Objective – After watching Universe: Ride the Comet, I can describe the characteristics of comets.
Name ______
Ride the Comet
1. These are the cosmic time travelers of the sky.
a. Comets c. Asteroids
b. Meteors
2. Comets can appear out of nowhere.
a. True b. False
3. Which description best fits a comet? (There are two answers to this question. Be sure to enter both answers in the clicker!)
a. A solid ball of ice. c. An icy dirtball.
b. A dirty snowball. d. A honeycomb of ice.
4. This is the heart of a comet.
a. Coma c. Tail
b. Nucleus
5. What best describes how a comet appears?
a. A bright ball of snow and ice. c. A combination of water and ice.
b. A chunk of charcoal. d. A fuzzy ball in the sky.
6. It is believed that most of the comets were formed near the Sun. Where did comets eventually end up?
a. Asteroid Belt c. Oort Cloud
b. Kuiper Belt d. Scattered Disk
7. What caused the comets to migrate outward?
a. Gravitational interaction with the giant planets.
b. Collisions among the comets.
c. Gravitational interaction with the Sun.
d. Gravitational interaction with the rocky planets.
8. What is thought to be the primary source of short-period comets?
a. Asteroid Belt c. Oort Cloud
b. Kuiper Belt d. Scattered Disk
9. This is the hazy atmosphere that surrounds a comet.
a. Coma c. Tail
b. Nucleus
10. The coma can be larger than the Sun.
a. True b. False
11. Identify a comet’s two tails. (There are two answers to this question. Be sure to enter both answers in the clicker!)
a. Gas (Ion) tail c. Dust tail
b. Icy tail d. Rocky tail
12. Comets are brightest and fastest nearest…
a. the Kuiper Belt. c. the Asteroid Belt.
b. Jupiter. d. the Sun.
13. Comet Halley was first recorded in ______B.C. (Enter a number)
Match the space probe with its mission
_____14. Sent an impactor to collide with CometTempel 1.
_____15. Took pictures of the Comet Tempel 1,
photographing the crater.
_____16. Studied Comet Hartley 2. / A. Deep Impact
B. Epoxi
C. Stardust-NExT
17. What will we find at the outermost edge of the Solar System?
a. The Asteroid Belt. c. The Oort Cloud.
b. The Kuiper Belt. d. The Asteroid Band.
18. How small are some meteors?
a. The size of a pebble. c. The size of a boulder.
b. The size of a rock. d. No bigger than a grain of sand.
19. This space probe’s mission was to collect comet dust in outer space and return it to Earth.
a. Deep Impact c. Stardust
b. Epoxi d. Stardust-NExT
20. Comets have never hit the Earth.
a. True b. False
21. Which planet was struck by fragments of Shoemaker Levy 9?
a. Uranus c. Saturn
b. Neptune d. Jupiter
22. What poses a greater threat to humans – asteroids or comets?
a. Asteroids b. Comets
Ride the Comet – Key
1. These are the cosmic time travelers of the sky.
a. Comets c. Asteroids
b. Meteors
a. Comets (3 choices)
2. Comets can appear out of nowhere.
a. True b. False
a. True (2 choices)
3. Which description best fits a comet? (There are two or more answers to this question.)
a. A solid ball of ice. c. An icy dirtball.
b. A dirty snowball. d. A honeycomb of ice.
b. A dirty snowball; c. An icy dirtball.
4. This is the heart of a comet.
a. Coma c. Tail
b. Nucleus
b. Nucleus
5. What best describes how a comet appears?
a. A bright ball of snow and ice. c. A combination of water and ice.
b. A chunk of charcoal. d. A fuzzy ball in the sky.
b. A chunk of charcoal.
6. It is believed that most of the comets were formed near the Sun. Where did comets eventually end up?
a. Asteroid Belt c. Oort Cloud
b. Kuiper Belt d. Scattered Disk
b. Kuiper Belt
7. What caused the comets to migrate outward?
a. Gravitational interaction with the giant planets.
b. Collisions among the comets.
c. Gravitational interaction with the Sun.
d. Gravitational interaction with the rocky planets.
a. Gravitational interaction with the giant planets.
8. What is thought to be the primary source of short-period comets?
a. Asteroid Belt c. Oort Cloud
b. Kuiper Belt d. Scattered Disk
d. Scattered Disk
9. This is the hazy atmosphere that surrounds a comet.
a. Coma c. Tail
b. Nucleus
a. Coma
10. The coma can be larger than the Sun.
a. True b. False
a. True (2 choices)
11. Identify a comet’s two tails. (There are two or more answers to this question.)
a. Gas (Ion) tail c. Dust tail
b. Icy tail d. Rocky tail
a. Gas (Ion) tail; c. Dust tail
12. Comets are brightest and fastest nearest…
a. the Kuiper Belt. c. the Asteroid Belt.
b. Jupiter. d. the Sun.
d. The Sun
13. Comet Halley was first recorded in ______B.C.
240
Match the space probe with its mission
_____14. Sent an impactor to collide with Comet Tempel 1._____15. Took pictures of the Comet Tempel 1, photo-
graphing the crater.
_____16. Studied Comet Hartley 2. / A. Deep Impact
B. Epoxi
C. Stardust-NExT
A 14. Sent an impactor to collide with Comet Tempel 1. (3 choices)
C 15. Took pictures of the Comet Tempel 1, photographing the crater. (3 choices)
D 16. Studied Comet Hartley 2. (3 choices)
17. What will we find at the outermost edge of the Solar System?
a. The Asteroid Belt. c. The Oort Cloud.
b. The Kuiper Belt. d. The Asteroid Band.
c. The Oort Cloud
18. How small are some meteors?
a. The size of a pebble. c. The size of a boulder.
b. The size of a rock. d. No bigger than a grain of sand.
d. No bigger than a grain of sand.
19. This space probe’s mission was to collect comet dust in outer space and return it to Earth.
a. Deep Impact c. Stardust
b. Epoxi d. Stardust-NExT
c. Stardust
20. Comets have never hit the Earth.
a. True b. False
b. False (2 choices)
21. Which planet was struck by fragments of Shoemaker Levy 9?
a. Uranus c. Saturn
b. Neptune d. Jupiter
d. Jupiter
22. What poses a greater threat to humans – asteroids or comets?
a. Asteroids b. Comets
b. Comets (2 choices)
Ride the Comet – Scoring Guide
1. a (3 choices)2. a (2 choices)
3. b, c
4. b (3 choices)
5. b
6. b
7. a
8. d
9. a (3 choices)
10. a (2 choices)
11. a, c / 12. d
13. c
14. A
15. C
16. B
17. c
18. d
19. c
20. b (2 choices)
21. d
22. b (2 choices) / Scoring Guide
22 – 4
21 – 3.5
18-20 – 3
15-17 – 2.5
10-14 – 2
7-9 – 1.5
4-6 – 1
1-3 – .5
0 – 0
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