comet

A comet consists mostly of ice, but an asteroid is made of rock and metal. Crash some asteroids into each other and you get small pieces that break off, called meteoroids. When a meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere it leaves a visible streak of light and becomes known as a meteor. We generally refer to it as a falling star or shooting star. When a meteoroid hits the gr...ound on Earth it is known as a meteorite. About 500 small meteorites fall to earth every year but most fall in the sea and in unpopulated areas. They are small because meteoroids break up in Earth’s atmosphere, most are just vaporized before hitting land or sea. A meteorite can be the size of a small rock but most are smaller than a pea. The chances of being hit by a meteorite is very small. Animals are occasionally hit and there are many claims and reports of people being hit by a meteorite but most of those claims could not be verified.