answersLogoWhite

0

Any size is possible, though most of them are "small", at least compared to things like planets. Halley's Comet, for example, is about 15x8x8 km, which is quite large on a human scale ... most mountains aren't that big ... but still small compared to Earth itself or even the Moon.

User Avatar

Wiki User

10y ago

What else can I help you with?

Continue Learning about Movies & Television

What state of matter is comets?

The nucleus of a comet is mostly solid, while the coma and tail of the comet is composed of gasses and (we believe) a lot of dust. As the comet approaches the Sun, sunlight heats the nucleus of the comet and melts some of the frozen gasses, which sublimate into space carrying dust into space, forming the coma and the tail of the comet.


A cleanser with the name to a celestial body with a nucleus and a long tail?

Comet


Why do comets have long trails?

Comets have been compared to "dirty snowballs", made of rocks and dust held together with frozen gasses. When a comet starts to come near the Sun, the sunlight begins to heat it up, vaporizing some of the frozen gasses. The dust in the ice is carried away with the vapor, and the light pressure from the Sun pushes the very light dust and vapor away from the comet's nucleus. The light illuminates the dusty vapor, and we see the comet's tail begin to grow as the comet comes closer to the Sun.The length of the tail is dependent on the nature of the frozen gasses, and on how much dust the tail carries away, and on how close the comet comes to the Sun. Some comets don't come especially close to the Sun, while some come VERY close. And some comets fall into the Sun completely. (The size of any comet is so tiny compared to the size of the Sun that a comet-Sun collision has no effect on the Sun at all. It would have less impact than the force of a mosquito hitting the windshield of a train.)


Which part of the comet exists when the comet is close to the sun and also when it is far from the sun?

The nucleus is the bulk of the comet, this is present all the time until it eventually breaks up after many orbits. close to the sun, it gives of two tails as the sun heats the comets surface. Far from the sun it would just look like a rock that also contains a high proportion of ice.


What part of the sun shapes the comet into a shimmering tail?

Basically the evaporated gas of whatever the comet nucleus is made of. Often methane, ammonia, carbon mon- and di-oxide. A very good article is in the link below. However, due to relative motion and a few other forces, the tail is not all that straight.

Related Questions

What is the dense section of the head of a comet?

The dense section of a comet's head is called the nucleus. It is composed of ice, rock, and dust, typically ranging in size from a few hundred meters to tens of kilometers. The nucleus is the solid core of the comet from which gas and dust are released to form the comet's coma and tail when it gets closer to the Sun.


What is the nucleus of a comet primarily made of?

The nucleus of a comet is primarily made of ice and dust .


Is the nucleus of a comet made of ice?

Yes a nucleus of a comet is made of ice because a comet nuclei are loose collections of ice, we need to break down the three main parts of a comet a nucleus, coma, and the tail.


Which part of a comet is solid?

The nucleus is the solid part of a comet.


WHAT IS COMA FROM COMET?

Its the nebulous shock around the nucleus of the comet. Basically its the head of the comet.


What is a nucleus of a comet?

The nucleus of a comet is the solid, icy core of the comet. It is composed of a mixture of ice, rock, dust, and organic compounds. As a comet gets closer to the Sun, the heat causes the nucleus to release gas and dust, forming the characteristic coma and tail of the comet.


What has the solid center portion of a comet?

The center of a comet is called its nucleus.


What is Halley's comet's nucleus?

Halley's comet's nucleus is the solid, icy core at the center of the comet. It is composed of frozen gases, dust, and rocky material, and is typically several kilometers in diameter. The nucleus is what forms the heart of the comet and serves as the source of the comet's activity when it approaches the Sun.


Where do the 3 main parts of a comet go?

The three main parts of a comet are the Nucleus, the Coma, and the Tail. The nucleus is the comet itself. In deep space, the comet is frozen solid and almost invisible. As the comet approaches the sun, the Sun's light heats the nucleus of the comet and causes frozen gasses to melt or sublimate, forming a sort of atmosphere around the comet. This is the "Coma" of the comet. The sunlight causes the gasses around the comet to glow. But the gravity of the comet's nucleus isn't strong enough to hold on to an atmosphere, and the Sun's rays push the glowing gasses away from the nucleus, directly away from the Sun. This stream of glowing gas is the "tail" of the comet. It's important to note that the tail of a comet doesn't drag behind the nucleus; the "tail" goes straight from the nucleus away from the Sun, so the "tail" sometimes extends AHEAD of the comet. Because the material of the comet nucleus gets melted and loses mass every pass by the Sun, comets have a limited lifespan. At some point, each comet will break apart into pieces and disappear, leaving only a meteor shower in its wake.


Where is Halley's comet's nucleus?

in the universe


What is the center of the comet called?

A Nucleus


What is a heart of a comet?

nucleus lol