In what way are asteriods and comets similar and in what way are they different?

Answer 1

Comets are balls of ice from the Oort Cloud outside of the Solar System. they travel on highly elliptical orbits down into the solar system, towards and around the Sun, and then back out again. But asteroids are of three compositions and generally remain in the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Answer 2

One other thing about asteroids is that they generally do not have the same velocities as comets, and this is for a few reasons. Asteroids, relative to about 2-3 billion years ago, have largely been cleaned up from the solar system. In saying this I mean that they have combined with other asteroids to form larger ones, been locked in the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars, have impacted other planets, been flung out of the solar system, or have been absorbed by the giant vacuum cleaner we should all be thankful to have called Jupiter.

Some of the asteroids left still floating around have been knocked out of orbit in the Asteroid Belt by gravitational perturbations from changes in planetary orbits, positions of the planets at the time, collisions within the belt, etc., and these asteroids can head towards the sun, but since the asteroid belt isn't that far from the sun, asteroids do not have much time to attain a high velocity, and their orbits are generally smaller. Think of it like this, in an elementary kind of way. If you set a ball on a 3-foot slope and let it roll to the bottom, then set the ball on a 300-foot slope and let it roll, the latter will achieve a higher rolling velocity. Using this analogy, let's take the latter to represent comets.

Comets often times have much more expansive orbits, completing one orbit in decades or centuries, and using the sun as a sling shot each time. There are millions of comets locked outside of our solar system in both the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud, both of which could send comets inward if gravitational conditions permit. These objects have much more time to build velocity, and typically move faster through the solar system.

Answer 3

Asteroids are large chunks of solid rock - perhaps a few feet to about a mile in diameter. Comets are big dirty snowballs only similarity is in size.