University of Arizona's Asteroids vs comets infographic
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Transcript of University of Arizona's Asteroids vs comets infographic
VSASTEROIDS
COMETSASTEROIDS COMETS
IDENTIFICATION
PUTTING IT INTO PERSPECTIVE
LOCATION
Composed ofsilicates, silicates and
metal, or metal.
Composed of silicates and ice. Generally accompanied
by a coma and a tail.
950 km
Ceres
Texas
Together,Vesta and Ceres
contain more than 1/3of the mass of all
asteroids in the MainAsteroid Belt.
Asteroid Composition Comet Composition
SilicateAsteroid
The majordistinguishing factorbetween Asteroids
and Comets are their source regions and the presence, or lack thereof, of ice and frozen gases.
Main Asteroid Belt Kuiper Belt / Scattered Disk Oort Cloud
*NOT TO SCALE
Empire State Building
Asteroid BennuTarget of OSIRIS-REx
~510 m
525 km
443 m
Golden Gate Bridge
Comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenkoTarget of Rosetta
4,000 m
2,740 m
Every day, Earth is hit with over 100 tons of space dust and particles the size of sand grains
- most of which is burnt up in theEarth’s upper atmosphere.
Vesta
Most asteroidsare located in the Main
Asteroid Belt.
Short periodcomets come from
the Kuiper Belt/Scattered Disc.
The Oort Cloud is a vast spherical expanse of billions of comets
that encompass the Solar System.
Long periodcomets from the Oort Cloud are pulled in by the Sun’s gravity.
Trans-Neptunian Objects