A fist-sized lump of iron and nickel is recovered from a field after a bright streak crossed the sky. What is the recovered object called?

Use the comet orbit diagram. The tail is drawn on the side opposite the Sun. What best explains that direction?

Use the specimen photo. A dark crust coats the outside, and sawing it open shows small metal flecks inside. What object best matches the specimen?

A buried 180 km crater on the Yucatan coast lines up with a worldwide iridium-rich layer about 66 million years old. What event does this evidence support?

Use the Solar System diagram. Region A is plotted between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. What small-body population is concentrated there?

A grain-sized rocky particle orbits the Sun and has not entered any planet's atmosphere. What is it called?

A comet is shown near perihelion in the orbit diagram. Compared with its farthest point from the Sun, what should happen to its coma and tail?

Use the cut specimen image. The rock contains many tiny, round grains, each about a millimeter across, that were once molten droplets, set in a dark matrix. What meteorite group is shown?

Meteor Crater in Arizona is 1.2 km wide and contains impact melt, shocked minerals, and Canyon Diablo iron fragments. What origin fits that evidence?

Many short-period comets come from a disk-shaped reservoir beyond Neptune. What is that reservoir called?

A bright line flashes across the upper atmosphere as a small space rock burns up. What is the bright line called?

Use the orbit diagram. What is the position marked A called in the comet's orbit?

A 5 km wide inactive rocky body orbits the Sun with many similar objects between Mars and Jupiter. What is it?

On February 15, 2013, a bus-sized object exploded above Chelyabinsk, Russia, and fragments reached the ground. What best describes the event?

The Perseid meteor shower returns when Earth crosses debris along the orbit of 109P/Swift-Tuttle. What is Earth passing through?

Use the specimen photo. The heavy metallic object has thumbprint-like pits and pulls strongly toward a magnet. What specimen category best fits?

In the orbit diagram, the comet is at aphelion, farthest from the Sun. What condition is most likely there?

An icy body approaches the Sun and develops a glowing coma plus a tail of dust and gas. What type of Solar System object is this?

At Tunguska in 1908, trees were flattened over a huge area, but no large crater was found. What impact process best explains that evidence?

Long-period comets can arrive from a very distant cloud surrounding the Solar System. What is that source region called?

Scientists collect more meteorites in Antarctica than anywhere else on Earth. Why is the Antarctic ice sheet such a good place to find them?

The orbit diagram shows a comet moving outward after perihelion, but its tail still points away from the Sun. What controls the tail direction most?

Use the specimen image. A suspected meteorite is black, full of gas bubbles, and light for its size. What is it most likely?

The Geminid meteor shower is unusual because of its parent body, 3200 Phaethon. What kind of object is 3200 Phaethon?

A camera records a streak over the ocean that outshines the planet Venus, and no pieces are recovered. What best describes a fireball like this?

Use the orbit diagram. What is the eccentricity of this orbit?

A suspected space rock leaves a red-brown streak on ceramic and has no fusion crust. What identification is most likely?

A semicircular arc of cenotes and gravity data outlines a buried structure near Chicxulub on the Yucatan Peninsula. What does that pattern help locate?

A pebble-sized piece released from a comet orbits the Sun. What mainly separates a meteoroid like this from an asteroid?

Use the orbit diagram. The comet follows a long, narrow ellipse instead of a nearly circular path. What orbital property is being shown?