What Causes a ‘Comet’ to Appear in the Sky and How Is It Different from an Asteroid?

Comets are like ice balls that shine when they get close to the Sun. Imagine you have a big snowball made of ice and dirt, and it’s traveling through space. When it gets near the Sun, the heat makes the ice melt and create a glowing tail, that's what we see in the sky! Asteroids are more like rocks that don’t have ice, so they don't shine as much when they come close to us.

Comets are mostly made of ice and dirt. When the Sun heats them up, the ice turns into gas and forms a tail behind them. This makes comets look like glowing streaks in the sky.

Asteroids are usually just big rocks that float around space. They don't have ice, so they don’t glow or form tails when they come near us.