Comets, Asteroids, Meteoroids, and the Moon!

By: Patrick, John, and Karl

• A comet is a big ball of ice that has a a tail following it. They are a mixture of both water and frozen gases.

• All comets have a certain period of time until they are seen again like for example, Halley’s Comet which is only seen every 76 years.

• Halley’s Comet was last seen at 1986 so it’s next appearance will be at 2062!

What are Comets?

• Asteroids are large chunks of rock that look like giant boulders in space.

• They are rocky objects that orbit the sun.• Asteroids range in many different sizes. They can have a

diameter of 1000 km or they can be as small as a pebble.• Most asteroids can be found in the Main Asteroid Belt

which stretches from the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.• Asteroids are thought to be the parts that never formed into

the planet when the Big Bang happened.

What are Asteroids?

• Meteoroids are pieces of rock that are too small to be considered an asteroid or a comet. Most are smaller or the same size as a pebble.

• They don’t really do a lot of damage to spacecraft or when they hit Earth.

• They mostly come from asteroids that are broken apart when it hits another asteroid or another form of impact.

What are Meteoroids?

Fcftvgu .Video of a Meteor

• It is thought that the Moon was formed 4.5 billion years ago in some giant impact involving Earth.

• Just like Earth it has a crust, mantle, and a core.• The Moon also has volcanoes on its surface.• Lots of asteroids have crashed on the Moon creating

deep craters on its surface.• The Moon’s gravitational pull affects the Ocean’s Tide.• It is Earth’s only natural satellite.

Earth’s Moon

• The first manmade object to impact the moon was Luna 2 but that’s all it did. Just land on it.

• The first photograph of the moon was Luna 3.• The Luna missions were all from the Soviets.

Earth’s Moon

• Here are the missions from the U.S.A• The U.S.A made Apollo as competition to the

Soviet’s Luna.• Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on

the moon. He was commanding the Apollo 11 mission.

• From that day on the U.S.A wanted to send more and more astronauts to the Moon.

Earth’s Moon

Phases of the Moon• The phases of the Moon depend on the positions of

the Earth, Moon, and the Sun.• For example if the Moon was directly beside the

Earth on the right and the sunlight was also coming from that way, we would see a new moon.

• Here is a simple diagram to make it simpler.

• Like the phases of the moon, it all depends on the position of the Earth, Moon, and the Sun.

• Since the Moon is closer to Earth than the Sun, it looks like they are the same size.

• If the Moon completely covers up the sun in the sky, that is an eclipse.

• The Background is a picture of an eclipse• Here is Another diagram to help you understand.

How an Eclipse happens