Comets

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    Comets

    Halley’s Comet *Halley’s Comet is a comet that appears in the sky about every 76 years *Halley’s Comet has become the best-known comet because it returns more often than most comets and usually be seen without the aid of a telescope *Halley’s Comet orbits the Sun in a long oval path that brings it close to the Sun about every 76 years *Halley’s Comet was named for the English astronomer Edmond Halley *Astronomers expect the Halley’s Comet next return in 2061 When the comet goes back in space

    Words: 931 - Pages: 4

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    Comets

    A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, heats up and begins to outgas, displaying a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet. Comet nuclei range from a few hundred metres to tens of kilometres across and are composed of loose collections of ice, dust, and small rocky particles. The coma and tail are much larger and, if sufficiently bright

    Words: 513 - Pages: 3

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    Comet C/2006 M4 Swan

    Term Paper “Comet C/2006 M4 SWAN”. GEOL 208/2- “The Earth, Moon and Planets” Fall 2006 - Lec AA Xxxxxx Xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx ID# xxxxxxxx Due Date: December 5th, 2006 Page 1 Comets are beautiful. When in close proximity to heat, comet like objects become enveloped in gases that glow in light, they become even more magnificent when approaching close proximity to the sun. The tails of comets extend greater distances due to increased amount of sublimed gases as the intensity of light and heat

    Words: 1857 - Pages: 8

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    Astro Quiz Answers

    1. Why has NASA sent recent orbiters to Mars (such as Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) on trajectories that required them to skim through Mars's atmosphere before settling into their final orbits? | | It saves money because the spacecraft uses atmospheric drag to slow down rather than needing to carry enough fuel to slow by firing rocket engines. | | | Each spacecraft also carried a lander, and the lander could only be dropped to the Martian surface when the spacecraft passed through the atmosphere

    Words: 827 - Pages: 4

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    Rosetta

    ORBIT: Rosetta has a complex trajectory which includes four gravity assist maneuvers (3 x Earth, 1 x Mars) before finally reaching the comet. On arrival at 67P Rosetta will enter orbit around the comet and stay with it as it journeys in towards the Sun. MILESTONES: To study the origin of comets, the relationship between cometary and interstellar material, and its implications with regard to the origin of the Solar System. The measurements to be made to achieve this are: Global characterisation

    Words: 528 - Pages: 3

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    Analytical Review of Discover Magazine

    At first glance Discover magazine appears to be a scientific magazine comparable to Popular Science or Wired. Discover magazine does have information pertaining to the scientific community, but it is more than just single subject topics like electronics or biology. Discover magazine entices and educates its readers on latest technologies and breakthroughs within the entire scientific community not just one aspect of it. The scientific community is broad term used to describe those that are interested

    Words: 1094 - Pages: 5

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    2012 Da14

    in the Earth’s atmosphere. When their orbit brings them close to the sun, gigantic balls of ice and rock or comets, form a tail of dust and gas while being heated by the Sun’s rays. Scientists believe that the extinction of dinosaurs, nearly 66 million years ago, was the result of a large meteorite striking what today is Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. In 1908, a fragment of an asteroid or comet exploded in Earth’s atmosphere above Tunguska, Russia. The “Tunguska event”, the blast caused by the explosion

    Words: 687 - Pages: 3

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    Big Bitvh

    irregularly shaped, although a few are nearly spherical. A comet is an icy body that releases gas or dust. They are often compared to dirty snowballs, though recent research has led some scientists to call them snowy dirtballs. Comets contain dust, ice, carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane and more. Astronomers think comets are leftovers from the gas, dust, ice and rocks that initially formed the solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. Comets orbit the sun but are believed to be located in an area called

    Words: 302 - Pages: 2

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    Meteor

    1,000 people were injured when a meteor shot across the sky and exploded over central Russia on Friday, sending fireballs crashing to Earth, shattering windows and damaging buildings. Definition : Small pieces of space debris — usually parts of comets or asteroids — that are on a collision course with the Earth are called meteoroids. They become meteors when they enter the Earth's atmosphere. Most meteors burn up in the atmosphere, but if they survive the frictional heating and strike the surface

    Words: 453 - Pages: 2

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    Deep Impact

    Disasters Movie Worksheet: Deep Impact 1. Who discovers the comet? Do you think that is likely? A teenage amateur astronomer Leo Biederman discovers the comet. He discovers the unusual object between the Mizar and Alcor stars while at a party with his friends from the astronomy club. He tells his teacher, who in turn alerts Dr. Marcus Wolf, an astronomer, who realizes that it is a comet set to collide with Earth. It is unlikely that a comet so bright and a year from reaching Earth had not been discovered

    Words: 495 - Pages: 2

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