Question

A shooting star is a ______.
(A) Comet
(B) Meteor
(C) Meteorite
(D) None of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Comets become noticeable when they are in close proximity of the sun. And meteorites are smaller fragments of meteors, comets or asteroids.

Complete answer:
Comet: It is a small solar body which orbits the sun in extremely large and non-concentric orbits. They come in close proximity to the sun after every hundreds of years. And when they are near they start giving out a tail of burning gases. But all this happens in close proximity to and therefore cannot be seen at night. Hence, option A is incorrect.

Meteorite: It is a solid piece of fragment from any solar object like a comet, meteor or asteroid, that originates in outer space but then it enters the earth’s atmosphere. But after entering the atmosphere, it starts burning up and becomes really small that it cannot be seen through the naked eye. Hence, Option C is incorrect.

Meteor: Meteors are any piece of rock originated in outer space but has a size significantly larger than a meteorite so that it survives after entering the earth’s atmosphere. During the fall, the meteor breaks up into smaller pieces, which is known as a meteor shower. And meteor showers are commonly identified as shooting stars. Hence, option B is correct.

Note: The tails that we see in a shooting star are actually the burning space dust and gases. There is a difference between meteor and the comet. Meteors don’t have orbits, they are asteroids that gain momentum due to some reason. Comet has an orbit. It revolves around the sun like the planets but it is actually an asteroid-like mass in space.