“Debris” of the Solar System

• ASTEROIDS:

  • Rocky bodies between 10m and 1000km in size
  • ~20,000 of them, ~1000 come into inner solar system
  • Concentrated in the plane of the solar system between Mars and Jupiter (OH 121)
  • ~200 are > 100 km diameter, ~2000 are > 10 km diameter

• COMETS:

  • Icy bodies between 10m and 1000 km in size
  • Billions (?) of them in the distant Oort cloud (OH 108,119)
  • NOT concentrated in plane of solar system
  • Occasionally pass into the inner solar system

• METEOROIDS (OH):

  • Tiny bits of rock and metal, falling to Earth, heated by atmospheric friction until they glow

Notes: