Asteroids, Comets, and Dwarf Planets
Asteroids are rocky leftover planetesimals, or chunks of rock that still orbit the Sun because they never managed to become part of a planet. Meteorites are pieces of rock that have fallen to the ground from space. These two objects are closely related, however have some differences. Asteroids come in a variety of sizes, some can be as large as 1000 kilometers in diameter while others are much smaller.
An asteroid belt has formed from the rocky planetesimals that have survived and did not become part of a planet. This asteroid belt then orbits between Jupiter and Mars. The gravity of these two planets allows for the orbit to become set over time and they now orbit perfectly between the two planets.
Meteorites are related to asteroids in that they are asteroids that have fallen to our earth. The two different types of meteorites are primitive (mixture of rock and metal) and processed (iron) meteorites. Most meteorites are pieces of asteroids and they help us to better understand space when we study them.
Comets, similar to the asteroids and meteorites, are frozen in the solar system. Only a few comets are able to enter our solar system, and when they do we see them as having tails. When a comet orbits the solar system, it can leave behind a trial of small particles, which is when we see meteor showers. Kuiper belt comets are comets which are formed just beyond Neptune's orbit. The course that a comet or asteroid follows is affect by the planets around it, and their gravity. Nearly every asteroid or comet that has ever struck Earth was in some sense sent our way by the influence of the jovian planets.
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