Do you know what comets are made of? Why do they have tails? How are they linked to shooting stars and meteorite showers?
Comets
Comets are giant balls of dust and ice – nicknamed “dirty snowballs”.
There are currently over 4000 known comets, but there are probably billions in the Solar System!
Comets have long tails which are caused by the sun heating them up.
The remnants of the formation of the Solar System – comets might have provided Earth with the materials required for life!
The Comet Lab
In the Comet Lab, you will get the opportunity to create a comet – adding in key ingredients.
Learn about different objects in our Solar System, such as planets, moons and asteroids.
Hold a real life meteorite in your hand.
The Comet Lab workshop begins with a presentation on objects in the Solar System.
These include:
- The Sun
- The planets (terrestrial, gas giants and dwarfs)
- Moons
- Artificial satellites
- Asteroids & meteorites
- Comets
After discussing the Solar System objects, the comet lab begins, demonstrating the composition of real comets in space.
The session concludes with time for questions at the end.
By the end of the presentation and Comet Lab, students should:
- Be able to name objects in the Solar System.
- Understand the differences between the Sun and the planets.
- Know the order of the planets, and the difference between terrestrial planets and gas giants.
- Know that man-made satellites orbit the Earth and have many uses such as GPS, weather monitoring and science (in the case of the ISS).
- Know where shooting stars come from.
- Understand what comets are made of, how they form and why they might be important for understanding life on Earth.
The workshop can be adapted to for all ages. Please contact us for more information.