Which of the following is not a meteor?

The correct answer is that an asteroid is not a meteor. To provide context, a meteor refers specifically to the streak of light produced when a meteoroid—a small rocky or metallic body—enters the Earth’s atmosphere and burns up due to friction, commonly known as a shooting star.

An asteroid, on the other hand, is a larger, solid, rocky body that resides primarily in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. While asteroids can produce meteoroids if they break apart, they themselves are distinct from meteors, which are purely the visible events caused by meteoroids entering the atmosphere.

Additionally, a meteorite is the term for a meteoroid that survives its passage through the atmosphere and lands on Earth, while a comet is a celestial object composed of ice and dust that, when near the Sun, displays a visible atmosphere or coma and sometimes a tail. A planetary body is a broad term that encompasses all celestial bodies, including planets, moons, asteroids, and comets, but does not specifically pertain to the phenomenon of a meteor.

Thus, distinguishing between these terms is key to understanding the nature of celestial objects and the processes involved in their interaction with the Earth.