EAPS 105, THE PLANETS EXAM 3
STUDY GUIDE PART 2 UNIT 8: MINOR
BODIES
What most asteroids look like. - Correct Answers -Irregularly shaped, smooth surfaces
marked with craters
What regolith is. - Correct Answers -smooth layer of loose dust and small particles left
over from many impacts
How asteroid Bennu looks different compared to larger asteroids - Correct Answers -
Bennu and Ryugu are both classified as "spinning-top" asteroids, which means they
have a pronounced equatorial ridge
Bennu - Correct Answers -??????A solar and creator deity, depicted as a bird[28]
Asteroid Bennu was likely formed in the Main Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Bennu is as tall as the Empire State Building.
Bennu could impact the Earth on September 24, 2182.
Where is the main asteroid belt located? - Correct Answers -2-4 AU from the Sun,
between Mars and Jupiter
between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
How crowded is the astroid belt - Correct Answers -in the asteroid belt, asteroids are
separated from each other by millions of miles. by human standards, the asteroid belt is
not crowded at all. spacecraft would be able to pass through the asteroid belt with very
little chance of colliding with an asteroid
The asteroid belt is a band between 2 - 3.3 Astronomical Units wide, give or take, but
the asteroids are bunched up into families so are not uniformly spread out in this vast
volume some 100 million miles wide and perhaps another 20 million miles thick. The
volume of this space is about 4 million trillion cubic miles.
What are the bright patches on the surface of the asteroid Ceres - Correct Answers
-???? mostly associated with craters
Basic characteristics of the asteroid Vesta - Correct Answers -The giant asteroid is
almost spherical, and so is nearly classified a dwarf planet. Unlike most known
, asteroids, Vesta has separated into crust, mantle and core (a characteristic known as
being differentiated), much like Earth.
Why comets are referred to as dirty ice balls. - Correct Answers -???They are a mixture
of ice and rock/metal
Astronomer Fred Whipple created the term "dirty snowballs" as one of the many ways to
describe the characteristics of comets. These bodies are made of dust, rocks, organic
compounds, and ice, and have three parts: nucleus, coma, and tail.
Why the asteroid belt could never accrete into a planet - Correct Answers -First of all,
there's not enough total mass in the belt to form a planet. Second, the belt is too close
to Jupiter. We haven't counted every tiny asteroid by a long shot, but we can estimate
the mass of the belt from the asteroids we see and by monitoring the orbits of both Mars
and Earth.
characteristics of C-type asteroids - Correct Answers -C-type asteroids are the most
common type of asteroids, forming around 75% of all known asteroids in the solar
system.
Key Facts & Summary
C-type asteroids are among the darkest celestial objects in color.
They are the most numerous asteroids in the Solar System.
Though Ceres is classified as a G-type asteroid, it falls under the C-type group; thus,
the dwarf-asteroid-planet is the most massive asteroid of the C-class type.
C-type asteroids are among the most ancient celestial objects in our solar system.
They have a charcoal-like appearance due to their high concentration of carbon.
C-type asteroids share the same spectral classification as carbonaceous meteorites.
The C-type asteroids have albedos typically in the 0.03 and 0.10 range.
The total mass of all known asteroids constitutes around 4% of the Moon's mass.
Most asteroids have irregular shapes similar to that of a potato.
Though they are among the most numerous, their low albedo makes them very difficult
to observe.
Most C-type asteroids are located in the famous asteroid belt.
The average distance between asteroids is around 600.000 mi / 1 million km.
One day, the entire asteroid belt will be gone. This will happen when the Sun
approaches the end of its life.
The C-type asteroid group holds together three other sub-groups of carbonaceous
asteroids: B-type, F-type, and G-type.
Why do many asteroids contain water ice - Correct Answers -?????
Astronomers studying the
asteroid 24-Themis detected waterice and carbon-based organic
compounds on the surface of the
asteroid.
NASA detects, tracks and
characterizes asteroids and comets
STUDY GUIDE PART 2 UNIT 8: MINOR
BODIES
What most asteroids look like. - Correct Answers -Irregularly shaped, smooth surfaces
marked with craters
What regolith is. - Correct Answers -smooth layer of loose dust and small particles left
over from many impacts
How asteroid Bennu looks different compared to larger asteroids - Correct Answers -
Bennu and Ryugu are both classified as "spinning-top" asteroids, which means they
have a pronounced equatorial ridge
Bennu - Correct Answers -??????A solar and creator deity, depicted as a bird[28]
Asteroid Bennu was likely formed in the Main Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Bennu is as tall as the Empire State Building.
Bennu could impact the Earth on September 24, 2182.
Where is the main asteroid belt located? - Correct Answers -2-4 AU from the Sun,
between Mars and Jupiter
between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
How crowded is the astroid belt - Correct Answers -in the asteroid belt, asteroids are
separated from each other by millions of miles. by human standards, the asteroid belt is
not crowded at all. spacecraft would be able to pass through the asteroid belt with very
little chance of colliding with an asteroid
The asteroid belt is a band between 2 - 3.3 Astronomical Units wide, give or take, but
the asteroids are bunched up into families so are not uniformly spread out in this vast
volume some 100 million miles wide and perhaps another 20 million miles thick. The
volume of this space is about 4 million trillion cubic miles.
What are the bright patches on the surface of the asteroid Ceres - Correct Answers
-???? mostly associated with craters
Basic characteristics of the asteroid Vesta - Correct Answers -The giant asteroid is
almost spherical, and so is nearly classified a dwarf planet. Unlike most known
, asteroids, Vesta has separated into crust, mantle and core (a characteristic known as
being differentiated), much like Earth.
Why comets are referred to as dirty ice balls. - Correct Answers -???They are a mixture
of ice and rock/metal
Astronomer Fred Whipple created the term "dirty snowballs" as one of the many ways to
describe the characteristics of comets. These bodies are made of dust, rocks, organic
compounds, and ice, and have three parts: nucleus, coma, and tail.
Why the asteroid belt could never accrete into a planet - Correct Answers -First of all,
there's not enough total mass in the belt to form a planet. Second, the belt is too close
to Jupiter. We haven't counted every tiny asteroid by a long shot, but we can estimate
the mass of the belt from the asteroids we see and by monitoring the orbits of both Mars
and Earth.
characteristics of C-type asteroids - Correct Answers -C-type asteroids are the most
common type of asteroids, forming around 75% of all known asteroids in the solar
system.
Key Facts & Summary
C-type asteroids are among the darkest celestial objects in color.
They are the most numerous asteroids in the Solar System.
Though Ceres is classified as a G-type asteroid, it falls under the C-type group; thus,
the dwarf-asteroid-planet is the most massive asteroid of the C-class type.
C-type asteroids are among the most ancient celestial objects in our solar system.
They have a charcoal-like appearance due to their high concentration of carbon.
C-type asteroids share the same spectral classification as carbonaceous meteorites.
The C-type asteroids have albedos typically in the 0.03 and 0.10 range.
The total mass of all known asteroids constitutes around 4% of the Moon's mass.
Most asteroids have irregular shapes similar to that of a potato.
Though they are among the most numerous, their low albedo makes them very difficult
to observe.
Most C-type asteroids are located in the famous asteroid belt.
The average distance between asteroids is around 600.000 mi / 1 million km.
One day, the entire asteroid belt will be gone. This will happen when the Sun
approaches the end of its life.
The C-type asteroid group holds together three other sub-groups of carbonaceous
asteroids: B-type, F-type, and G-type.
Why do many asteroids contain water ice - Correct Answers -?????
Astronomers studying the
asteroid 24-Themis detected waterice and carbon-based organic
compounds on the surface of the
asteroid.
NASA detects, tracks and
characterizes asteroids and comets
