Asteroid vs. Comet
Asteroidnoun
(zoology) Any member of the taxonomic class Asteroidea; a starfish
Asteroidnoun
(astronomy) A naturally occurring solid object, which is smaller than a planet and is not a comet, that orbits a star
Asteroidnoun
(astronomy) In the Solar system, such a body that orbits within the orbit of Jupiter
Asteroidnoun
A starlike body; esp. one of the numerous small planets whose orbits lie between those of Mars and Jupiter; - called also planetoids and minor planets.
Asteroidnoun
any of numerous small celestial bodies composed of rock and metal that move around the sun (mainly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter)
Asteroidadjective
shaped like a star
Asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Historically, these terms have been applied to any astronomical object orbiting the Sun that did not resolve into a disc in a telescope and was not observed to have characteristics of an active comet such as a tail.
Cometnoun
(astronomy) A celestial body consisting mainly of ice, dust and gas in a (usually very eccentric) orbit around the Sun and having a "tail" of matter blown back from it by the solar wind as it approaches the Sun.
Cometnoun
A celestial phenomenon with the appearance given by the orbiting celestial body.
Cometnoun
Any of several species of hummingbird found in the Andes.
Cometnoun
A member of the solar system which usually moves in an elongated orbit, approaching very near to the sun in its perihelion, and receding to a very great distance from it at its aphelion. A comet commonly consists of three parts: the nucleus, the envelope, or coma, and the tail; but one or more of these parts is frequently wanting. See Illustration in Appendix.
Cometnoun
(astronomy) a relatively small extraterrestrial body consisting of a frozen mass that travels around the sun in a highly elliptical orbit
Comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail.
