What is the difference between a meteor and a comet?

Question

If comets really catch fire and get destroyed then why is it that we see them often? ( eg. halley's comet)

Answer 1

Comets are large bodies made up mostly of icy material that 'boils' off as the comet moves inward towards the sun. Not all of the material from large comets is boiled off during each approach to the sun and after that approach they return to the infinite cold of deep space. Halley's Comet, for example, has a diameter of some 40 km so it will take many more approaches to the sun before it will eventually be totally 'boiled' away.

A meteor on the other hand is nothing more than a bit of rock or metal that enters Earth's atmosphere and glows brightly from that high-speed penetration (..friction between the atmosphere and the meteor body generates tremendous heat..) Here's some terminology to keep in mind --
METEOROID - a chunk of stone or metal drifting in space
METEOR - a meteoroid that's entered our atmosphere
METEORITE - a meteor that doesn't burn up completely but instead reaches Earth's surface.

Answer 2

Meteors flow freely approximately outer area and are often small fragments of cloth left over by utilising the tails of comets. they are the fabric that a comet sheds because of the fact the sunlight heats up the comet and motives it to spew ice, rock, and so on. Comets are comparitively super bodies that orbit the sunlight and incorporate ice, rock, and diverse varieties of gasoline. they have rather elliptical orbits often stretching previous the orbits of our image voltaic equipment's planets (specific, inclusive of the dwarf planet Pluto :). Asteroids are oftentimes rocky basically, no ice, and holiday in a commonplace orbit between Mars and Jupiter. they vary in length from a small residing house to a medium city. except disturbed by utilising different asteroids or another image voltaic equipment customer (like a comet) they stay interior that orbital course. so a ways as every physique knows, sizable spaceship-eating monsters do no longer stay interior asteroids as shown in between the enormous call Wars movies (every physique? every physique?). i did no longer see the object yet there is hardly any confusion between a meteor and an asteroid or comet. it extremely is attainable that there would desire to be confusion between whether or no longer something replaced right into a comet or asteroid, however. If the object replaced into relating Tunguska (sp?), ever because of the fact the incident approximately a hundred years in the past, there has been debate as to if it replaced into an asteroid or a comet that brought about the devastation.

Answer 3

A meteor is defined as a rock that enters a planet's atmosphere.

A comet *can* hit a planet (as we saw with Jupiter in 1994), but generally, they are big balls of ice & some rock that travel in eliptical paths, very near the sun at one point, and very far away at another.

And, they don't really catch fire... the ice & gases in them vaporizes because it's getting close to the sun, and solar wind pushes the small particles away, creating it's tail.

We see them often because there are a *lot* of those objects floating around - millions, and maybe billions.

Answer 4

A meteor has entered the atmosphere;resultant friction causes it to burn; sometimes entirely; A comet usually has it's own orbit cycle;which is why we can predict when they will be within sight of Earth; they grow and shrink depending on other planetary influences; close to a sun will melt it some; far in the out cycle will make it grow keeping an average size of itself.

Answer 5

Comet (Latin, stella cometa, “hairy star”), celestial body of nebulous appearance, revolving round the Sun. A comet is characterized by a long, luminous tail, but only in that part of the comet’s orbit in which it passes closest to the Sun.












Meteor, luminous phenomenon caused by the entry of a solid body called a meteoroid into a planet’s atmosphere from outer space and its vaporization, and the heating of the air, caused by the friction resulting from its rapid motion. Brilliant meteors, known as fireballs, occur singly or in groups and generally consist of a luminous head, followed by a comet-like train of light that may persist for several minutes; some, called bolides, have been seen to explode, accompanied by a sound like thunder.

Answer 6

Asteroids and comets are both classified as near-Earth objects. Asteroids are made of rock or metal and are thought to have been created in the warmer inner solar system. Comets are composed of ice, rock, and organic (carbon-based) compounds, and are believed to have formed in the cold outer solar sytem. Scientists believe both are "...ancient remnants of the earliest years of the formation of our solar system more than four billion years ago."

When asteroids collide, meteroids, smaller rocky bodies, often result. Meteroids are also formed when a comet passes near the sun, and the heat releases dust particles from the comet's icy tail. When a meteroid or asteroid enters the Earth's atmosphere, it ignites, creating a visible streak of light called a meteor. If the object doesn't vaporize completely and crashes into the Earth, it's called a meteorite

Answer 7

Hey,actually There are asteroids in space..."Asteroids'' Are the rocks which failed to fuse with other rocks that resulted into planets...so we can say that "Asteroids" are just rocks floating in space...Now,sometimes due to many reasons,these asteroids travel towards the earth And strike the "Ionosphere"(Most Outer Layer Of Atmosphere)...when they strike...they actually break and some part of it enters earth's atmosphere...this part is known as a "Meteor"...
Now,as meteor is successful to enter earths atmosphere,due to friction,a long tail is seen behind it...

Now,"Comet"...Comets are actually found far away from Pluto...but due to certain forces,they advance towards the direction of The Sun...While travelling,as they gradually go towards the sun,their tail become fainter...while they are away from the Sun,their tail brightens comparatively...So,we see comets and we named them "Tailed Stars"....

I mean to say,there is No difference between them due to the "Tails"..the difference is only that their origins are different...

Answer 8

Comet moves through a fixed path and consists of ionised particle whereas meteor quite small particle has no fixed path consists of matter .

Answer 9

Comet is a cluster of ice, we see a vapor trail behind it.

Meteor is actual rock and probably ice as well. (and from what I understand I don't think meteors travel as fast as comets on average)

Answer 10

(astronomy) Any of the small solid, extraterrestrial bodies, that hits the earth's atmosphere.
A streak of light in the sky at night that results when a meteoroid hits the earth's atmosphere and air friction causes the meteoroid to melt or vaporize or explode.