Generate a random asteroid or comet, from famous naked-eye comets to spacecraft-visited asteroids, for space-themed inspiration or learning something new.
Both are leftovers from the Solar System's formation, but they differ in composition and origin: asteroids are rock and metal from the warm inner system, comets are ice and dust from beyond the frost line. That difference is visible when a comet nears the Sun and its ice sublimates, producing the coma and the tail that always points away from the Sun rather than trailing behind. Most asteroids occupy the belt between Mars and Jupiter, while comets come from the Kuiper Belt or the far more distant Oort Cloud. The line has blurred, since some objects show both behaviours and are catalogued as active asteroids.
This generator draws from a curated list of real asteroids and comets across four categories -- Comets, Near-Earth Asteroids, Main Belt Asteroids, and Trojan & Outer Asteroids -- from household names like Halley's Comet to spacecraft targets most people have never heard of.
Every result here is drawn using crypto.getRandomValues() -- the Web Crypto API's cryptographically secure randomness -- instead of Math.random(), so it's genuinely unpredictable, not just statistically random. Learn more.
Astronomy fans and students use it to discover a new small body worth reading up on. Writers and game designers use it to name a spacecraft's destination, a sci-fi setting's local hazard, or a chapter in a story about the outer solar system. It's also a quick way to pick a space-themed name for a project, pet, or username.
Generate draws one asteroid or comet at random from the full pool using the site's cryptographically secure randomness, guaranteed not to repeat whatever result is currently showing in single-result mode. Filtering by category narrows the pool before drawing, and each single result comes with a short description of the object alongside its name.
A sample of what this generator can draw, spread evenly across the full list:
All of them are real, including their descriptions -- nothing here is invented.
Yes -- use the filter button to pick one or more of the four categories. Generate will then only draw from objects in the categories you've selected.
Not in single-result mode -- each new roll is guaranteed to differ from the one currently on screen.
Yes -- well-known comets like Halley's and Hale-Bopp sit alongside lesser-known asteroids and Centaurs in the pool.
Planet · Exoplanet · Moon · Star · Galaxy · Nebula