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Name: Section:

ASTRONOMY WEBQUEST: METEORS, ASTEROIDS AND COMETS

Instructions: Use the given websites to answer the questions on meteors, asteroids and
comets. You do not need to give your answers in full sentences, but
please be thorough in your responses.

Asteroids:

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level2/asteroids.html

http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/wbkids/k_asteroid.html

1.) What are asteroids? And where can you primarily find them?

2.) Describe two possible explanations for how asteroids were formed

3.) Why do asteroids mostly stay in the asteroid belt rather than frequently colliding
with planets closer to the sun like the earth?
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Meteors:

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level2/meteoroids.html

http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/wbkids/k_meteor.html

4.) Explain the difference between a meteor, meteoroid, and a meteorite.

5.) What causes meteors to glow?

6.) Why do meteor showers occur?

7.) How many meteors enter the earth’s atmosphere every day? How many
meteorites hit the Earth each year?
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Comets:

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level2/comets.html

http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/comets.php

8.) What are comets mostly made of?

9.) Explain why a comet has a tail. Is the tail visible during the entire orbit?

10.) Comets come from which two places in our solar system? Where are these
two places located?

11.) What was NASA’s Stardust Mission?