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You
have been requested to join your fellow astronauts on a mission
to the Indianapolis Challenger Learning Center. Your
crew's mission is to track the comet Encke. If you choose
to accept this mission, your crew will be responsible for
tracking the comet and building and launching a probe to recover
comet dust for scientific research.
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Astronaut Check List:
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Know the
differences between a comet, meteorite, asteroid and a
planet. |
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Know all of the
different jobs in the Space Station |
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You have
discovered a comet! You are going to name it and
because you don't have a telescope with a camera, you
are going to draw a picture of the comet to submit to be
named. |
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Researching
Comets-
In our first activity to prepare for our mission, we will need to
research about comets. Below you will find information that will
help you identify comets (Spanish
Version)
The coma is
the head of the comet. It contains the nucleus and a large halo of
gases and dust that blow off the icy nucleus as the Sun heats the
comet.
The solar wind blows a gas tail off the coma, directly opposite from
the Sun.
Dust particles are blown off the coma by pressure from sunlight.
These particles form a second, gently curving dust tail.
Comets are literally dirty, cosmic snowballs- small, irregularly shaped,
chunks of rock, various ices, and dust. The nucleus of a comet is
usually only a few kilometers wide. When a gravitational force disturbs
a comet in the Kuiper Belt or the Oort Cloud, it may begin a long,
eccentric orbit that brings it close to the sun.
Where
do comets come from? Short
period (less than 200 year orbits) are believed to originate in the
Kuiper Belt, located beyond Neptune's orbit.
Long
period (more than 200 year orbit) comets are thought to originate in the
Oort Cloud, which scientist theorize is a spherical clod of comets that
stretch halfway to the nearest star.
Do
all comets have tails? No!
Comets only develop tails when they travel within the inner Solar System
(near or within the orbit of Jupiter) because there the Sun's energy is
strong enough to sublime off the dirty ices into gases and dust.
Why
are comets important? Comets are believed to be the oldest, most
primitive bodies in the Solar System. They are remnants preserved
from the earliest days of star and planetary formation. From what
we know of their composition, comets may provide clues about the
building blocks of life and of our Solar System. In addition, the
impact of a large comet could cause major changes in the climate of a
planet or a moon.
How
frequently do "spectacular" comets become visible?
"Spectacular" comets come along only a few times in a
lifetime- roughly every 20 years or so. This assumes that
"spectacular" is a bright or brighter than a crescent moon.
How
does a comet get its name? Comets are normally named for their
discoverers. since amateur astronomers continually discover
comets, you could have a comet named after you! A Japanese amateur
astronomer named Yuji Hyakutake discovered his second comet with a pair
of binoculars in January 1996. The Central Bureau of Astronomical
Telegrams designated it Comet C/ 1996 B2 (Hyakutake)
Naming
your Comet- You
have discovered a comet in the night sky! You will get to name the
comet.
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Decide if the comet
is a short or long period comet.
If it is a long
period comet, you will give it the letter "C"
If it is a
short period comet, you will give it the letter "P" |
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Next will be
the year it was discovered |
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Next you will give it a number based on which part of the month
it was discovered.
The following
chart will help:
| January |
February |
March |
April |
May |
June |
July |
August |
September |
October |
November |
December |
A-
1-15
B-
15-30 |
C-
1-15
D-
15-30 |
E-
1-15
F-
15-30 |
G
1-15
H-
15-30 |
I
1-15
J-
15-30 |
K-
1-15
L-
15-30 |
M-
1-15
N-
15-30 |
O-
1-15
P-
15-30 |
Q-
1-15
R-
15-30 |
S-
1-15
T-
15-30 |
U-
1-15
V-
15-30 |
W-
1-15
X-
15-30 |
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How
Hyakutake comet was named
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Comet
C/ 1996 B2 (Hyakutake)
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C-
Indicates a long period comet
1996-
Indicates the Year of Discover
B- Means
that the comet was discovered in the second half-month of
January. Half months are given as letters, with "A"
covering Jan 1-15, "B" covering Jan. 16-31,
"C" covering Feb. 1-15, etc.
2- Means
it was the second comet discovered in 1996.
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What does a comet
look like?
This is an artist interpretation of what a comet looks like.
Famous
Comet Information
Hyakutake
Hale-bopp
Shoemaker
Levy
Shoemaker
Levy More information
Swift-Tuttle
Swift-Tuttle
comet More information
Halley
Halley
Comet More Information
Comet
Orbital Viewer
Famous
Comet Word Search
Resources
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