SOLAR SYSTEM

Detailed explanation-1: -Comets are commonly divided between short-period and long-period comets. Short-period comets, with an orbital period of less than 200 years, originate in the Kuiper belt, beyond the orbit of Neptune; while long-period comets originate in the Oort Cloud, in the outer reaches of the Solar System.

Detailed explanation-2: -Asteroids, comets, Kuiper Belt Objects-all kinds of small bodies of rock, metal and ice are in constant motion as they orbit the Sun.

Detailed explanation-3: -Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter the Earth’s neighborhood.

Detailed explanation-4: -Located on the outskirts of the solar system, the Kuiper Belt is a “junkyard” of countless icy bodies left over from the solar system’s formation. The Oort Cloud is a vast shell of billions of comets. The inset diagram compares Pluto’s orbit with a Kuiper Belt binary object called 1998 WW31.

Detailed explanation-5: -Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are rocky remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. Most of this ancient space rubble can be found orbiting our Sun between Mars and Jupiter within the main asteroid belt.