fact on commets in 80 words
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Key Facts & Summary
Comets, unlike other small bodies in the Solar System, have been known since antiquity.
Ancient Chinese astronomers kept extensive records and illustrations about comets that have helped even modern astronomers in their studies and observations.
The word “comet” comes from the Greek word “Kometes” which means long hair. This is because of how a comet’s tail can look like long flowing locks of hair.
Come, just like asteroids, are leftovers from the formation of the Solar System. Scientists believe that these small bodies hold many clues as to how our Solar System came to be.
Millions of comets orbit the Sun. They come from the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud.
These comet reservoirs are way out in the Solar System, very far away from the Sun. The Oort Cloud, for example, hasn’t even been directly observed even to this day.
A comet spends most of its life either in the Kuiper Belt or the Oort Cloud. Sometimes, comets can crash into one another and this changes their direction, throwing them out towards the inner solar system.
When a comet approaches the inner planets, it is warmed by the Sun. It begins to melt and throws out dust and gas. This creates a head and a tail. The tail always points away from the Sun.
Sometimes, planets can travel through a comet's tail. When this happens, meteor showers occur on the respective planet.
Many meteor showers on Earth are caused by comets, such as the Quadrantids, Lyrids, Perseids, Orionids, Leonids, or Geminids meteor showers
Explanation:
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Comets are icy bodies in space that release gas or dust. They are often compared to dirty snowballs, though recent research has led some scientists to call them snowy dirtballs. Comets contain dust, ice, carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane and more. Astronomers think comets are leftovers from the material that initially formed the solar system about 4.6 billion years ago.
Some researchers think comets might have originally brought some of the water and organic molecules to Earth that now make up life here. To research this hypothesis, the Rosetta mission, which landed a probe on a comet on Nov. 12, 2014, is studying its nucleus and environment, observing how it changes as it approaches the sun.
Comets orbit the sun, but most are believed to inhabit in an area known as the Oort Cloud, far beyond the orbit of Pluto. Occasionally a comet streaks through the inner solar system; some do so regularly, some only once every few centuries. Many people have never seen a comet, but those who have won't easily forget the celestial show.