So there is an article here
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/10/09/science/comet-tsuchinshan-atlas-earth
It speaks about a meteor that will be here in October and not return for 80000 years. I’m just wondering, why do meteors come back?
I assume it takes a lot of force to change the trajectory of a meteor, so wouldn’t it move in the same general direction forever and never come back?
In: Planetary Science
Comets come back because they orbit the sun just like the planets do. It’s just that most of that orbit is far in the outer solar system where it’s too faint to be seen.
As a sidenote, a meteor is what you get when something from space enters the Earth’s atmosphere. When that happens, the object either burns up in the atmosphere, or hits the surface. Either way, it gets destroyed and doesn’t go anywhere.
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