curve
manner.
Origin of Comets
Comets apparently originate in two regions of the outer solar
system:

Kuiper Belt Oort Cloud

Kuiper Belt
• Kuiper Belt- is an area
found beyond the orbit of
Neptune that extends to
about 30 to 100 AU

• Comets in this region orbit

the sun in the same plane
and direction as the
planets.

• There are about 100,000

comets in Kuiper Belt.
Kuiper Belt
A chance collision between
two Kuiper belt comets, or
the gravitational influence of
one of the Jovian planets,
may occasionally alter the
orbit of a comet enough to
send it to the inner solar
system. (*some comets hits a
planet)
 Oort Cloud
• Oort cloud – extends to about 50 000
AU away from the sun.

• Unlike Kuiper belt comets, comets in

this region aren’t confined to the plane
of the solar system.

• These comets appear to be distributed

in all directions from the sun, forming a
spherical shell around the solar system
called the Oort cloud.

• This region contains trillions of comets.

Oort Cloud
The gravitational effect of
another object in space is
thought to send an
occasional Oort cloud comet
into a highly eccentric orbit
that carries it toward the sun

However, only a tiny portion

of the Oort cloud comets
pass into the inner solar
system
Hailey’s Comet hale-Bopp Comet
ASTEROIDS
• Asteroids (planetoids) – are
chunks of rocks orbiting the
sun in the same direction as
the planets.

• They are rocky remains from

the early days of the solar
system.

• Asteroids have diameters

range from one kilometer to
less than a thousand
kilometers.
ASTEROIDS
• Many asteroids have irregular
shapes and rough surfaces
(because of their frequent
collision with each other)

• Asteroids do NOT emit their

own light (they only reflect
sunlight).

• Asteroids rotate on their axis.

 ASTEROIDS
• Majority of asteroids are found
in the asteroid belt between
Mars and Jupiter.

*Occasionally, asteroids come near

each other. They either collide or
exert s small gravitational force
between them– changing the orbit
and pulling them out of the
asteroid belt. (Thus, some
asteroids pass close to Earth or
some even collided with Earth)
 ASTEROIDS

Ceres – the largest asteroid (about 1000 kilometers in

diameter).
METEOROIDS
• Meteoroids are small chunks of
rock and debris in space.

*When meteoroids enter Earth’s

atmosphere, they collide with
the molecules of gases in Earth’s
atmosphere, causing friction ---
thus, producing light.

• Meteors (shooting/falling stars)

– are the flash of light caused
by friction when meteoroids
enters the Earth’s atmosphere.
*They are only observable for a few seconds.
*Occasionally, meteor sightings
can reach 60 or more per hour --
called meteor showers (this
happens when Earth encounters a
swarm of meteoroids traveling in
the same direction and at nearly
the same speed as Earth).

*some meteor showers occur

regularly each year:
ex. – Orionids – Oct. 20-21
- Geminids – Dec. 13-14
- Leonid – Nov. 16-17
Meteorites – are the remains of the
meteoroid found on the surface of
the Earth.

Classification of meteorites:
Iron meteorites – made up of iron
(w/ 5-20% nickel)

Stony meteorites – made up of

mostly silicates minerals in
combination w/ other minerals.

Stony iron meteorites – are

mixture od materials.
 Meteoroids
*When meteorites collide with land, they create craters.

Barringer Carter (Arizona, USA)