Space Rocks

3. a large ball of ice mixed with rocks and dirt, having a long luminous tail when its orbit passes close to the sun
4. a comet that orbits the sun every 201 years or more is called a ______________ comet
5. large rocks orbiting the sun in space (ranging in size from several feet long to larger than a football field).
6. the meteor shower that occurs every August
8. the ______ are all the gaseous planets located outside the asteroid belt
11. the space between Mars and Jupiter where millions of asteroids orbit the sun (put a space between the two words)
13. the first NASA spacecraft designed to study a comet
14. a ball of steam and dust coming from and surrounding a comet

1. the center of a comet, made up of ice and a large rock in the interior
2. these are the planets that are found between the sun and the asteroid belt
7. meteors that have entered the earth's atmosphere and fallen to the ground without completely burning up
9. A comet that orbits the sun every 200 years or less is called a _________ comet
10. a _____ occurs when the earth crosses the orbit of a comet, causing the leftover dust and debris to enter our atmosphere, resulting in a large number of shooting stars
12. a particular comet that occurs every 76 years, named after the man who discovered it by studying ancient records