Geography 6

PHYSICAL
GEOGRAPHY
• Asteroids
• Meteors & Meteorites
• Comets
• Stars
• Constellations
Asteroids (or Planetoids)
 Asteroids are also known as minor planets. They are objects that revolve around the Sun.
 They are mostly found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. They are a belt of debris which
failed to assemble into planets and keeps on revolving around the Sun. This has come to be
called as 'asteroid belt'.
 More than 5000 asteroids have been identified. Asteroids may be spherical, elongated or
irregular in shape.
 All asteroids rotate on their axis, every 5 to 20 hours. Certain asteroids may have satellites.
 Trojan asteroids are found in two clouds moving in the orbit of Jupiter one moving ahead of it and
the other moving behind it.
 Scientists believe that these asteroids occupy a place where a planet could have existed but was
prevented from its formation by the disruptive gravitational force of the nearby giant planet, Jupiter.
Meteors and Meteorites
 Meteors and Meteorites are also called shooting stars.
 Meteors are fragments of rocks coming towards the earth, formed due to the collision of
asteroids with one another.
 Meteors are usually small, and due to the heat produced by air resistance, burn up before they
reach the Earth's surface.
 When meteors are large and do not burn up completely they land on the Earth's surface and are
known as Meteorites.
 All meteorites are believed to originate in the asteroid belt, where a sudden collision may send
them towards the Earth and the Earth's gravity attracts them towards its surface.
Comets
 Visitors of the Solar System, Comets (the name derived from the Latin words Stella cometa
meaning 'hairystar') are among the most spectacular and unpredictable bodies in the Solar System.
 Comets move around the Sun in regular orbits, but their orbits are elongated ellipses that it takes
them hundreds and, sometimes even thousands of years to complete one revolution around the
Sun.
 Comets are made up of frozen gases which hold together rocky and metallic materials.
 A comet becomes visible only when it travels close to the Sun. Its ice melts and the gas and dust is
swept back into a tail.
 The tail always points away from the Sun. So when it is travelling away from the Sun it is led by its
tail
Features of a Comet
 A comet is characterised by a long luminous tail, which emits light. But, this is visible only when the
comet's orbit passes close to the Sun.
 When the comet travels close to the Sun, the ice melts to a head of gas called a Coma.The Sun's
radiation sweeps this into a gas tail. Dust particles are also swept back to form a dust tail.
Stars
 Stars are heavenly bodies made up of hot burning gases, thus shining by their own light.
 Stars seem to be fixed with respect to each other. In fact they are in rapid motion but they are at
such great distance that relative changes in position become noticeable only over the centuries.
 According to NASA Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the Earth after the Sun. It is about 4.24
light years away.
 Pole star (or Polaris), Sirius, Vega, Capella, Alpha centauri, Beta centauri, Proxima centauri, Spica,
Regulus, Pleiades, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Betelgeuse, and of course the Sun are some of the
important examples of the stars.

Facts about Stars
 There are billions and billions of stars in the sky but only about 2000 stars can be seen with the
naked eye on a clear moonless night.
 There are 1022 stars in the Universe.
 About 8000 stars are visible from the Earth with naked eye. Out of this, 4000 stars are visible in the
Northern Hemisphere and 4000 in the Southern Hemisphere.
 In either hemisphere, only 2000 stars are visible at any given time. The other 2000 are located in
the day-time sky and the brightness of the Sun renders them invisible.
Constellations
 To enable astronomers to identify roughly the position of the stars, the sky has been divided into
units. These units are known as Constellations.
 These constellations were named in the honour of mythological characters.
 At present 88 constellations are recognized.

NEXT>>>>
• Earth's Galaxy : The Milky Way

THAN K YOU

Geography 6

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Geography 6

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Geography 6

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

PHYSICAL

called as 'asteroid belt'.

the other moving behind it.

swept back into a tail.

comet's orbit passes close to the Sun.

light years away.

important examples of the stars.

naked eye on a clear moonless night.

 There are 1022 stars in the Universe.

Northern Hemisphere and 4000 in the Southern Hemisphere.

units. These units are known as Constellations.

 These constellations were named in the honour of mythological characters.

 At present 88 constellations are recognized.

• Earth's Galaxy : The Milky Way

You might also like