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Ch 14 SS Debris Pt 2
Vocabulary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Comet | one of thousands of smaller bodies orbiting the Sun in highly elliptical orbits |
| Nucleus | solid, central region of ice and dust that composes a comet |
| Coma | brightest part of a comet, often referred to as the head |
| Hydrogen Envelope | invisible sheath of gas engulfing the coma of a comet |
| Dust Tail | component of a comet's tail that is composed of dust particles; a product of a comet's motion |
| Ion Tail | thin stream of ionized gas pushed away from a comet by the solar wind (a.k.a. a plasma tail) |
| Trajectory | path that an object follows through space as a function of time |
| Halley | scientist who predicted a specific comet's return, which subsequently was named after him |
| Short-Period Comet | a.k.a. periodic comets; have orbital periods less than 200 years |
| Kuiper Belt | smaller members of the solar system orbiting the Sun just beyond Neptune |
| Vaporization | phase transition from liquid to gas |
| Sublimation | when an element changes from the solid to the gaseous state, without becoming a liquid |
| Aerogel | synthetic porous ultralight material that is composed of 99% air |
| Long-Period Comet | comets that have orbital periods longer than 200 years |
| Oort Cloud | spherical halo of material surrounding the solar system, where most comets reside |
| Sun-Grazing Comet | comets that are destroyed when they pass too closely by the Sun |
| Ecliptic | orbital plane of most known objects in the solar system |
Created by:
john_bailey720
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