17

Given an image or animation of a body in space, the learner identifies it as a comet when (and only when) it is a frozen body of ice, dust, and rock that orbits the Sun (visible tail near the Sun; no tail when far from the Sun).

grade level
5
frames
16
  1. 01What is a comet made of?
  2. 02Why does this comet have a visible tail?
  3. 03What kind of space object are we looking at?
  4. 04Is this dark object a comet?
  5. 05Which statement best describes this object?
  6. 06What is this object?
  7. 07Why is Vesta considered an asteroid and not a comet?
  8. 08What kind of object is Mars?
  9. 09Based on its glowing tail, what is this object?
  10. 10What is this rocky object?
  11. 11What kind of object is this?
  12. 12What is this object?
  13. 13What is this dark, icy object?
  14. 14What is this massive spherical object?
  15. 15What is this spectacular object?
  16. 16Identify this space object.

As you can see, this is the asteroid Vesta. It is a large chunk of rock and metal orbiting the Sun. Unlike a comet, an asteroid is not made of ice. Because it has no ice, it will never form a glowing tail, even if it gets close to the Sun.

A detailed image of the asteroid Vesta. As you can see, it is a massive, roughly spherical but lumpy body made of solid rock, heavily scarred with impact craters, floating in space with no ice or tail.
A detailed image of the asteroid Vesta. As you can see, it is a massive, roughly spherical but lumpy body made of solid rock, heavily scarred with impact craters, floating in space with no ice or tail.

Prompt

Why is Vesta considered an asteroid and not a comet?