Small Bodies in the Solar System

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Dwarf Planet

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A round celestial body that orbits the sun but hasn't cleared its orbital path of other objects. Pluto is a famous example.

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Kuiper Belt

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A huge, donut-shaped region of icy bodies beyond Neptune's orbit.

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Kuiper Belt Object (KBO)

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Any icy body that lives in the Kuiper Belt, sometimes becoming comets.

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Comet

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An icy, dusty body that orbits the sun, creating a glowing "tail" when close to the sun.

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Oort Cloud

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A gigantic, spherical shell of icy objects surrounding the solar system, source of long-period comets.

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Asteroid

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

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Meteoroid

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A small piece of an asteroid or comet floating in space, essentially a space rock.

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Meteor

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A meteoroid that enters Earth's atmosphere, burning up and appearing as a "shooting star."

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Meteorite

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A meteoroid that survives its trip through the atmosphere and lands on Earth's surface.