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What is difference between asteroids and comets?
1. Asteroids are small rocky plane-toids, while comets are formed of frozen gases held together by rocky and metallic material.
2. Asteroids are found mostly between the orbits of Jupiter and mars, while comets are found mostly between Venus and mercury.
3. Comets show a perceptible glowing tail, while asteroids do not. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1. Asteroids are small rocky plane-toids, while comets are formed of frozen gases held together by rocky and metallic material.
2. Asteroids are found mostly between the orbits of Jupiter and mars, while comets are found mostly between Venus and mercury.
3. Comets show a perceptible glowing tail, while asteroids do not. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- a)1 and 2 only.
- b)1 and 3 only.
- c)3 only.
- d)1,2 and 3.
Correct answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer?
Most Upvoted Answer
What is difference between asteroids and comets?1. Asteroids are small...
Short-period comets such as Halley's are perturbed from the so-called Kuiper belt out beyond the orbit of Neptune and pass through the inner solar system once or twice in a human lifetime. Long-period comets come from the Oort Cloud, which rings the outer reaches of the solar system and pass near the sun once every hundreds or thousands of years.. option 1 and 3 are correct
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What is difference between asteroids and comets?1. Asteroids are small...
The main difference between an asteroid and a comet is 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 of these space objects were formed during the earliest times of the solar system, around 4.5 billion years ago. Asteroids formed much closer to the Sun, where it was too warm for ices to remain solid. Comets formed farther from the sun where ices would not melt. Comets, which approach the Sun, lose material with each orbit because some of their ice melts and vaporizes to form a tail.
A few other important differences between an asteroid and a comet exist. Obviously, comets have tails and asteroids do not. The heat from the Sun causes ice and other materials on a comet’s surface to heat up until they vaporize. That vapor is what is seen as the comets tail. Another difference 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).
Asteroids tend to have shorter, more circular orbits and they seem to want to group together in belts.
Another difference between an asteroid and a comet is in the numbers of each. There are only 3,572 known comets, but there are many millions of asteroids. Some as small as dust particles.
Asteroids are generally larger chunks of rock that come from the asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
Comets are asteroid-like objects covered with ice, methane, ammonia, and other compounds that develop a fuzzy, cloud-like shell called a coma and sometimes a visible tail whenever they orbit close to the Sun.
Regions Where Comets Are Found Comets are found in two main regions of the cosmos: the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud. Short-period comets -- comets that frequently return to the solar system -- probably originate from an area called the Kuiper belt. This belt is located within the solar system's ecliptic plane, beyond the orbit of Neptune. Astronomers found the first object in the Kuiper belt in 1992. Since that discovery many objects have been discovered within that region. These objects are usually small compared with planets. Their size ranges from 10 to 100 kilometers in diameter. Earth's diameter, for example, is 14,000 kilometers.
A few other important differences between an asteroid and a comet exist. Obviously, comets have tails and asteroids do not. The heat from the Sun causes ice and other materials on a comet’s surface to heat up until they vaporize. That vapor is what is seen as the comets tail. Another difference 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).
Asteroids tend to have shorter, more circular orbits and they seem to want to group together in belts.
Another difference between an asteroid and a comet is in the numbers of each. There are only 3,572 known comets, but there are many millions of asteroids. Some as small as dust particles.
Asteroids are generally larger chunks of rock that come from the asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
Comets are asteroid-like objects covered with ice, methane, ammonia, and other compounds that develop a fuzzy, cloud-like shell called a coma and sometimes a visible tail whenever they orbit close to the Sun.
Regions Where Comets Are Found Comets are found in two main regions of the cosmos: the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud. Short-period comets -- comets that frequently return to the solar system -- probably originate from an area called the Kuiper belt. This belt is located within the solar system's ecliptic plane, beyond the orbit of Neptune. Astronomers found the first object in the Kuiper belt in 1992. Since that discovery many objects have been discovered within that region. These objects are usually small compared with planets. Their size ranges from 10 to 100 kilometers in diameter. Earth's diameter, for example, is 14,000 kilometers.
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What is difference between asteroids and comets?1. Asteroids are small rocky plane-toids, while comets are formed of frozen gases held together by rocky and metallic material.2. Asteroids are found mostly between the orbits of Jupiter and mars, while comets are found mostly between Venus and mercury.3. Comets show a perceptible glowing tail, while asteroids do not. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?a)1 and 2 only.b)1 and 3 only.c)3 only.d)1,2 and 3.Correct answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer? for UPSC 2026 is part of UPSC preparation. The Question and answers have been prepared according to the UPSC exam syllabus. Information about What is difference between asteroids and comets?1. Asteroids are small rocky plane-toids, while comets are formed of frozen gases held together by rocky and metallic material.2. Asteroids are found mostly between the orbits of Jupiter and mars, while comets are found mostly between Venus and mercury.3. Comets show a perceptible glowing tail, while asteroids do not. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?a)1 and 2 only.b)1 and 3 only.c)3 only.d)1,2 and 3.Correct answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer? covers all topics & solutions for UPSC 2026 Exam. Find important definitions, questions, meanings, examples, exercises and tests below for What is difference between asteroids and comets?1. Asteroids are small rocky plane-toids, while comets are formed of frozen gases held together by rocky and metallic material.2. Asteroids are found mostly between the orbits of Jupiter and mars, while comets are found mostly between Venus and mercury.3. Comets show a perceptible glowing tail, while asteroids do not. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?a)1 and 2 only.b)1 and 3 only.c)3 only.d)1,2 and 3.Correct answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer?.
What is difference between asteroids and comets?1. Asteroids are small rocky plane-toids, while comets are formed of frozen gases held together by rocky and metallic material.2. Asteroids are found mostly between the orbits of Jupiter and mars, while comets are found mostly between Venus and mercury.3. Comets show a perceptible glowing tail, while asteroids do not. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?a)1 and 2 only.b)1 and 3 only.c)3 only.d)1,2 and 3.Correct answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer? for UPSC 2026 is part of UPSC preparation. The Question and answers have been prepared according to the UPSC exam syllabus. Information about What is difference between asteroids and comets?1. Asteroids are small rocky plane-toids, while comets are formed of frozen gases held together by rocky and metallic material.2. Asteroids are found mostly between the orbits of Jupiter and mars, while comets are found mostly between Venus and mercury.3. Comets show a perceptible glowing tail, while asteroids do not. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?a)1 and 2 only.b)1 and 3 only.c)3 only.d)1,2 and 3.Correct answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer? covers all topics & solutions for UPSC 2026 Exam. Find important definitions, questions, meanings, examples, exercises and tests below for What is difference between asteroids and comets?1. Asteroids are small rocky plane-toids, while comets are formed of frozen gases held together by rocky and metallic material.2. Asteroids are found mostly between the orbits of Jupiter and mars, while comets are found mostly between Venus and mercury.3. Comets show a perceptible glowing tail, while asteroids do not. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?a)1 and 2 only.b)1 and 3 only.c)3 only.d)1,2 and 3.Correct answer is option 'B'. Can you explain this answer?.
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