Comet Model

A comet is a ball of ice and dirt that orbits the Sun, leaving behind trails of dust, gases, and rocks. If the Earth’s orbit crosses one of these trails, the comet’s dust and rock trails appear as lots of meteors when they enter Earth’s atmosphere.

Try this: if you make a comet (out of paper or aluminum foil) with a tail that scatters glitter, then imagine the glitter falling on the Earth. Most of it will be caught and burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere as meteors. If a meteor is lucky enough to get through Earth’s atmosphere and land on Earth, it’s called a meteorite.