0
What is a small icy body usually with an elliptical orbit and a tail when near to the sun?
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
The tail is not of light itself, but consists of icy particles (mostly gas) reflecting light from the sun. Such objects are known as comets.
Comets that originate from the Kuiper Belt, a ring of dirty ice balls in orbit out beyond Neptune, are short period comets. They orbit the sun once a century or so, until all the ice and gas burn off and they probably become asteroids. Comets from much further out (the Oort Cloud) generally do not orbit in the plane of the solar system, and are usually long period comets. These orbit only once every few thousand years, sometimes only once per hundred thousand years or more.
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
Wiki User
∙ 8y agoWiki User
∙ 16y agoComets do as the sun melts some of the ice they contain.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoIce Kitties in Space! No? How about comets?
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoyou mean comets?
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoThat is a comet.
Sarah Richter
Sarah Richter
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoA Comet, and the tail is it's coma.
Wiki User
∙ 10y agoComets.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoA comet
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoComets.
Add your answer:
Earn +20 pts
Is it true that Pluto is the only body in the solar systemwith an elliptical orbit?
No. The truth is the exact opposite. Every object in a closed orbit around the sun ...every planet, asteroid, periodic comet, etc. ... has an elliptical orbit.
Are comets in circular or elliptical orbits?
Comets do indeed have orbits. Sometimes the orbits take thousands of years. For the most part, they stay in these orbits unless affected by the gravity of another body.
Where do most of the known asteroids have elliptical orbits?
Yes, just like all celestial body with a closed orbit. If you want to be specific, the orbit of the moon is spiral, since it is moving away from us at a pace of 3 cm per year.
What is the pathway of a celestial body around the star?
The orbit is elliptical, and in simple cases, the centre of the two bodies' mass is at one of the foci of the ellipse.
Do comets have highly elliptical orbits around the sun?
Virtually NOTHING in space is in a circular orbit; every body out there is in an elliptical orbit. Some are CLOSE to circular, but I don't believe than any are quite exact. Comets especially are in VERY elliptical orbits. If their orbits were even nearly circular, their ices and volatile gasses would have been evaporated long ago.
What small body that follows a highly elliptical orbit around the sun?
Comet
Is Pluto the only body in the solar system with an elliptical orbit?
No, everything in orbit around the sun has an elliptical orbit, some are just closer to being in a circular orbit than others.
A satellite in an elliptical orbit gains speed when it?
A satellite in an elliptical orbit gains speed as it draws closer to the central body and loses speed as it moves farther away from the central body.
Is it true that Pluto is the only body in the solar systemwith an elliptical orbit?
No. The truth is the exact opposite. Every object in a closed orbit around the sun ...every planet, asteroid, periodic comet, etc. ... has an elliptical orbit.
How do you define an orbit in astronomy?
An orbit is the circular or elliptical motion of one smaller body around another larger body due to gravitational attraction.
What is the difference between a planet and a meteorite?
A planet is a spherical body that has an elliptical orbit around a certain mass, while a meteorite is a small chunk of rock that is hurtling through space with no orbit towards any mass.
What shape is its orbit?
You didn't specify which astronomical body you're referring to, but nearly all orbits are elliptical.
Are comets in circular or elliptical orbits?
Comets do indeed have orbits. Sometimes the orbits take thousands of years. For the most part, they stay in these orbits unless affected by the gravity of another body.
What is an apoapsis?
An apoapsis is the point of a body's elliptical orbit around the system's centre of mass where the distance between the body and the centre of mass is at its maximum.
Where do most of the known asteroids have elliptical orbits?
Yes, just like all celestial body with a closed orbit. If you want to be specific, the orbit of the moon is spiral, since it is moving away from us at a pace of 3 cm per year.
What is an apocentre?
An apocentre is another name for an apoapsis, the point of a body's elliptical orbit around its system's centre of mass where the distance between the body and the centre of mass is at its maximum.
Where is the primary body in the elliptical orbit of the maverick weather satellite?
The primary body, earth, is at the foci point closest to the pedigree. At the pedigree the radius is shorter than it is at the apogee.
