Damocloid facts for kids

A damocloid is an asteroid that takes a long time to orbit the Sun. They are very similar to the periodic comets, like Halley's Comet, but a damocloid does not have a tail like a comet. They are believed to be comets that have lost their volatile material and are dormant. Scientists think that they come from the Oort cloud. This is because some damocloids, such as C/2001 OG₁₀₈ (LONEOS), later developed tails and became comets. Some damocloids also orbit in the same direction as comets, which is the opposite direction to asteroids. By January 2010, scientists had found 41 damocloids.

• David Jewitt, A first look at the Damocloids

The Solar System
Sun • Heliosphere	Planets ☾ = moon(s) ∅ = rings		Mercury	Venus	Earth ☾	Mars ☾
			Jupiter ☾ ∅	Saturn ☾ ∅	Uranus ☾ ∅	Neptune ☾ ∅
	Dwarf planets		Ceres	Pluto ☾	Haumea ☾	Makemake
			Eris ☾
	Small Solar System bodies	Asteroids (minor planets)	Groups and families: Vulcanoids · Near-Earth asteroids · Asteroid belt Jupiter Trojans · Centaurs · Neptune Trojans · Asteroid moons · Meteoroids · Pallas · Juno · Vesta · Hygiea · Interamnia · Europa
			See also the list of asteroids.
		Trans- Neptunians	Kuiper belt – Plutinos: Orcus · Ixion – Cubewanos: Varuna · Quaoar · Huya
			Scattered disc: Sedna
		Comets	Periodic comets and non-periodic comets Damocloids · Oort cloud
See also the list of solar system objects

See also

In Spanish: Damocloide para niños