On warm summer nights it is pleasant to stroll under the starry sky, to see the wonderful constellations on it, to make wishes at the sight of a shooting star. Or is it a comet flying? Or maybe a meteorite? Probably among romantics and lovers there are more experts in astronomy than among visitors to planetariums.
Mysterious cosmos
Questions that constantly arise when contemplating cosmic objects require answers, and heavenly puzzles - clues and scientific explanations. Here, for example, what is the difference between an asteroid and a meteorite? Not every student (and even an adult) will be able to immediately answer this question. But let's start in order.
Asteroids
To understand the difference between an asteroid and a meteorite, you need to determine the concept of "asteroid". This word from the ancient Greek language is translated as “similar to a star,” since these celestial bodies when observed through a telescope resemble stars rather than planets. Asteroids until 2006 were often called minor planets. Indeed, the movement of asteroids as a whole does not differ from planetary motion, because it also occurs around the Sun. Asteroids are small in size from ordinary planets. For example, the largest asteroid Ceres is only 770 km across.
Where are these star-like space inhabitants? Most asteroids move in long-studied orbits in the space between Jupiter and Mars. But some minor planets still cross the orbit of Mars (such as the asteroid Icarus) and other planets, and sometimes even come closer to the Sun than Mercury.
Meteorites
Unlike asteroids, meteorites are not the inhabitants of space, but its messengers. Each of the earthlings can see the meteorite with their own eyes and touch it with their own hands. In museums and private collections, a large number of them are stored, but it must be said that meteorites look rather inconspicuous. Most of them are gray or brownish-black pieces of stone and iron.
So, we managed to figure out how the asteroid differs from a meteorite. But what can unite them? It is believed that meteorites are fragments of small asteroids. Stones worn in space collide with each other, and their fragments sometimes reach the surface of the Earth.
The most famous meteorite in Russia is the Tunguska, which fell in the deep taiga on June 30, 1908. In the recent past, namely in February 2013, the Chelyabinsk meteorite, whose numerous fragments were found in the region of Lake Chebarkul in the Chelyabinsk region, attracted general attention.
Thanks to meteorites, peculiar guests from outer space, scientists, and with them all the inhabitants of the Earth, have an excellent opportunity to learn about the composition of celestial bodies and get an idea about the origin of the universe.
Meteors
The words “meteor” and “meteorite” come from the same Greek root, meaning “heavenly” in translation. We know what a meteorite is, and how it differs from a meteor, it will not be difficult to understand.
A meteor is not a specific celestial object, but an atmospheric phenomenon that looks like a flash of light. It occurs when fragments of comets and asteroids burn in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Meteor - this is a shooting star. It may seem to observers, fly back into outer space or burn out in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Understanding how meteors differ from asteroids and meteorites is also easy. The last two celestial objects are specifically tangible (even theoretically in the case of an asteroid), and the meteor is a luminescence resulting from the combustion of cosmic fragments.
Comets
No less wonderful celestial body, which the earth observer can admire, is a comet. What is the difference between comets and asteroids and meteorites?
The word "comet" is also of Greek origin and literally translates as "hairy", "shaggy." Comets come from the outer part of the solar system, and, accordingly, have a different composition than the asteroids that formed near the sun.
Besides the difference in composition, there is a more obvious difference in the structure of these celestial bodies. When approaching the Sun, a comet, unlike an asteroid, shows a foggy coma and a tail, consisting of gas and dust. The volatiles of the comet as they heat up actively release and evaporate, turning it into a beautiful luminous celestial object.
In addition, asteroids move in orbits, and their movement in outer space resembles the smooth and measured movement of ordinary planets. Unlike asteroids, the comet is more extreme in its movements. Its orbit is very elongated. The comet is now approaching the Sun, then moving away from it at a considerable distance.
A comet differs from a meteorite in that it is in motion. A meteorite is the result of a collision of a celestial body with the earth's surface.
Heavenly world and earthly world
I must say that watching the night sky is doubly more pleasant when its unearthly inhabitants are well familiar and understandable to you. And what a pleasure to tell your interlocutor about the world of stars and unusual events in outer space!
And the point is not even the question of how the asteroid differs from a meteorite, but the awareness of the close connection and deep interaction between the terrestrial and cosmic world, which must be established as actively as the relationship between one person and another.