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What are large chunks of ice and dust whose orbits are usually very long narrow ellipses?
Comets are large chunks of ice and dust whose orbits are usually very long narrow ellipses.
What are nearly round bodies whose orbits cross other planet's orbits?
Dwarf Planets are bodies that both orbit the sun directly and which are large enough to be approximately spherical in shape. They are not the dominant objects in their orbit though, crossing other orbits of other large bodies. If they were to be found not to do this, being the dominant body at that orbit, then they would be classed as a planet.
What are the persids and the lyrids?
They are annual meteor showers whose radiants originated in these two constellations. The meteors are caused by debris from two periodic comets whose path intersects Earth's orbit.
A ball of ice and dust whose orbit is a long narrow eclipse?
This describes a comet. Comets are celestial bodies made up of ice, dust, rock, and frozen gases that follow long, elliptical orbits around the sun. When comets are closer to the sun, the heat causes them to release gas and dust, creating a glowing tail that can be seen from Earth.
How is a comet different from an asteroid?
The main difference is that asteroids tend to be dense chunks of solid rock, iron and organic material, whereas comets are less dense and more loose lumps of ice, dirt, rock and organic matter - "dirty snowballs." Asteroids seem to be dead, inert chunks of solid rock, but the ice in comets means that when they get close to the Sun, some of that ice starts to melt and evaporate into space, making the comet grow a fuzzy, thin atmosphere called a coma, which ultimately streams out behind the comet (pushed out by the Solar Wind, a stream of charged particles flowing from the Sun into space) and grows into a tail. Most asteroids are held in a belt between Mars and Jupiter, where they follow roughly circular, planet-like orbits. Comets, on the other hand, tend to come from much further out in the Solar System - either from the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune, or the Oort Cloud much further out - and have very long, thin, highly eccentric and elliptical orbits. Recently though scientists have found the distinction between asteroids and comets isn't all that clear cut. Objects called centaurs, which travel between the orbits of Saturn and Neptune, look like asteroids and have asteroid-like orbits, yet are made of significant amounts of ice and often get fuzzy when they get relatively close to the Sun. Many asteroids in the outer part of the main asteroid belt contain a lot of ice. And many asteroids we can point to seem to be ancient ex-comets whose ice has all melted and evaporated, leaving behind the dust and rock that has compacted into a single mass - an asteroid.
What are large chunks of ice and dust whose orbits are usually very long narrow ellipses?
Comets are large chunks of ice and dust whose orbits are usually very long narrow ellipses.
What comet will be the closes to earth in 2011?
While there are some periodic comets whose orbits are known and whose returns are predictable, most of the comets that we see are unknown; their orbits are longer than recorded history.So there will probably be a comet visible in 2011, but we won't know it until someone "discovers" it in the night sky.
Can we see the same objects in the night sky that our ancestors could?
Yes. The orbits of the the main bodies of the solar system have not changed and the stars have not moved much relative to one another. The one exception might be with individual comets, whose orbits can become unstable.
Why can comets paths be predicted?
Comets are falling rocks, whose paths can be calculated quite precisely.
What does a solution of a system of equations look like?
Functions (lines, parabolas, etc.) whose graphs never intersect each other.
What does a system of equation with no solution look like?
Functions (lines, parabolas, etc.) whose graphs never intersect each other.
What are nearly round bodies whose orbits cross other planet's orbits?
Dwarf Planets are bodies that both orbit the sun directly and which are large enough to be approximately spherical in shape. They are not the dominant objects in their orbit though, crossing other orbits of other large bodies. If they were to be found not to do this, being the dominant body at that orbit, then they would be classed as a planet.
Whose first hit was Shake Rattle and Roll?
Bill Haley and the Comets in 1954
What is the next comet to pass in 2009?
Eclipses happen on schedule; they are very predictable. (NASA has a 5,000 year map of all eclipses from 2000 BC to 3000AD.) Comets? Not so much. Even comets whose orbits are pretty-well known sometimes appear months early or late, and some expected comets never re-appear, having disintegrated into dust during their previous pass by the Sun. And new comets are discovered every month. Hundreds of amateur comet hunters watch the skies nightly from their backyard observatories, hoping to be the first to discover a new comet. Many succeed. We won't know about a new comet - until it is discovered.
What are the persids and the lyrids?
They are annual meteor showers whose radiants originated in these two constellations. The meteors are caused by debris from two periodic comets whose path intersects Earth's orbit.
A ball of ice and dust whose orbit is a long narrow eclipse?
This describes a comet. Comets are celestial bodies made up of ice, dust, rock, and frozen gases that follow long, elliptical orbits around the sun. When comets are closer to the sun, the heat causes them to release gas and dust, creating a glowing tail that can be seen from Earth.
How is a comet different from an asteroid?
The main difference is that asteroids tend to be dense chunks of solid rock, iron and organic material, whereas comets are less dense and more loose lumps of ice, dirt, rock and organic matter - "dirty snowballs." Asteroids seem to be dead, inert chunks of solid rock, but the ice in comets means that when they get close to the Sun, some of that ice starts to melt and evaporate into space, making the comet grow a fuzzy, thin atmosphere called a coma, which ultimately streams out behind the comet (pushed out by the Solar Wind, a stream of charged particles flowing from the Sun into space) and grows into a tail. Most asteroids are held in a belt between Mars and Jupiter, where they follow roughly circular, planet-like orbits. Comets, on the other hand, tend to come from much further out in the Solar System - either from the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune, or the Oort Cloud much further out - and have very long, thin, highly eccentric and elliptical orbits. Recently though scientists have found the distinction between asteroids and comets isn't all that clear cut. Objects called centaurs, which travel between the orbits of Saturn and Neptune, look like asteroids and have asteroid-like orbits, yet are made of significant amounts of ice and often get fuzzy when they get relatively close to the Sun. Many asteroids in the outer part of the main asteroid belt contain a lot of ice. And many asteroids we can point to seem to be ancient ex-comets whose ice has all melted and evaporated, leaving behind the dust and rock that has compacted into a single mass - an asteroid.
