Exam 3: Near-Earth Objects

Think about the orbits of Kuiper belt comets, Oort cloud comets and asteroids. Place them in order from longest to shortest average amount of time required for each of them to orbit the sun.

Use the following diagram to answer this question -Short period versions of this come from the Kuiper belt.

Which impact is thought to be responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs?

Use the following diagram to answer this question -Long period versions of this come from the Oort cloud.

Asteroids large enough to destroy most life have been documented to strike Earth in the past.

Does the Torino scale have a category for meteorites?

What scale predicts the potential threat posed by an asteroid impact?

We may be able to prevent an asteroid impact.

Complete the concept map displayed below by selecting the correct response from the answers provided. -Complete the concept map by selecting the correct response from the answers provided for number 5.

Suppose you were tasked to evaluate the damage risk posed by a comet that was headed toward earth. Based on what you know about the average properties of comets, how would you evaluate the risk variables of density and speed for such a comet (as compared to other NEO's)?

Use the following diagram to answer this question -These are known to pass close to Earth.

-Use the Venn Diagram for composition of NEOs to answer this question. Which letter corresponds to abundant metallic material?

Complete the concept map displayed below by selecting the correct response from the answers provided. -Complete the concept map by selecting the correct response from the answers provided for number 2.

How large would an asteroid have to be to generate an impact crater the size of the Chicxulub crater?

Use the following diagram to answer this question -Most orbit between Mars and Jupiter.

How is the following paragraph consistent with the nature of science? This is an excerpt from the NASA NEO website. "As is often the case, the possibility of future Earth impacts for some near-Earth objects cannot be entirely ruled out until the uncertainties associated with their trajectories are reduced as a result of either future position observations, or in this case, heretofore unrecognized, pre-discovery observations. When these additional observations were used to update the orbit of 2004 MN4, the uncertainties associated with this object's future positions in space were reduced to such an extent that none of the object's possible trajectories can impact the Earth (or Moon) in 2029."

How long have asteroids been striking Earth?

Use the following diagram to answer this question -These have orbiting satellites.

Complete the concept map displayed below by selecting the correct response from the answers provided. -Complete the concept map by selecting the correct response from the answers provided for number 6.

-Use the Venn Diagram for composition of NEOs to answer this question. Which letter corresponds to rock and/or dust material?