Asteroids vs Comets vs Meteors vs Meteorites: What Are They and How Are They Different From Each Other?

For thousands of years, people have looked up at rocks in space above them. They were a notch above in most cultures. The dagger that was part of King Tutankhamen's belongings was carved from meteoric iron, and a statue of Buddha was recently shown to include fragments of a meteorite dating to a fall 15,000 years ago. Comets in the remote past would also spawn wild stories as the portent of the hour. What are the similarities and differences between asteroids, comets, meteors and meteorites?

Asteroids

As per Science Focus, asteroids are the larger leftover space rocks from the formation of the Solar System. Most circle the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Others, the so-called Trojans, have orbits that conform to the firewalled rules, as planets do. One well-known asteroid is Bennu. NASA's OSIRIS-REx successfully landed on Bennu and picked up a little something to bring back for analysis.

Comets

Comets are icy clods of dust and rock. As they approach the Sun, heat causes gas and dust to boil off the comet, forming a glowing trail. The only one likely to sound familiar to you is Halley's Comet. Meteor showers like the Leonids are best viewed when Earth passes through these tenuous filaments of comet detritus.

Meteoroids

When somewhat larger rocks stray into the solar system, they are meteoroids, and if a bit bigger, they come from asteroids or from comets. Because most of those tiny bits of dust end up burning up and vaporizing, producing the bright flashes of light astronomers call meteors, known to lay people as “falling stars.”

Meteorites

Some are chunks of this debris rocks, and a few of those even make it through to Earth called meteorites. They may be rocky, or metallic, or both. The few, which are preserved in the gemmy green crystals known as pallasites, are among the most beautiful space rocks yet identified.