What’s The Difference Between Asteroid, Meteorite, Meteoroid, Bolide And Comet?

Oh no, look at that! It’s a giant asteroid coming towards Earth!
But if it comes towards Earth, wouldn’t it be a meteorite instead of an asteroid? After all, what killed the dinosaurs was a meteorite, not an asteroid, right?
Well, there are also theories that indicate that what ended the era of the dinosaurs could have been a comet, but then… How are all these objects different?
What is the difference between a comet, asteroid, and meteorite?
We must clarify that in the solar system, there are many small bodies whose differences may be challenging to recognize, and in most cases, only astronomers can notice these differences. Still, in this video, we will try to make those differences very clear.

1. Asteroid
Let’s start with the simplest object of all… well, it’s not as simple as you think.
In astronomy, asteroids are defined as rocky or metallic bodies that orbit the Sun in the asteroid belt

NEOs: The first and most dangerous are those classified as NEO by its acronym, which means Near Earth Objects; these objects break the scheme since they are objects that orbit OUTSIDE the range initially established by astronomers, that is, beyond the orbit between Mars and Jupiter.

Trojan asteroids
Did you know that there are asteroids that share their orbit with other planets without colliding?

2. Comets
Comets are celestial bodies composed mainly of ice, dust, and rock. As they approach the Sun, they release a tail of gas and dust that lights up and can be visible from Earth. An example is Halley’s Comet, visible from Earth every 76 years.

3. Meteoroid
What is the tail of a comet made of? As we said before, the tail of a comet is made of dust and rocks, but why do these materials break off from the comet?

4. Meteor
A meteor is a luminous phenomenon that occurs when a meteoroid of less than one meter enters the Earth’s atmosphere and burns up due to friction.

5. Bolide
When a meteoroid more than 1 meter in diameter enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it causes an exceptionally bright and spectacular flash that can last several seconds.

6. Meteorite
Finally we have the most famous object of all, the meteorite.

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