What is the difference between asteroids, meteors and comets?

Question

Please include a reliable internet source if you can, it would help a lot, thanks.

Answer 1

An asteorid is a stone in space and become a meteor when it comes into the atmosphere. A comet is a mix with ice and dust.

I'm French, so I don't know if you understood very well my answer.

If it is possible, could you correct me by editing your answer ?

Thanks !

Answer 2

ASTEROID - http://www.imo.net/glossary

METEOR - http://www.imo.net/glossary?PHPSESSID=ab...

COMET - http://www.imo.net/glossary#letterc

Answer 3

I was born in an asteroid because my mother didn't have time to take me to my planet's hospital

True Story

Answer 4

An asteroid is a chunck of Iron/Nickel rock floating around in space, left over from the solar system's creation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid

A Meteor is a chuck of Iron/Nickel rock that burns up as it goes through our atmosphere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor#Mete...

A comet is like an asteroid, but it has a coma; or a visible tail that's composed of gas and ice. It's been compared to a "dirty snowball". Most of these objects reside in the Oort Cloud, located outside and around our solar system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet

A troll is someone who comes in YA! and gives people thumbs down when factual information is submitted. You usually find these people at home, really bored, and increasingly more stupid everyday for ruining credibility.

Answer 5

Asteroids are rocks while in space floating around. Meteors are rocks that are falling into Earth's atmosphere, and usually burning up. Comets are balls of ice, whether falling into Earth's atmosphere or orbiting the sun.

You can probably look this up on Wikipedia.

Answer 6

whats the difference between yahoo , google and a book

Answer 7

An asteroid is a large chunk of rock or metal (or both) ranging in size from around 250 meters in diameter to well over 900 kilometers in diameter. They are remnants of the early Solar System, and are thought to be bits of planet that were hurtled off one of the rocky planets by a collision with a massive body.

The asteroid belt is the largest collection of asteroids in the Solar System. It is located in between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, and contains the dwarf planet Ceres. The Near Earth Asteroids are asteroids from the asteroid belt that pass close to the Earth. Some even pass between the Earth and the Moon! The other main place to find asteroids is in Jupiter's orbit. Located at Jupiter's Lagrangian Point 4 (L4) and L5 points (with respect to the Sun), the Trojans are a collection of asteroids trapped by Jupiter's gravity, and follow it and precede it in Jupiter's orbit.

Meteors are a collection of space debris ranging from the size of a breadbox down to a speck of dust. They are leftover from a collision of asteroids, or else the dust left by a passing comet, but can also be a piece of chipped paint off of a spacecraft. However, meteors are a term that implies the debris is going through the Earth's atmosphere at the time. The correct term for a piece of space debris floating around in space is meteoroid, while the term for when this debris hits Earth is meteorite.

A comet is a large chunk of ice floating around our Solar System. Most of them reside in the Kuiper Belt or the Oort Cloud. These places are the farthest reaches of the solar system, with the Kuiper Belt being located between 35 astronomical units (AU, 3,255,000,000 miles) to several hundred AU. The Oort Cloud is located from 3000 AU to about 100,000 AU (almost two light years). However, there are comets that do approach the Sun, and when they pass within the orbit of Mars, the heat of the Sun begins to shed some of the outer layers of the comet away, creating the tail that we can see from Earth.

In summary, asteroids are very large pieces of rock floating in the Asteroid Belt, as a Near Earth Asteroid, or a Trojan. Meteors are small pieces of space debris that are falling through the Earth's atmosphere. Comets are large chunks of ice that roam the outer Solar System, and occasionally are spotted when they pass close enough to the Sun to begin to sublimate.

Answer 8

size and composition