Meteor: The light phenomena which results when a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere and vaporizes a shooting star. Although the vast majority of meteorites are very small, their size can range from about a fraction of a gram (the size of a pebble) to 100 kilograms (220 lbs) or more (the size of a huge, life-destroying boulder). Meteoroid: A small particle from a comet or asteroid orbiting the Sun.
If any part of a meteoroid survives the fall through the atmosphere and lands on Earth, it is called a meteorite. “Meteor” refers to the flash of light caused by the debris, not the debris itself. A meteor is the flash of light that we see in the night sky when a small chunk of interplanetary debris burns up as it passes through our atmosphere. In fact, meteor showers often occur when Earth. Another name commonly used for a meteor is a shooting star. A meteor is a fragment of an asteroid or a comet that has entered Earths atmosphere, burning up as it goes. Asteroids are small solar system bodies that orbit the Sun. And when they do enter Earth’s atmosphere, they gain a different name: A comet is a relatively small solar system body that orbits the Sun. Most meteoroids that enter the Earth’s atmosphere are so small that they vaporize completely and never reach the planet’s surface. A meteoroid is a piece of interplanetary matter that is smaller than a kilometer and frequently only millimeters in size. Space debris smaller than an asteroid are called meteoroids. Short-period comets (those which take less than 200 years to complete an orbit around the Sun) originate from the Kuiper Belt. Comets are thought to originate from two different sources: Long-period comets (those which take more than 200 years to complete an orbit around the Sun) originate from the Oort Cloud. Sometimes their orbits get perturbed or altered and some asteroids end up coming closer to the Sun, and therefore closer to Earth.Ĭomets are much like asteroids, but might have a more ice, methane, ammonia, and other compounds that develop a fuzzy, cloud-like shell called a coma – as well as a tail - when it gets closer to the Sun. Infographics artist Tim Lillis has put together a primer of sorts, in the form of an infographic, describing the different between a comet, asteroid, meteoroid, meteor and meteorite.Īsteroids are generally larger chunks of rock that come from the asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. With all the various space rocks flying by and into Earth last Friday, perhaps you’ve been wondering about the correct terminology, since a rock from space has different names depending on what it is made of and where it is.
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