Teacher Resources to enrich the learning

by J. Trusedell

Researching Comets
 Activity 1

 Naming Your Comet 
Activity 2

Drawing Your Comet
Activity 3

What does a comet look like?

 Practice for your Mission 
Following Directions
Using Creative Thinking
Problem Solving

Navigation

 

Astronaut Check List: Know the differences between a comet, meteorite, asteroid and a planet. Know all of the different jobs in the Space Station  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.

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. 

	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"
	Next will be the year it was discovered
	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

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

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