Comet Swift–Tuttle

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/comet-swifttuttle

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the formal designation?109P/Swift–Tuttle
2. What is the orbital period?Approximately 133 years (osculating)
3. How big is Comet Swift–Tuttle?Its solid heart is about 16 miles (26 kilometers) wide, making it one of the largest known periodic comets.
4. Why do we see the Perseid meteor shower every year?The comet leaves behind dust and ice as it travels, and when Earth passes through that trail each August, the particles burn up and create bright streaks.

Halley-type Comet: A comet with an orbital period between 20 and 200 years.
Orbital Resonance: A periodic gravitational interaction between two bodies orbiting a central mass.
Perihelion: The point in an orbit where a celestial body is closest to the Sun.
Apparent Magnitude: A logarithmic scale measuring the brightness of celestial objects as seen from Earth.