Large numbers of chunks of rock orbit the sun. Some of those that the
earth meets in its yearly orbit around the sun glow and disintegrate from
friction as they plunge through the atmosphere- -and sometimes impact the
ground. Other chunks of rocks mixed with ice have long, off-center orbits
that carry them close to the sun, where the sun's radiation (of light and
particles) boils off frozen material from their surfaces and pushes it
into a long, illuminated tail.
| NSES Content Standard D
Earth and Space Science: Earth in the Solar System Grades 5-8, page 160 The earth is the third planet from the sun in a system that includes the moon, the sun, eight other planets and their moons, and smaller objects, such as asteroids and comets. The sun, an average star, is the central and largest body in the solar system. |