Asteroids, comets, meteors: what's the difference? These fascinating space rocks are all unique and worthy of study. Just ask NASAJPL scientist Ryan Park and he'll agree. Here's more:
A Near-Earth Object is generally defined as an asteroid or comet that approaches our planet less than 1.3 times the distance from Earth to the Sun . Most NEOs pose no peril at all. It’s the small percentage of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids that draws extra scrutiny. These objects are defined as those that approach Earth at less than half the Earth-Sun distance.
Occasionally, asteroids' orbital paths are influenced by the gravitational tug of planets, which cause their paths to alter. Scientists believe stray asteroids or fragments from earlier collisions have slammed into Earth in the past, playing a major role in the evolution of our planet.Comets are relatively small, fragile, irregularly shaped bodies and, like asteroids, they are left over from the solar system formation process.
Scientists believe that impacts from comets played a role in the evolution of Earth billions of years ago. One theory suggests that comets brought some of the water and a variety of organic molecules to the early Earth.Some asteroids and comets follow orbital paths that take them much closer to the Sun — and therefore Earth -- than usual. If a comet or asteroid's approach brings it to within 1.3 astronomical units of the Sun, we call it a near-Earth object.
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