Comets
What Are Comets?
Comets are objects that are left over from planets and
stars. They move through space rapidly at incredible
speeds. When the gravity from another object like a star
becomes strong enough, some parts of the comet split and
head towards the gravitational pull (usually the sun). As the
comet gets closer to the sun it starts to get faster and faster
and when making contact with the sun it disappears.
Visual Characteristics
Comets look like a huge streak of light passing through
space. They generally appear white, Most comets are
made up of dust, ice, or gas. The comet has two parts:
Nucleus and Coma. Comets have no moon(s) or rings
Physical Characteristics
Diameter: Most comets are estimated to have a diameter of about 300 km
Temperature: Astronomers estimate that the temperature of a comet
ranges from -220 degrees celsius to -240 degrees celsius
Mass: NASA estimates that most comets weigh about 10 trillion kg
Orbit
The Oort Cloud takes minimum 200 years to orbit around
the sun. The Oort Cloud is the where most comets come
from.
Distance From The Sun
The Oort Cloud, which is the cloud where all comets
come from is 45, 000 astronomical units away from the
sun. One astronomical unit is the distance from the sun to
earth.
Planet Exploration
Comets have never been completely explored by
humans, but humans have a spacecraft named Ice meant
for taking pictures and
getting data from the
comets
Interesting Facts
-Comets tails can be as long as 60 million miles.
-The planet Sedna also known as 90377, is believed to
come from within the Oort Cloud
-There are two trillion objects estimated to be inside the
Oort Cloud
Bibliography
Sorensen, Lynda, Comets and Meteors March 13, 2015
http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/glossary/def.php.s=topic_comets March 23,
2015
http://science.opposingviews.com/temperature-comet-22136.html March 23,
2015
http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2014/08/21/determining-the-mass-of-comet-67pc-g/
March 23, 2015
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coma_%28cometary%29 March 23, 2015
http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/vss/docs/space-environment/1-whatis-a-comet.html March 24, 2015
http://theplanets.org/oort-cloud/ March 26, 2015
Picture Bibliography
http://ufodigest.com/article/zombie-comets-0808 March 23, 2015
http://www.space.com/26243-private-team-nasa-spacecraft-engine-restart.html
March 23, 2015
http://someinterestingfacts.net/oort-cloud-definition/ March 23,
2015http://starryskies.com/solar_system/Comet/snowball_origins.html March
30, 2015