1. Craters formed by meteorites contain substances that are not found normally on Earth. The soil around the craters also contain foreign elements or compounds which have not been observed to occur in natural state on Earth. By isolating and analyzing the substances present in and around the crater, it can be determined whether the crater was formed due to the impact of a meteorite or by mere rock falls.
2. Comets are bright objects which move in extremely elliptical orbits around the Sun and are characterized by the tail, which it develops when it comes close to the Sun. Comets are mainly dust and ice, while meteors and asteroids are rocks. When a meteor enters the Earth's atmosphere, it burns up due to the friction it experiences in our atmosphere. They glow bright in the sky and are called shooting stars. However, they do not develop a tail as the comet does.
3. A Comet can develop 2 tails.
As a comet passes very close to the Sun, the temperature causes the vaporization of the nucleus of the comet. The nucleus contains dust and ice. As the nucleus breaks apart, due to high temperature, the gas ionizes and the comet develops a bluish colored tail called the ion tail.
The dust in the nucleus also forms a tail which is the one which is usually seen. The dust tail is much longer and more visible when compared to the ion tail.
4. An asteroid is larger than a meteoroid. Any object orbiting the Sun and has a radius larger than 10 km is called an asteroid. The largest asteroid in solar system is Ceres which has a radius of around 700 km.
5. Meteoroid, meteors and meteorites are all composed of rock.
The largest of these is the Meteoroid, which is similar to an asteroid, but with a smaller size.
Meteors are smaller than Meteoroids and they glow brightly when they enter the Earth's atmosphere. These are called shooting stars. If they reach the surface of the earth, the collision creates large craters.
Meteorites are parts of meteors that are left behind after the meteors burn up. These contain valuable information about extra terrestrial life .
