COMETS/ASTEROIDS/METEORS WEBQUEST
Comets Find it! in Zoom Astronomy
Name:_____________________
Use the section on the comets on the blog to answer the following questions.
1. What celestial body do comets orbit?_____________________________________________________
2. What is the nucleus of a comet made of?_________________________________________________
3. Is a comet's coma solid, liquid, or gaseous?______________________________________________
4. When is the tail of a comet visible?____________________________________________________
5. Are comets in circular or elliptical orbits? ________________________________________________
6. Name a well-known comet whose visit was recorded in ancient times ___________________________________
7. What is the name for the process in which a solid matter (like a comet's nucleus) goes directly to a gaseous
state?__________________________________________________________________________________
8. Does a comet's tail ever face the Sun? _____________________________________________________
9. What happens when the Earth crosses a comet's orbit and encounters comet debris? ______________________
10. What is the name of a comet that crashes into the sun (or gets so close that it burns up)? ______________________
Asteroids Find it! in Zoom Astronomy
Use the section on the asteroids on the blog to answer the following questions.
1. The asteroid belt orbits between which two planets?______________________ and ______________________
2. Are all the asteroids in the asteroid belt?_________________________________________________________
3. Are asteroids bigger or smaller than planets?_____________________________________________________
4. What are asteroids composed of?______________________________________________________________
5. What may have caused the mass extinction on Earth 65 million years ago (the extinction that killed the dinosaurs)?
________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Name another group of organisms that went extinct during this mass extinction. _____________________________
7. What is the name of the biggest asteroid (and the first one discovered)?_____________________________________
8. What is another name for asteroids? ________________________________________________________________
9. Do any of the asteroids have a moon orbiting them? ___________________________________________________
10. Is the number of known asteroids over 0.5 miles (about 1 km) in diameter closest to: 40; 400; 4,000; 40,000 or
400,000? _______________________________________________________________________________
Meteors Find it! in Zoom Astronomy
Name______________________
Use the section on meteoroids, meteors, and meteorites on the blog to answer the following
questions.
1. What is the name of small bodies (smaller than asteroids) that travel through space?
___________________________________________________________________
2. Are most of these bodies smaller than pebbles or bigger than boulders?
_____________________________________________________________________
3. Where do most of these objects come from? _______________________________
4. What is the name of these same small bodies as they fall through the Earth's atmosphere?
_______________________________________________________________________
5. What are two other common names for the bodies in question number two?
_______________________ and _______________________
6. What is the name of the phenomenon in which many of these objects fall through the
atmosphere in a relatively short time and in approximately parallel trajectories?
_________________________________________________________________
7. Do most of these small bodies burn up before they land on Earth? ________________
8. What is the name of these same small bodies after they land on the
Earth?_________________________________________________________________
9. Are these objects rare or plentiful on Earth? _________________________________
10. Are these objects made of rock, metals, rock and metal, or all of the above?
________________________________________________________________________