Comets

Comets are small

and irregularly
shaped bodies
composed of a
mixture of non-
volatile grain and
frozen gases.
 Shape of comet
When we see a comet in
the sky ,we notice that
it has a bright head and
a glowing tail following
it as it shoots across the
sky. It’s odd shaped
since such small objects
will not be spherical
shaped.
Most famous comet
Halley’s comet last
visited the inner solar
system in 1986 . It is
named after Edmond
Halley who first
calculated it’s orbit.
 Spacecraft on a comet
Rosetta’s Philae Lander
successfully made the
first soft landing on a
comet nucleus when it
touched down on Comet
Churyumov -
Gerasimenko on 12
November 2014 .
 Speed of a comet
When comets are far from the
sun , they travel at about 2,000
miles per hour . However , as
they begin to get closer to the
giant star (SUN) , their speed
increases . Hence , closer to
the sun a comet may travel at
over 100,000 miles per hour .
 Importance of a comet
Comets are important to
scientists because they are
primitive bodies left over
from the formation of the
solar system . They were
among the first solid bodies
to form in the solar nebula ,
the collapsing interstellar
cloud of dust and gas out of
which the sun and planets
formed .
 Lifespan of comet
For instance, old earth
creationist Hugh Ross
claims that the lifespan
of Halley’s Comet
approximately 10,000
years, whereas others
comets have given an
average lifespan of 2000
years . (Ross 2004;202)
 Gravity on a comet
Comets aren’t terribly big –
67p is roughly four
kilometers across . It has a
mass considerably less than a
typical rocky mountain . This
makes the force of gravity on
the comet pretty weak ,
barely enough to hold it
together .
 Facts about comets
 Although comet looks
quite bright ,they reflect only
4% of the light they receive.
The rest is absorbed.
 Comets are also called as
dirty snowballs because they
are hugely composed of dust
and are extremely cold.
 More facts
Comets orbit the sun in
elliptical paths – just like
planets .
Comets can shed bits of
rock that fall to earth as
meteor showers .
Over 3,000 comets are
known to exist in our solar
system at this time .