Comets

Comets do not have days or years like planets or moons. Instead, they follow highly elliptical paths around the Sun, with varying speeds depending on their distance from the Sun. Their orbits can range from several years to thousands of years to complete one revolution around the Sun.

Both comets and Earth are celestial bodies located in our solar system. Comets are composed of ice, dust, and rocky material, similar to the materials present on Earth. Additionally, both comets and Earth experience gravitational forces from the sun that affect their orbits and movements.

Comet West was discovered on August 10, 1975 by Richard M. West using a 15-cm Schmidt telescope at the European Southern Observatory in Chile. It was the brightest comet in the sky for several weeks, reaching a peak brightness around March 1976.

A space object formed from dust and rock particles mixed with frozen water, methane, and ammonia that forms a bright coma as it approaches the sun is a comet.

We're not even certain that OUR star has an Oort cloud. The hypothetical Oort Cloud is too far away, and is composed of bodies generally too small, for us to be able to detect anything there even with our most sensitive telescopes.

However, this is one of those things that we cannot yet prove, but which sounds reasonable; that there is probably some left-over material around the solar system that never quite fell close enough to the planetary nebula to be included in the formation of the various planets. That some of this material, influenced by some gravitational force over eons, continues to fall in toward the Sun and the inner regions of our solar system.

So, while we have to say, "We don't know for sure", the answer is "Probably, yes."

Yes, there are many comets other than Halley's comet. Comets are icy bodies that orbit the Sun and often have elongated orbits that bring them close to the Sun. Some well-known comets include Hale-Bopp, Comet NEOWISE, and Comet Lovejoy.

A comet travels in a long cigar-shaped path around the sun. Comets are icy bodies that release gas and dust as they approach the sun, creating a glowing coma and tail. These objects have highly elliptical orbits that can take them far out into the solar system before swinging back close to the sun.

Halley's Comet was last seen in 1986 and won't be visible again until 2061.

From Wikipedia: "Halley's Comet ... is visible from Earth every 75 to 76 years. ... Halley's Comet last appeared in the inner Solar System in 1986 and will next appear in mid-2061."

You will be able to see other comets, though.

It accelerates towards the star. This is due to the increased force of gravity which is inversely proportional to the square of distance between the masses; as they get closer, gravity pulls harder. An increased force means a greater acceleration due to gravity.

While we are certain that a large comet or asteroid certainly WILL hit the Earth, we have no good candidates in mind. It will probably take us by surprise.

A few years ago, astronomers identified a large asteroid that appeared to be headed right for us! It was going to hit the Earth in 2029! On Friday the 13th!

Ooops! Never mind...... Tuned out that with more accurate observations of the asteroid's orbit, it probably won't hit at all. Might not even come close enough to see.

But scientists are coming to recognize that while a major asteroid strike is a VERY unlikely event, if it DOES happen, it would ruin everybody's day. So astronomers have started watching for Near Earth Objects, and hope to identify and catalog every asteroid bigger than a basketball to make sure that it does NOT hit earth.

At least, not any time soon.

One comet myth is the belief that comets were seen as omens of great events, such as wars or natural disasters, in various ancient cultures.

simple and easy a comet a comet has a solid center nucleus that contains rock particles trapped in frozen liqud

this forms the tail: as it moves closer to the sun the "outer ice" turns to gas and the solid particles (pieces) turn to dust

The stage that comes first in the life cycle of a high-mass star is the main sequence stage. During this stage, the star fuses hydrogen into helium in its core, maintaining a balance between radiation pressure and gravity.

Locating a moon colony near ice deposits from impacting comets would provide a nearby water source that could be used for drinking, growing food, and producing oxygen for life support. It would reduce the need to transport water from Earth or extract it from other sources on the moon.

Scientists use telescopes, including ground-based and space-based ones like Hubble, to study asteroids and comets. Spacecraft missions, such as NASA's OSIRIS-REx and ESA's Rosetta, are also used to perform close-up studies and sample collection from these celestial bodies. Spectroscopy, radar imaging, and infrared observations are common techniques used to analyze their composition and characteristics.

Technically, once a meteor reachest the surface, it is no longer a mateor but a meteorite. In very large impacts, the impacting object can be vaporized by the heat generate. Smaller objects may be shattered by the force of impact or buried as the side of the crater collapse. Additionaly, to the untrained eye, a meteorite can be hard to distinguish from an ordinary rock.

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.

The frozen portion of a comet consists mainly of ice, including water ice, carbon dioxide ice (dry ice), and various other frozen gases and compounds. This frozen portion makes up the nucleus of the comet, which is surrounded by a cloud of gas and dust when the comet is active.

Comet Hale-Bopp is known as The Great Comet of 1997. It was one of the brightest and most widely observed comets of the 20th century. People around the world could see it with the naked eye for over 18 months.

Halley's Comet appears roughly every 76 years. It was last visible from Earth in 1986 and is projected to next be visible in 2061. The comet can be seen from various locations on Earth, depending on its orbit and visibility during its return.

Yes. Comets do not enter the atmosphere of the earth (we hope!). What you see is gasses that are released from the comet, illuminated by the sun. However, a meteor (shooting star) is visible only due to the atmosphere heating the meteor.

Halley's comet was last seen in the year 1986. It is seen after every 75 to 76 years, having a relatively stable period affected by Jupiter and Saturn. It can be observed for three or four months before, and several months after its closest approach to the Sun.

It will next be visible to the naked eye in July 2061.

In order of their distance from the sun, the rocky planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.