A lot of people get quite confused when it comes to different objects and rocks flying about the vacuum we call space.

These objects and rocks are actually quite similar to each other but have different origins.

So here it goes.

Comets: These amazing and splendid-looking planetary bodies originate from a region called the Oort Cloud.

The Oort Cloud is known as the outer limit of our Solar System and is so far away from the sun that it forms a part of Interstellar Space.

The Oort Cloud also houses many Icy rocks full of Methane and Ammonia from which comets are made and these rocks are believed to be the remnants of our solar system's creation.

Sometimes these icy rocks are shot off towards our inner solar system by a powerful gravitational force that they travel thousands of years from their extremely cold and icy region towards our sun and eventually get trapped by the sun that they begin a long orbit around it.

As these rocks get closer to the sun, their icy nucleus begin to heat up and form a fuzzy, cloud like shell called coma. The ice also gradually melts, forming a very long tail of ice dust and cloud that span for kilometers.

This then becomes what we call a comet when they pass by earth.

NOTE: They lose the tail once they leave the hotter inner solar system and head back towards the much colder and freezy Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud nether region.

It is also believed, to some extent, that comets that crashed on earth billions of years ago, brought life to it.

The most famous comet is the Halley's Comet.

Asteroids: There is a ring of rocks that circles and orbits the Sun which lies between the planets Mars and Jupiter.

This ring of rocks is called the Asteroid Belt and creates the boundary between what is known as the inner solar system (Mercury to Mars) and the outer solar system (Jupiter heading towards the Kuiper Belt).

There are millions of Asteroids in the Asteroid Belt and they range from tiny pebbles, to Boulders and even getting almost as large as our moon.

They are mostly docile and just revolve around the sun quietly but due to their close proximity to Earth, scientists are worried that any disruption in their orbit due to an eventual action by a larger planet, a big comet flying by or even the sun, might send thousands of these Asteroids heading towards our beautiful blue planet and that would be instant extinction.

Asteroids are also remnants of the formation of the solar system that couldn't fully form into planets or satellites.

It is believed that the extinction of Dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures was caused by an Asteroid from the Belt or from outer solar system that impacted on Earth, millions of years ago.

The most famous Asteroid is Ceres, which is also a dwarf planet.

Meteoroids: Space debris smaller than an asteroid are called meteoroids.

A meteoroid is a piece of interplanetary matter that is smaller than a kilometer and frequently only millimeters in size.

Most meteoroids that enter the Earth’s atmosphere are so small that they vaporize completely and never reach the planet’s surface. And when they do enter Earth’s atmosphere, they gain a different name.

Meteors: Meteors are famously known as shooting stars.

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.

“Meteor” refers to the flash of light caused by the debris, not the debris itself.


Meteorites: meteoroid that didn't burn up as meteors while passing through the Earth's atmosphere and survives the fall to eventually land on Earth's surface, is called a meteorite.

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).

The early Egytians discovered some meteorites in their time.

King Tutankhamun's dagger was crafted from a meteorite. "How b.a.d.a.s.s. is that.

Attached pictures in order:

A Comet passing Earth.

The Asteroid Belt.

A Meteoroid entering Earth.

A Meteor (Shooting Star)