I’m afraid you are arguing with the simplified non-scientific definitions. Did you think I was making the complexity up? The reality of our classification system is a mess, like most classification systems, since nature doesn’t care what labels we attach.
- The scientific definition of an asteroid is actually a combination of several factors, including where the asteroid resides (inside Jupiter’s orbit? A Trojan? A Greek?), it’s size, it’s composition (just basically not entirely icy), and it’s historical origin. This gets exceptionally complex when you take into account and icy body in the asteroid belt (we know of many), a comet that has burned off it’s ice, an ejected asteroid in strange orbits, an asteroid orbiting a planet (see Mars’ moons), a body that otherwise meets criteria as an asteroid that is larger than the other asteroids (Ceres etc)… Generally scientists today don’t use ‘asteroid’ in technical writing, they prefer ‘minor planet’.
- The scientific definition of meteor/meteoroid/meteorite means that any body can become a meteor if it’s in the right conditions, but it’ll still be a meteoroid/comet/asteroid/moon/dwarf planet too. It’s nearly useless as a set of definitions, especially when the meanings of the same words have changed consistently since the founding of modern astronomy.
- A comets definition, like that of an asteroid, is actually tied to its location (oort cloud? Kuiper belt? elliptical orbit? Stable orbit past Jupiter? Currently orbiting a planet? Currently close enough to the sun?), speed (influences if it can form a coma), temperature (influences if it can form a coma), composition (influences if it can form a coma), historical origin (oort cloud? Kuiper belt?). It’s another definition rarely used by scientists outside scientific communication because it lacks a firm foundation to stand on.
Oh no argument here with that point at all, that’s a fine perspective and observation. Classification is necessary, but nuance and patience when dealing with the gray areas between are too.
My initial point was just poking fun at the mess poor astronomers have to deal with. It being one of the oldest natural sciences and all it has a bigger mess than most.