VSASTEROIDS

COMETSASTEROIDS COMETS

IDENTIFICATION

PUTTING IT INTO PERSPECTIVE

LOCATION

Composed ofsilicates, silicates and

metal, or metal.

Composed of silicates and ice. Generally accompanied

by a coma and a tail.

950 km

Ceres

Texas

Together,Vesta and Ceres

contain more than 1/3of the mass of all

asteroids in the MainAsteroid Belt.

Asteroid Composition Comet Composition

SilicateAsteroid

The majordistinguishing factorbetween Asteroids

and Comets are their source regions and the presence, or lack thereof, of ice and frozen gases.

Main Asteroid Belt Kuiper Belt / Scattered Disk Oort Cloud

*NOT TO SCALE

Empire State Building

Asteroid BennuTarget of OSIRIS-REx

~510 m

525 km

443 m

Golden Gate Bridge

Comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenkoTarget of Rosetta

4,000 m

2,740 m

Every day, Earth is hit with over 100 tons of space dust and particles the size of sand grains

- most of which is burnt up in theEarth’s upper atmosphere.

Vesta

Most asteroidsare located in the Main

Asteroid Belt.

Short periodcomets come from

the Kuiper Belt/Scattered Disc.

The Oort Cloud is a vast spherical expanse of billions of comets

that encompass the Solar System.

Long periodcomets from the Oort Cloud are pulled in by the Sun’s gravity.

Trans-Neptunian Objects