The difference between comets, asteroids and meteors – Nasa’s definitions

ASTEROIDS, comets and meteors are all made up of rocky material and they all shoot through space.

You may wonder why the three space rocks all have different names but Nasa has explained the key reasons for this.

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What’s the difference between comets, asteroids and meteors?

The main different between asteroids, comets and metors is their size and what they’re made of.

Nasa says: “An asteroid is a small rocky object that orbits the Sun.

“A meteor is what happens when a small piece of an asteroid or comet, called a meteoroid, burns up upon entering Earth’s atmosphere.”

Nasa adds: “Asteroids are smaller than a planet, but they are larger than the pebble-size objects we call meteoroids.

“Most asteroids in our solar system are found in the main asteroid belt, a region between Mars and Jupiter.”

As for comets, the US space agency has a more icey explanation.

Nasa says: “Comets are cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust roughly the size of a small town.

“When a comet’s orbit brings it close to the Sun, it heats up and spews dust and gases into a giant glowing head larger than most planets.

“The dust and gases form a tail that stretches away from the Sun for millions of kilometers.”

Meteor showers can form when Earth’s orbit takes it through the tail of comet.

The Quadrantid meteor shower is one example of this.

The celestial display occurs because the Earth passes through the trail of an asteroid or possible rock comet called 2003 EH1.

Small bits of debris fall off asteroids and comets and if this debris comes into contact with the Earth’s atmosphere at speed then it burns up.

This becomes visible as bright streaks across the sky, which are also known as shooting stars.