ASTEROIDS

WHAT IS AN ASTEROID?

• A relatively small, inactive, rocky body in space

MORE BASICS

• Made of ice, rock and mud
• Range in diameter from 2 ft to almost 600 mi.

Mainly found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter

May be nessecary to life...

• Asteroid impacts are necessary to evolution
• Why is that?

DO ASTEROIDS CIRCLE THE SUN?

• They have their own orbit
• The planets are almost equally spaced...except for the space where the asteroids are.

WHY IS THERE AN ASTEROID BELT?

• There would be a planet there instead
• How many asteroids?

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ASTEROIDS STRIKE THE PLANET?

• They can cause nuculear winters or mass extinction

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST ASTEROID?

• Ceres is the biggest known asteroid
• Discovered in 1801
• Guess: how big is it?

Ceres takes up a third of all mass in the asteroid belt
590 miles

HOW ARE ASTEROIDS DETECTED?

• Radar: transmitting signals off space objects

FUN FACTS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Asteroids
• http://www.windows2universe.org/our_solar_system/asteroids.html

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