Asteroids, Comets, Meteroites

Abstract

On the first day of January 1801, Giuseppe Piazzi discovered an object which he first thought was a new comet. But after its orbit was better determined it was clear that it was not a comet but more like a small planet and it was therefore named asteroid. The proper name of the first asteroid detected is Ceres1. Three other small bodies were discovered in the next few years (Pallas, Vesta, and Juno). By the end of the 19th century several hundred asteroids were known.