ASTA01H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Cubic Centimetre, Solar Wind, Molecular Cloud
Document Summary
The radiation pressure as well as solar wind push gas and dust away. Due to the fact that dust and gas respond differently to radiation pressure and solar wind, the tail sometimes separates into a gas and a dust tail. The gas tail points directly away from the sun while the dust tail points approximately away from the sun. Meteor showers happen when meteoroids enter the earth"s atmosphere at the time earth"s orbit coincides with the orbit of a comet. The rocky and metallic debris left from vaporization of a comet nucleus produces the shower. This debris is spread along the comet"s orbit and enter the earth"s atmosphere in parallel paths. Perspective makes the meteors in a meteor shower look as if they emanate from the same point. The orbits of the planets of the solar system very closely lie in the same plane. Orbits of the planets are very nearly circular.
