Comets
By Haley Neihart
Physics 1040
What is a comet?
• A comet is the leftover material from the
formation of stars and planets from billions
of years ago. Comets are said to look like
“dirty snowballs”
• Nucleus of the comet is the solid core
• The coma is a fuzzy cloud surrounding a
comet.
• As a comet get’s close to the sun, the
frozen gases begin to heat up.
• This heat creates the tail of the comet.
• A comet’s tail is formed when it gets
closed to the sun.
• Both the tail and the coma are only
present when close to the sun.
Dust Tails
• Dust tails are
usually yellow and
made up of small
particles
illuminated by the
sun. Dust tails are
usually curved.
Gas Tails
• Gas ion tails are usually ultraviolet blue
• Gas tails form when ultraviolet sunlight
makes electrons into ions through
ionization. Gas tails are normally
straight.
• The Kuiper Belt is beyond the orbit of
Neptune, and the Oort Cloud is found
resides beyond Neptune and Pluto.
Where are Comets Found?
• Comets are found in two main regions of
space. The Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud.
• Short period comets are found in the Kuiper
Belt, and long period comets are found in the
Oort Cloud.
The Kuiper Belt
The Oort Cloud
A Comet’s Orbit
• Comets go around
the sun in a highly
elliptical orbit.
• They can spend
thousands of years
in the solar system
before returning to
the sun.
• The closer to the
sun, the faster they
move
Do Comets Live Forever?
• Each time a comet visits the sun, it loses
some of it’s volatiles.
• Eventually, it becomes just another rocky
mass in the solar system.
• Many scientists believe that an extinct comet
takes the form of an asteroid.
Bibliography
• What is a Comet? (2010). Retrieved April 20, 2011,
from www.qrg.northwestern.edu:
http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/vss/docs/s
pace-environment/1-what-is-a-comet.html
• Fisher, D. (2010). The Space Place. Retrieved April 20,
2011, from www.spaceplace.nasa.gov:
http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/stardust/index.sht
ml
• Reagle, M. (2009). Comets. Retrieved April 20, 2011,
from www.amazing-space.stsci.edu: http://amazingspace.stsci.edu/resources/explorations/comets/teache
r/scientificbackground.html