{"id":210970,"date":"2023-02-01T17:28:59","date_gmt":"2023-02-01T16:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/es\/?p=268784"},"modified":"2025-07-01T20:05:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T03:05:21","slug":"comet-green-what-a-difference-comet-asteroid-meteorite-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/comet-green-what-a-difference-comet-asteroid-meteorite-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Comets, asteroids, meteorites: What’s the difference and why does it matter?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do you want to see a comet with your own eyes<\/a>? Comet C\/2022 E3 (ZTF)<\/a><\/strong> will pass very close to us between February 1 and 2, leaving behind a characteristic green trail. If you couldn’t see it in person, don’t worry, since you can use the Sky Map<\/strong> app to follow its trajectory through your mobile.<\/p>\n\n\n

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With the \u201carrival\u201d of this type of celestial body, many will wonder if a comet, an asteroid and a meteorite are the same. Can they be called interchangeably? The short answer is: no, they are not the same<\/strong>. the long answer? We give it to you below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The differences of the three astronomical objects<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The celestial bodies that have starred in so many end-of-the-world movies usually have almost the same elements: ice, rock, and dust. Fortunately, most of them do not usually cross the Earth<\/strong> thanks to the gravity of other major planets in the Solar System, such as Jupiter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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However, some astronomical objects enter the Earth’s atmosphere, where they are usually disintegrated<\/strong> by friction with the air. When their size, the elements that compose them or other reasons allow them to “survive” the friction and end up reaching the surface of our planet<\/strong>, they are known as meteorites<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Without the need for them to hit our beloved Earth (or for Bruce Willis to sacrifice himself for all of us), we encounter asteroids<\/strong>. Large solid masses composed of rock and metal<\/strong> (so the heat of the Sun does not affect them), which can measure hundreds of kilometers<\/strong> in diameter or just a few meters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Finally, we have comets<\/strong>. They are celestial bodies that formed in the confines of our Solar System and whose components: ice, rock, dust and organic compounds<\/strong>, end up sublimating as they approach the Sun, forming their unmistakable tails. Comet C\/2022 E3 (ZTF) is very characteristic, since it is surrounded by a green halo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can I see the comet, and do I have to worry about the brightness?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Next February 1 will be the day the comet is at its closest point to Earth. This will happen around 7:11 pm in Spain<\/strong> (peninsular time).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the brightness that the comet will give off, there will be no need to worry<\/strong>. NASA has reported that the star can be observed with the naked eye<\/strong> without the need to use other gadgets. When we have chosen a point to see the comet, it is convenient to wait for half an hour for our eyes to adapt to the light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To get the best possible glimpse of the comet, you will first need to have a pair of binoculars or, instead, <\/strong>a small telescope<\/strong>. You should keep in mind that the best time to see it will be at dusk<\/strong>. The comet will leave behind an unmistakable green halo, which will help you to easily identify it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Comets, asteroids, and meteorites are celestial bodies that have certain similarities, but are not exactly the same.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9256,"featured_media":210971,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":2},"categories":[1015],"tags":[],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-210970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9256"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210970"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":322367,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210970\/revisions\/322367"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210970"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=210970"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=210970"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=210970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}