Our universe is unimaginably vast and contains hundreds of thousands of objects. Some of these can be very easily mistaken as another because a lot of them overlap traits. A quite common example of this is comets, asteroids, and meteors. A lot of people use these terms synonymously, which is a mistake considering their distinct differences. This post will discuss these differences and hopefully clear up common misconceptions. Comets Comets, by definition, are small, icy, solar system bodies that make the sad mistake of getting too close to the gigantic ball of gas and plasma that we call our sun. When comets pass too close, they start heating up, releasing gases, which scientists refer to as 'outgassing' (no, for real). This creates a 'gravitationally unbound atmosphere', or a coma. The dust, gas, and ice particles start streaming behind the comet, creating the symbolic tail. Fun Facts: The name comet comes from Kometes, which means long hair. In this case
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