RANDY L. PHELPS
This is the Debris:
Meteors,Asteroids,Comets Module
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Procedure
1. For this module, please look through the
"lecture" notes for "Debris:
Meteors, Asteroids, Comets". These notes contain the material, in condensed form,
that I will expect you to become familiar with. I am sure you will have questions
about the material, especially since it is presented in the form of lecture notes.
To help you fill in the blanks, I have added web links below and within the lecture notes
to gain further insight into select portions of the material.
2. Be sure to read Chapters 24-26 in "The
New Solar System"
3. In addition, you should investigate the
Web-links within the lecture notes.
Goals
After you have
completed this assignment, you should be comfortable with the following concepts:
- What distinguishes asteroids,
meteorids and comets?
- In what parts of the Solar System are
these objects found?
- Why are asteroids, meteoroids and comets
of interest?
- What techniques are used to learn about
asteroids, meteorids and comets?
- What are the characteristics of asteroids,
meteorids and comets?
After you have
completed this assignment, you should be able to answer these, and similar questions:
- Why is the study of asteroids
considered to be important?
- What is necessary to confirm the discovery
of an asteroid or a comet?
- What techniques can be used to learn about
asteroids?
- What evidence exists for the impact of
asteroids with the Earth?
- What event(s) occured as a result of
asteroid impacts with the Earth?
- Where in the Solar System is the main
concentration of asteroids?
- What are the Trojan asteroids, and where
are they located?
- Do asteroids have satellites, and if so,
why is this of interest?
- How does a study of asteroids tell us
about the satellites of Mars?
- What is the difference between meteoroids,
meteors and meteorites?
- Why is the Allende meteorite important?
- What is the Chicxulub meteor crater, and
why is it considered to be important?
- Why do meteor showers occur at the same
time of the year?
- What are the Centaur asteroids, and where
are they located?
- What is the Ooort Cloud, and where is it
located?
- What is the Kuiper belt, and where is it
located?
- What are the different regions of comets?
- What are the characteristics of the
different regions of comets?
- What are the two types of cometary tails?
- What causes a comet's tail?
The
above questions, and variants of them, will form the exam questions for this portion of
the course. It is, therefore, to your advantage to do this web-based assignment!
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