Minor Members of

The Solar System

 SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS TO
REMEMBER
ASTRONOMY is the scientific study of celestial objects
(such as stars, planets, comets, and galaxies) and
phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
An independent U.S. governmental agency established in
1958 for the research and development of vehicles and
activities for the exploration of space within and outside
Earth’s atmosphere.
Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) is the central
government agency addressing all national issues and
activities related to space science & technology and
applications. Created under Republic Act No. 11363, or the
Philippine Space Act.
ASTEROIDS
ASTEROIDS
Large
irregular
chunks of
metallic
rocky bodies
without
atmosphere.
Characteristics
•Most asteroids
are irregularly
shaped but
some are nearly
spherical and
have craters.
Characteristics
•They
revolve
around
the Sun
in
elliptical
Characteristics
Few of them
have a
companion
moon or
moons.
 ORBIT OF
ASTEROIDS
COMPOSITION OF
ASTEROIDS
 C-TYPE
(Chondrite)
Mostly
composed
of carbon
compounds
that are
grayish in
color.
 S-TYPE
(Silicaceous)
They are
composed of
magnesium-
silicates and
are greenish
to reddish
color.
 M- TYPE
(Metallic)
They are
made up of
nickel and
iron and are
reddish in
color.
 CERES
The first
asteroid to be
discovered.

Discovered by
Guiseppe Piazzi
in 1801

The largest
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/dwarf-planets/ceres/
overview/
Comets are small,
fragile, irregularly
shaped bodies
composed mostly
of a mixture of ice,
dust and carbon
and silicon-based
compounds.
 THE
ANATOMY
OF A COMET
The NUCLEUS is the solid core of the comet
which is made up of rock, ice, dust and gases,
such as carbon dioxide, methane and ammonia.
COMA is the
dusty, fuzzy
cloud around the
nucleus of the
comet, generally
consists of gases
and dust.
The TAIL extends from the comet as it
approaches the sun and is always pointing away
from the sun.
The TAIL has two
types:
*DUST tail-
usually yellow,
made up of small,
solid particles

* GAS/ION tail-
usually blue, and
always point
away from the sun
 THE
ORBIT
Comets have
HIGHLY
ELLIPTICA
L ORBITS.
 THE
ORIGIN
Oort cloud – where long-period
comets are thought to emanate
from.
1
KUIPER BELT- where short-
period comets are believed to
originate 2
 THE
FAMOUS
COMETS
HALLEY’s COMET
most famous in the
history
named after British
astronomer Edmund Halley
travels around the sun
every 75- 76 years
Orionids meteor shower
last seen on Feb 1986
 HALE-BOPP
COMET
unusually large and bright
named after Alan Hale and
Thomas Bopp
most viewed comet in
recorded history
last seen on July 1995
orbits the sun in 2400
years
COMET SHOEMAKER-LEVY
discovered by
astronomers Carolyn and
Eugene Shoemaker and
David Levy

broke into 21 pieces

under the stresses of
Jupiter’s gravity in 1992
 discovered by Yuji Hyakutake using a pair of
binoculars
sported one of the longest tails as observed on
Earth
last seen on January 1996
expected to visit the sun in about 14 000 years

COMET
HYAKUTAKE
Meteoroids
Are simply
smaller
versions of
asteroids.

May be chunks
that have been
broken off
asteroids by
impacts.
 Meteors
Are streaks of
light across the
sky caused by a
meteoroid
entering the
Earth's upper
atmosphere and
burning up in
the process.
Meteorite
A large
meteoroid
that survive
its passage
through the
atmosphere
and reach the
Earth's
surface.
 TYPES OF
METEORITES
Iron
Primarily
iron and
nickel;
similar to
type M
asteroids

Iron
Stony Iron

Mixtures
of iron
and stony
material
like type
S
asteroids
Chondrite
By far the largest
number of
meteorites fall
into this class;

Similar in
composition to
the mantles
and crusts of
the terrestrial Chondrite
planets
Achondrite
Similar to
terrestrial
basalts; the
meteorites

Believed to
have
originated
on the Moon
and Mars