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Where do NEOs come from?
Asteroids are believed to be remnants from the formation of the inner planets, including Earth. Gravitational perturbations from the massive planet Jupiter occasionally kick asteroids out of the main asteroid belt and into orbits that bring them close to Earth. Comets are probably the remnants from the formation of outer planets. Short period comets (with periods less than 20 years) are thought to originate from the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt from where they are occasionally perturbed by the gravity of the large outer planets. Long period comets are perturbed from the Oort Cloud, a spherical shell of objects at the edge of the solar system, probably by passing stars.
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