It's east to get confused. Which one is bigger? Which one reaches the ground? These astronomy terms get tossed around, and are often used incorrectly.
Here's a brief description of these space rocks.
Near Earth Object (NEO) - Near Earth Objects are asteroids or comets that have orbits around the Sun that bring them close to the Earth. The actual definition of an NEO is a comet or asteroid whose orbit brings it close to Earth’s orbit.
Asteroid - A relatively small, inactive body, composed of rock, carbon or metal, which is orbiting the Sun.
Comet - A relatively small, sometimes active object, which is composed of dirt and ices. Comets are characterised by dust and gas tails when in proximity to the Sun. Far from the Sun it is difficult to distinguish an asteroid from a comet.
Meteoroid - A small particle from an asteroid or comet orbiting the Sun.
Meteor - A meteoroid that is observed as it burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere – a shooting star.
Meteorite - A meteoroid that survives its passage through the Earth’s atmosphere and impacts the Earth’s surface.
The object that came jetted between the earth and weather satellites, some 17,200 miles away, was an asteroid.
The object that came down in a flaming ball of fire over Russia was a meteor. However, once it exploded into little pieces, it hit the ground. Once it hit the ground, no matter how large, it is classified as a meteorite.
