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What is the difference between comets and asteroids?

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Asteroids tend to be rockier or more metallic. Comets tend be icier. But some objects blur the distinction between asteroids and comets. read more

Asteroids and comets have a few things in common. They are both celestial bodies orbiting our Sun, and they both can have unusual orbits, sometimes straying close to Earth or the other planets. They are both “leftovers” — made from materials from the formation of our Solar System 4.5 billion years ago. read more

The main difference between asteroids and comets is their composition, as in, what they are made of. Asteroids are made up of metals and rocky material, while comets are made up of ice, dust and rocky material. Both asteroids and comets were formed early in the history of the solar system about 4.5 billion years ago. read more

Another difference between comets and asteroids is in their orbital patterns. Comets tend to have very extended and elongated orbits, many times going more than 50,000 AU from the sun (1 AU, or astronomical unit, equals the distance from the Earth to the sun). read more

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