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Asteroids, Meteors, and Comets, Exams of Nursing

Walden UniversityNursing

Asteroids, Meteors, and Comets Asteroids, Meteors, and Comets

Typology: Exams

2025/2026

Available from 06/04/2026

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Asteroids, Meteors, and Comets
Questions 1–20: Definitions & Basic Differences
1. What is an asteroid?
Answer: A small, rocky or metallic object that orbits the Sun, mostly
found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Rationale: Asteroids are remnants from the solar system’s formation,
too small to be called planets.
2. What is a comet?
Answer: A small, icy body that, when passing near the Sun, warms up
and releases gases (forming a coma and tail).
Rationale: Comets are “dirty snowballs” of ice, dust, and rock.
3. What is a meteoroid?
Answer: A small piece of asteroid or comet (sand- to boulder-sized)
traveling through space.
Rationale: It’s the space version. Only when it enters an atmosphere
does it become a meteor.
4. What is a meteor?
Answer: The streak of light (shooting star) produced when a meteoroid
burns up in Earth’s atmosphere.
Rationale: Friction with air heats the object until it glows.
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Asteroids, Meteors, and Comets

Questions 1–20: Definitions & Basic Differences

  1. What is an asteroid? Answer: A small, rocky or metallic object that orbits the Sun, mostly found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Rationale: Asteroids are remnants from the solar system’s formation, too small to be called planets.
  2. What is a comet? Answer: A small, icy body that, when passing near the Sun, warms up and releases gases (forming a coma and tail). Rationale: Comets are “dirty snowballs” of ice, dust, and rock.
  3. What is a meteoroid? Answer: A small piece of asteroid or comet (sand- to boulder-sized) traveling through space. Rationale: It’s the space version. Only when it enters an atmosphere does it become a meteor.
  4. What is a meteor? Answer: The streak of light (shooting star) produced when a meteoroid burns up in Earth’s atmosphere. Rationale: Friction with air heats the object until it glows.
  1. What is a meteorite? Answer: A meteoroid that survives passage through the atmosphere and lands on Earth’s surface. Rationale: Most meteoroids are tiny and burn up completely; only larger ones reach the ground.
  2. Which celestial body is known as a “dirty snowball”? Answer: A comet. Rationale: Comets consist of ice (water, methane, ammonia) mixed with dust.
  3. What is the main chemical difference between most asteroids and most comets? Answer: Asteroids are rocky/metallic; comets are icy. Rationale: Asteroids formed closer to the Sun where ices evaporated; comets formed far out where ices survived.
  4. Where are most asteroids in our solar system found? Answer: The main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Rationale: Jupiter’s gravity prevented planet formation there.
  5. Where do most comets originate? Answer: The Kuiper Belt (short-period comets) and the Oort Cloud (long-period comets). Rationale: Kuiper Belt: beyond Neptune. Oort Cloud: up to 100,000 AU from Sun.
  6. Which is larger on average: an asteroid or a comet’s nucleus? Answer: Asteroids are generally larger (some >500 km), but comet nuclei are typically 1–50 km. Rationale: Largest asteroid Ceres is ~940 km; largest comet nuclei < km.

Rationale: Even when comet is moving away from Sun, tail leads the way.

  1. What is the “coma” of a comet? Answer: The fuzzy cloud of gas and dust surrounding a comet’s nucleus. Rationale: Forms when ices sublimate as comet approaches Sun.
  2. What is an asteroid’s typical shape? Answer: Irregular (lumpy), not spherical. Rationale: Too small for gravity to pull them into spheres (except Ceres, a dwarf planet).
  3. What is the difference between a meteor and a meteorite? Answer: A meteor is the light flash; a meteorite is the rock that lands. Rationale: Meteor in sky; meteorite on ground.
  4. Which type of object is responsible for the annual Perseid meteor shower? Answer: Comet Swift-Tuttle. Rationale: Perseids peak around Aug 12-13; debris from comet Swift- Tuttle. Questions 21–40: Asteroid Belt, Composition & Orbits
  5. What is the approximate average distance from the Sun to the main asteroid belt? Answer: 2.2 to 3.3 AU (between Mars at 1.5 AU and Jupiter at 5.2 AU). Rationale: AU = Earth–Sun distance.
  6. What is the largest asteroid (and a dwarf planet) in the main belt? Answer: Ceres.

Rationale: Ceres is ~940 km diameter; classified as dwarf planet in

  2. What are the three main types of asteroids by composition? Answer: C-type (carbonaceous), S-type (silicaceous/stony), M-type (metallic). Rationale: C-type most common (dark, carbon-rich); S-type (brighter, silicate); M-type (iron-nickel).

  3. Which type of asteroid is most common in the outer main belt? Answer: C-type (carbonaceous). Rationale: They dominate beyond ~2.7 AU; contain water and organics.

  4. What is a near-Earth asteroid (NEA)? Answer: An asteroid with an orbit that brings it within 1.3 AU of the Sun (hence near Earth’s orbit). Rationale: Some NEAs have potential Earth impact risk.

  5. What is a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)? Answer: An NEA larger than ~140 m that comes within 0.05 AU (about 7.5 million km) of Earth’s orbit. Rationale: Monitored by NASA’s Sentry and NEOWISE.

  6. What is the Chelyabinsk asteroid’s estimated size before entry? Answer: About 20 meters. Rationale: It exploded with ~500 kilotons TNT energy.

  7. What is the asteroid that struck Earth ~66 million years ago, causing mass extinction? Answer: The Chicxulub impactor (about 10–15 km diameter). Rationale: Created 150 km crater on Yucatán Peninsula; killed non-avian dinosaurs.

  1. What is a “rubble pile” asteroid? Answer: An asteroid held together by gravity rather than solid rock (e.g., Bennu, Ryugu). Rationale: Formed from collision fragments; porous and low density.
  2. Which asteroid was visited by Japan’s Hayabusa2, which returned samples to Earth in 2020? Answer: Ryugu (162173 Ryugu). Rationale: C-type asteroid; sample return revealed water and organic molecules.
  3. Which asteroid was visited by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx, which returned samples in 2023? Answer: Bennu (101955 Bennu). Rationale: B-type asteroid (carbonaceous), potentially hazardous.
  4. Why are C-type asteroids scientifically important? Answer: They contain primitive carbonaceous material and water- bearing minerals, clues to early solar system. Rationale: May have delivered water and organic compounds to early Earth.
  5. What is an “Apollo asteroid”? Answer: An NEA with orbital semi-major axis >1 AU and Earth-crossing orbit. Rationale: Named after asteroid 1862 Apollo; most famous: 2013 Chelyabinsk.
  6. What is an “Aten asteroid”? Answer: An NEA with semi-major axis <1 AU, so orbits mostly inside Earth’s orbit. Rationale: Named after 2062 Aten; some cross Earth’s orbit.

Questions 41–60: Comet Structure, Orbits & Famous Comets

  1. What are the three main parts of a comet? Answer: Nucleus, coma, tail(s). Rationale: Nucleus = solid core; coma = atmosphere; tail = pushed by Sun.
  2. What is a comet’s nucleus made of? Answer: Water ice, dry ice (CO₂), ammonia ice, methane ice, and dust. Rationale: Ices are frozen volatiles that sublimate near Sun.
  3. What is the difference between an ion tail and a dust tail? Answer: Ion tail: gas ions, straight, blue, points directly away from Sun. Dust tail: dust, curved, yellowish. Rationale: Ion tail guided by solar wind magnetic field; dust tail lags due to orbital motion.
  4. What is a short-period comet? Answer: A comet with orbital period less than 200 years. Rationale: Usually from Kuiper Belt; e.g., Halley’s Comet (76 years).
  5. What is a long-period comet? Answer: A comet with orbital period over 200 years to millions of years. Rationale: From Oort Cloud; e.g., Comet Hale-Bopp.
  6. What is the famous comet that returns every ~76 years? Answer: Halley’s Comet (1P/Halley). Rationale: Last seen 1986; next in 2061. First comet known to be periodic.
  1. What spacecraft visited Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and landed a probe on it? Answer: Rosetta (ESA) with lander Philae (2014). Rationale: First mission to orbit and land on a comet nucleus.
  2. What did the Rosetta mission discover about comet 67P’s water? Answer: Its water has a different deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio than Earth’s water. Rationale: Suggests Earth’s water did not come mainly from Jupiter- family comets.
  3. What is an “anti-tail” of a comet? Answer: A tail pointing toward the Sun, seen briefly when Earth crosses a comet’s orbital plane. Rationale: Made of larger dust particles less affected by radiation pressure.
  4. Why do comets sometimes appear green? Answer: Diatomic carbon (C₂) molecules in the coma glow green when excited by sunlight. Rationale: Carbon gas; tails are rarely green because C₂ breaks down quickly.
  5. What is a “Great Comet”? Answer: An exceptionally bright comet visible to naked eye even from light-polluted areas. Rationale: Examples: Great Comet of 1843, Halley (1066), Hale-Bopp.
  6. What is the Oort Cloud? Answer: Spherical cloud of icy bodies ~2,000 to 100,000 AU from Sun, source of long-period comets. Rationale: Never observed directly; inferred from comet orbits.
  1. What is the Kuiper Belt? Answer: Disk of icy bodies beyond Neptune (30–55 AU), source of short-period comets. Rationale: Pluto is a Kuiper Belt Object (KBO).
  2. What is the main difference between Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud objects? Answer: KBOs orbit in ecliptic plane; Oort Cloud is spherical. KBOs are closer, less icy. Rationale: Oort Cloud comets take millions of years per orbit. Questions 61–80: Meteor Showers, Impacts & Hazards
  3. What is the most reliable annual meteor shower, peaking around August 12–13? Answer: Perseids. Rationale: Associated with Comet Swift-Tuttle; high rates (50-100 per hour).
  4. Which meteor shower peaks around December 13–14 and is known for bright fireballs? Answer: Geminids. Rationale: Unusual: parent body is asteroid 3200 Phaethon (a rock- comet hybrid).
  5. What is the “zenithal hourly rate” (ZHR) of a meteor shower? Answer: The number of meteors per hour if radiant were at zenith and perfect dark sky. Rationale: Standardized measure for comparing showers.

years old). Rationale: Eroded; original ~300 km.

  1. What was the Tunguska event (1908)? Answer: A 50–80 m asteroid or comet fragment airburst over Siberia, flattening 2,000 km² of forest. Rationale: No crater; exploded ~8 km high. Largest impact event in recorded history.
  2. What is the Torino Scale? Answer: A 0–10 scale rating impact hazard of near-Earth objects. Rationale: 0 = no hazard; 10 = certain global catastrophe.
  3. Which asteroid has the highest cumulative Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale rating? Answer: (101955) Bennu (small cumulative risk over many years). Rationale: OSIRIS-REx studied it; probability low but non-zero.
  4. What is NASA’s DART mission? Answer: Double Asteroid Redirection Test – first mission to intentionally crash into an asteroid to change its orbit (Sept 2022). Rationale: Target: Dimorphos (moon of asteroid Didymos). Successfully altered orbit.
  5. By how much did DART change Dimorphos’s orbital period? Answer: Reduced it by 32 minutes (originally 11h55m). Rationale: Exceeded minimum success threshold of 73 seconds.
  6. What is an “asteroid moon” (binary asteroid)? Answer: A smaller asteroid orbiting a larger one. Rationale: Example: Didymos & Dimorphos; about 15% of NEAs are binaries.
  1. What is a “meteoroid stream”? Answer: A trail of dust and debris left along a comet’s orbit. Rationale: Earth intersecting the stream causes meteor shower.
  2. Why are meteor showers best observed after midnight? Answer: After midnight your location is on the leading side of Earth facing into the meteoroid stream. Rationale: Before midnight, you are on the trailing side; Earth’s motion sweeps up meteors after midnight.
  3. What is a “sporadic meteor”? Answer: A meteor not associated with any known meteor shower. Rationale: Random background meteors; about 5-10 per hour visible.
  4. What is a “car” in meteor terminology? Answer: Not a term. (Trick question) – No such thing. But a “bolide” is a bright fireball. Rationale: Watch for common misconceptions. Questions 81–100: History, Exploration & Advanced Concepts
  5. Who first correctly explained that meteors are atmospheric phenomena (not clouds or comets)? Answer: Thomas Clap (Yale, 1731) and later Ernst Chladni (1794, meteorites from space). Rationale: Chladni argued meteorites fall from sky; ridiculed at first.
  6. What was the first meteorite fall with witnessed recovery in modern science (1803)? Answer: L’Aigle meteorite shower (France).
  1. What is a “meteorite’s fusion crust”? Answer: Thin, dark, glassy coating from melting of outer surface during atmospheric entry. Rationale: Usually black or dark brown; distinguishes from Earth rocks.
  2. How many meteorites are estimated to hit Earth’s surface each year? Answer: ~500 meteorites reach ground (only 5-10 recovered). Rationale: Most fall in oceans or unpopulated areas.
  3. What is the biggest meteorite ever found on Earth? Answer: Hoba meteorite (Namibia, ~60 tons, iron). Rationale: Never moved; discovered in 1920; remains on site.
  4. What is the “Allende meteorite” famous for? Answer: The most studied carbonaceous chondrite (fell 1969 in Mexico). Rationale: Contains calcium-aluminum inclusions (CAIs) – oldest solar system solids (4.567 billion years old).
  5. What is the “Murchison meteorite” known for? Answer: Contains over 90 amino acids (many not used by life). Rationale: Supports theory that organic molecules form in space.
  6. What is a “micrometeorite”? Answer: A meteorite smaller than 1 mm, often collected from deep-sea sediments or Antarctic ice. Rationale: Billions enter Earth daily; tiny particles from comets/asteroids.
  1. What spacecraft brought back samples from asteroid Ryugu? Answer: Hayabusa2 (JAXA, returned Dec 2020). Rationale: Collected >5 grams of surface and subsurface material.
  2. What did Hayabusa2 find in Ryugu samples? Answer: Water-bearing minerals and organic molecules (including uracil
  • RNA component). Rationale: Supports delivery of life’s building blocks by asteroids.
  1. What spacecraft returned samples from asteroid Bennu? Answer: OSIRIS-REx (NASA, returned Sept 24, 2023). Rationale: Collected ~250 grams; studying organic chemistry.
  2. What is the main goal of NASA’s NEO Surveyor mission? Answer: Launch infrared space telescope to find >90% of NEAs >140m. Rationale: Detects heat signatures; not dependent on reflected sunlight.
  3. What is the “Yarkovsky effect”? Answer: Small push on an asteroid from heat radiating off its surface (changes orbit over time). Rationale: Important for predicting long-term asteroid impact risk.
  4. What is the difference in velocity between a comet and an asteroid impact with Earth? Answer: Comets typically hit faster (~50-70 km/s vs. asteroids ~12- 20 km/s). Rationale: Comets often from retrograde or high-inclination orbits; asteroids from prograde near-ecliptic orbits. Greater speed = more destructive energy.