Asteroids, Meteors, & Comets
Dylan Black
Asteroids
C-Type, mostly composed of carbon. The most common type of asteroid.
M-Type, composed of various metals, but mostly iron. The rarest type of asteroid.
S-Type, composed of silicon. Extremely reflective of sunlight.
Meteors and Variants
Meteoroid - In space.
Meteor - Entering the atmosphere.
Meteorite - Making contact with the ground.
Comets
Nucleus - The frozen center of the comet, consisting of ice, gas, and dust. It is very, very small.
Coma - The roughly spherical cloud surrounding the nucleus. Composed of water vapor, carbon dioxide, ammonia, dust, and neutral gases.
Dust Trail - Composed of, shockingly enough, dust. Faces both away from the sun, as well as opposite of the comet's direction of travel, which gives it a curve.
Ion Trail - Composed of charged gas. Always faces away from the sun due to the energy the sun gives off.