Comets

Comets are seen as bright, icy bodies that orbit the Sun. When they get closer to the Sun, they release gas and dust in a glowing coma and often develop a tail that points away from the Sun due to solar wind.

Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) is expected to be visible in North America starting in December 2021. It may be visible to the naked eye, especially in darker skies away from city lights.

The tail of a comet is made up of dust and gas. The dust tail is composed of particles that reflect sunlight, while the gas tail is made up of ionized gas that is pushed away from the comet by the solar wind.

A comet's tail is long and glowing because it contains gases, dust, and debris that are illuminated by the Sun as the comet travels through space. The tail always points away from the Sun due to the solar wind pushing the materials in the tail.

Comet Hale-Bopp, which passed close to Earth in 1997, was discovered independently by astronomers Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp in July 1995. The comet was unusually bright and became one of the most widely observed comets of the 20th century.

No. The tail of a comet is just dust and vapor blown away from the comet by the solar wind. It is visible only because it reflects the Sun's light. The closer the comet is to the Sun, the more vapor and dust will be released, and the longer the comet's tail will be.

It also depends on our viewing angle to the comet is. If the comet's tail is perpendicular to our line of sight, the comet tail will appear longer. If the comet's tail is pointed toward Earth or away from it, then the tail may appear very short or may not be visible at all.

Halley's Comet last passed through the inner solar system in 1986 and will not return until 2061. It is a periodic comet with a known orbit that brings it back to Earth's vicinity approximately every 76 years.

Yes, if a meteor reaches the ground and is large enough, it can cause damage and injury to people and property. However, the chances of being hit by a meteor are extremely low. Most meteors burn up in Earth's atmosphere before reaching the ground.

There is no possible way of smelling a comet without either a) it crashing to earth and it killing everyone or b) you landing on a comet in your lifetime to "sniff" it. so the answer is unknown because no one ever smelled a comet

Yes, comets are believed to be made of leftover material from the early solar system, including ice, gas, dust, and rock. They are considered to be remnants from the formation of the sun and planets billions of years ago.

No. The comet Eva is a fictitious comet depicted in the TV series H2O: Just Add Water.

No, a comet is not a living thing. It is a celestial object made up of ice, dust, and rock that orbits the sun. It does not have the biological processes required for life.

Beginning about 1950, the accepted astronomers definition of a comet was a "dirty snowball". That's still not bad, but more recent research has revealed that comets have many more solids and "tholins" (very basic organic compounds) than previously thought. Hence, the "improved" definition of a comet today is a "snowy dirtball".

If a baby has ingested comet cleaner, seek immediate medical attention. Call poison control for guidance and keep the product container for reference. Do not induce vomiting unless advised by a healthcare professional.

A comets orbit is highly eccentric, spending most of its time far out on the edge of the solar system and occasionally coming in closer to the sun. Planets orbits are more regular, closer to a circular orbit.

A comets orbit also crosses the paths of planets, while each of the eight planets have their own orbit and don't cross paths.

A comet does not usually orbit the sun on the same plane as the planets. Each of the planets orbits the sun more or less on the same plane.

Due to the varying distance from the sun, the orbital speed of a comet varies greatly. Closer to the sun it travels quickly, far out on the edge of the solar system it will move much more slowly.

Asteroids vary a lot from one to another - basically, objects less than 10 meters across are called meteorites, larger objects are called asteroids. But they may also be much larger - up to thousands of kilometers in diameter. Similarly, they may have large differences in other aspects.If the asteroid is large (several hundred or thousand kilometers across), you can expect it to have a layered structures - i.e., it would also have a nucleus.

Comets do not catch fire at all, since comets are generally regarded as "dirty snowballs" in space. Their light is caused by the interaction of water vapour and dust particles with the solar wind and no combustion is taking place.

Comets such as this are in long drawn out eccentric orbits around the sun. It is likely that this comet was once in a slow distant orbit around the sun, on the edge of our solar system around the orbit distance of Pluto, or further. It may then have been knocked into it's current orbit through a collision with another object.

A falling star is a meteor. A meteorite is a meteor that has hit the ground.

After many trips around the Sun, the ice in the comet's nucleus has completely vaporized and all that is left is the dust and rock, which are spread throughout the orbit of the original comet.

Shoemaker-Levy 9 was named after the team of scientists who discovered it: Eugene Shoemaker, Carolyn Shoemaker, and David Levy. The "9" refers to the fact that it was the ninth periodic comet discovered by the team.

There would be a huge collision, upsetting the surface and atmosphere of the planet. Since the mass of the comet would be many times smaller than the planet, the planets orbit would not be significantly effected.

In the UK it is illegal to dock a dog's tail unless it will be used for work - and even then the dog will not be allowed in show rings. Some breeders dock puppies in other countries and send them to the UK, but the dog's are still barred from shows.

Particles around a comet usually include dust and gas that are released as the comet approaches the sun. These particles form a glowing cloud called a coma which envelops the nucleus of the comet. As the comet gets closer to the sun, the solar wind pushes on the particles in the coma, creating the tail that points away from the sun.