Asteroids 

(from Greek, ἀστήρ ”star” + εἶδος “like”, in form), sometimes grouped

withcentaurs, Neptune trojans and trans-Neptunian objects into minor planets orplanetoids,[1] are a class of small

Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. The term "asteroid" was historically applied to any astronomical object

orbiting the Sun that was not observed to have the characteristics of an active comet or a planet, but it has

increasingly come to particularly refer to the small rocky and metallic bodies of the inner Solar System and out to the

orbit of Jupiter. As small objects in the outer Solar System have begun to be discovered their observed composition

differs from the objects historically termed asteroids. Harbouring predominantly volatiles-based material similar to

comets rather than the more familiar rocky or metallic asteroids, they are often distinguished from them.[2]There are

millions of asteroids, and like most other small Solar System bodies the asteroids are thought to be remnants

of planetesimals, material within the young Sun’s solar nebula that have not grown large enough to form planets.
[3]
 The large majority of known asteroids orbit in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter,

however many different orbital families exist with significant populations including Jupiter Trojans and near-Earth

asteroids. Individual asteroids are categorized by their characteristic spectra, with the majority falling into three main

groups: C-type, S-type, and M-type. These are generally identified with carbon-rich, stony, and metallic compositions

respectively.

Meteors
Meteors are streaks of light, usually lasting just a few seconds, which people occasionally see in the night sky. They
are sometimes called "shooting stars" or "falling stars", though they are not stars at all. Meteors are caused by the
entry of small pieces of rock, dust, or metal from space into theatmosphere at extremely high speeds. These
particles, called "meteoroids" when they are floating around in space (think of very small asteroids), are traveling at
incredible speeds of tens of kilometers per second (tens of thousands of miles per hour) when they streak into the
atmosphere. The incredible pressure meteoroids experience when they collide with Earth's atmosphere shatters
them, transferring energy to atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, which then release the energy by glowing. This
glow produces the bright trails of lightin the sky we see as meteors.

Most meteoroid particles are quite small, ranging in size from a grain of sand to a pea-sized pebble. Almost all of
them disintegrate in the atmospherelong before reaching the ground. Very rarely, a larger meteoroid actually survives
to strike the ground, creating ameteor crater in a huge explosion. This explosion often vaporizes whatever solid
material is left of the meteoroid after its fiery flight through the atmosphere. Sometimes, however, pieces of the
meteoroid survive and are found in the crater or nearby. These chunks of rock or metal are called meteorites.

Meteors are not the same thing as comets. Meteors appear briefly as they streak through the sky. Comets are much
larger objects that are actually still out in space. Comets can form tails, and though they do change position from
night to night, they don't move fast enough for the eye to notice; they seem to hang in place in the sky. There is a
connection, though, between some comets and some meteors. Several times each year Earth passes across
the orbit of a comet, where dust and small bits of rock from the comet have been left behind. When this happens we
can see many meteors in a single night; sometimes as many as 100 or more per hour! These events are
called meteor showers.

Especially bright meteors are called fireballs. Some fireballs are so bright that they can be seen in the daytime. It
would be possible to see meteors above any planet that has an atmosphere. A camera on the Mars Exploration
Rover Spirit captured a picture of meteor in the sky above Mars in 2004!

How can you remember whether something is a meteor, a meteoroid, or a meteorite? Here's how I do it! When they
are out in space, like asteroids, they are called meteoroids. When they are streaking through theatmosphere as
bright flashes of light, we call them meteors - which reminds me of meteorology, which is the science concerned with
weather and the atmosphere. [Meteorology is not the science of meteors!] When they reach the ground, we call
them meteorites - which reminds me of the stalactites and stalagmites that are found under the ground in caves. I
hope that helps you remember too!

Comet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the astronomical object. For other uses, see Comet (disambiguation).

A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma (a thin,
fuzzy, temporary atmosphere) and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar
radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet. Comet nuclei are themselves loose collections of
ice, dust, and small rocky particles, ranging from a few hundred meters to tens of kilometers across. Comets
have been observed since ancient times and have historically been considered bad omens.

Comets have a wide range of orbital periods, ranging from a few years to hundreds of thousands of years.
Short-period comets originate in the Kuiper belt, or its associatedscattered disc,[1] which lie beyond the orbit
of Neptune. Longer-period comets are thought to originate in the Oort Cloud, a spherical cloud of icy bodies in
the outer Solar System. Long-period comets plunge towards the Sun from the Oort Cloud because
of gravitational perturbations caused by either the massive outer planets of the Solar System
(Jupiter,Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune), or passing stars. Rare hyperbolic comets pass once through the inner
Solar System before being thrown out into interstellar space along hyperbolic trajectories.

Comets are distinguished from asteroids by the presence of a coma or a tail. However,extinct comets that have
passed close to the Sun many times have lost nearly all of theirvolatile ices and dust and may come to
resemble small asteroids.[2] Asteroids are thought to have a different origin from comets, having formed inside
the orbit of Jupiter rather than in the outer Solar System.[3][4] The discovery ofmain-belt comets and
active centaurs has blurred the distinction between asteroids and comets (see asteroid terminology).

As of May 2010 there are a reported 3,976 known comets[5] of which about 1,500 are Kreutz Sungrazers and
about 484 are short-period.[6] This number is steadily increasing. However, this represents only a tiny fraction of
the total potential comet population: the reservoir of comet-like bodies in the outer solar system may number
one trillion.[7] The number visible to the naked eye averages roughly one per year, though many of these are
faint and unspectacular.[8] Particularly bright or notable examples are called "Great Comets".

Name : Maria Mary ann D. Ventinilla year:sec:1-7 graph