Comets, Meteors, and Asteroids

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What is a meteor?

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A chunk of rock that enters Earth's atmosphere and produces a streak of light in the sky.

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What is a meteoroid?

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A chunk of rock or dust in space that comes from an asteroid or comet.

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What are comets?

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Chunks of ice and dust whose orbits are usually a long, narrow ellipse.

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What is the Kuiper Belt?

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A doughnut-shaped region of comets that extends from beyond Neptune's orbit to about 100 times Earth's distance from the sun.

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What is the Oort Cloud?

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A distant region of space that is believed to contain many comets.

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What is a meteorite?

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A meteoroid that survives its passage through the atmosphere and lands on Earth.

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What is the difference between a meteor and a meteoroid?

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A meteoroid is a small rock or particle in space, while a meteor is the streak of light produced when a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere.

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Where do comets originate?

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Comets originate from the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud.

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What is an asteroid?

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A small rocky body that orbits the sun, primarily found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

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What is the asteroid belt?

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A region of space between Mars and Jupiter where many asteroids are found.