Saturday, March 24, 2007

Many saw Comet Hale Bopp in 1997 but did you know it's size?

Many people saw Comet Hale Bopp in 1997 but did you know the size of its nucleus' (center) size compared to other comets?

E.O.A.S. Educational objective for this activity: Comet Nucleus size comparisons
E.O.A.S. (Earth, Oceans, Atmosphere and Space) Blog -<http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/>

Science standard:Astronomy/ Earth-Space Science
(1)
Students will learn about the astronomical objects in our solar system (comets)
(2) Compare it with fractions and size by drawing or using silly putty or clay
(3) Present their findings to other group.

Most comet nucleus are 3- 5 miles in diameter. Hal Bopp , one of the brightest ones in recent memory appeared in our skies in 1997, was very large.

Observations of this comet with the Hubble space telescope,, was instead 19-25 miles (30-40 kilometers).
The comet or asteroid that struck the Earth 65 million years ago, possibly causing the extinction of the dinosaurs, was probably about 6 to 9 miles (10 to 15 kilometers) across.)
The fact that is was so big and detected earlier in 1995, let scientists to survey the comet much earlier and learn further about its evolution as it came closer to the earth in 1997 when it put on it's great show.
More information at
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1997/08/