A body made mostly of ice and dust follows a long orbit and grows a bright tail near the Sun. What is it called?

A kilometers-wide rocky or metallic body orbits the Sun, and many similar bodies travel between Mars and Jupiter. What is it called?

Before reaching any atmosphere, a small rocky particle travels around the Sun in space. What is it called?

A small space rock enters Earth's atmosphere and makes a bright streak, but no piece reaches the ground. What is the streak called?

A blackened stone from space is picked up in a field after people saw a bright fireball. What is the stone called?

The solid center of a comet is a chunk of ice, dust and rock a few kilometers wide. What is this part of the comet called?

The largest object in the asteroid belt is big enough to be round and is called a dwarf planet. What is its name?

What force keeps asteroids and comets moving in their orbits around the Sun?

Why does a meteoroid glow when it races into Earth's atmosphere?

A meteorite feels very heavy for its size and sticks to a magnet. What is it most likely made of?

When a comet nears the Sun, a fuzzy, glowing cloud of gas and dust forms around its solid center. What is this cloud called?

What are most asteroids made of?

Many meteoroids enter Earth's atmosphere every day. Why do so few of them reach the ground?

A meteor shines brighter than the planet Venus and lights up the night sky. What special name do scientists give it?

Many meteorites are about 4.6 billion years old. Why do scientists study them to learn about the early solar system?

Meteor Crater in Arizona is a bowl in the ground about 1.2 kilometers wide. What made it?

The Perseid meteor shower appears around the middle of August every year. Why does it come back at the same time each year?

How does the shape of most comet orbits compare with the shape of Earth's orbit?

Most scientists link the end of the dinosaurs, about 66 million years ago, mainly to which event?

Halley's Comet last passed near the Sun in 1986. About how often does it return?

Scientists use telescopes to track asteroids whose orbits pass close to Earth's orbit. Why do they track them?

Asteroids in the solar system come in many sizes. Which range fits them?

Most asteroids follow orbits in one main region of the solar system. Where is that region?

Many comets spend most of each long orbit far from the Sun before swinging inward. Where is that distant part?

A meteoroid becomes a meteor only when it reaches a certain place. Where does a meteor happen?

A space rock is called a meteorite. Where is it found?

A small rock is called a meteoroid. Where is it located?

During a meteor shower, Earth passes through a trail of dust in space. Where was that dust trail?

Just past Mars, a spacecraft flies through a wide zone of many rocky bodies orbiting the Sun. What region has it reached?

A comet follows a long orbit around the Sun. Where in its orbit does its tail usually grow brightest?

Most asteroids are lumpy, uneven chunks of rock instead of round balls like the planets. What best explains their lumpy shape?

A comet has passed near the Sun many times, and its tail is fainter now than it was centuries ago. What best explains this?

A comet has passed the Sun and is moving outward. A classmate draws its tail pointing toward the Sun. What correction is accurate?

A classmate says a comet's tail is smoke left behind along its path. What explanation fits better?

A student calls a meteor a falling star. What is a meteor really?

A news story says every bright meteor becomes a meteorite. What correction matches the terms?

A movie shows the asteroid belt packed solid, so a spacecraft cannot pass. What is accurate?

A few meteorites found on Earth are pieces of rock from Mars. How did they most likely get here?

A rock found on the ground is identified as a meteorite. Most meteorites like it are broken pieces of what kind of object?

A poster says comets glow because they are burning like campfires. What should the poster say instead?