Asteroids, Meteors and Comets – What are they? 

Asteroids - Asteroids are rocky, airless remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. 

Most of the asteroids can be found orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter within the main asteroid belt. 

Asteroids have several shapes, they may be spherical, elongated, or oddly shaped, and some even have their own satellites! 

Meteors - Meteors are objects in space which enter Earth’s atmosphere at high speed and burn up, and are visible in the form of fireballs or shooting stars. 

If the meteor falls on the surface of the planet without burning up completely, it is called a Meteorite. 

Although most meteorites found on Earth originate from smaller asteroids, they can also originate at nearby planets such as Mars or even the Moon. 

Comets - Comets are cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust roughly the size of a small town, according to NASA. 

Comets also orbit the Sun, but unlike an asteroid, it's composed of ice and dust. 

When a comet gets close to the Sun, its ice and dust content start to vaporize. So, when seen in a telescope, a comet appears fuzzy and has a huge tail streaming behind.