SPACE — Comets are one of the most difficult to predict visiting objects in the Solar System. The presence of a comet can be an extraordinary sight in the sky.
What is a comet? Reporting from BBC Night at Sky Magazine, In simple terms, comets are large objects filled with ice and dust that orbit the Sun. Sometimes, comets appear as bright objects in the sky with long tails following them.
As ‘wanderers’ of the Solar System, comets can be one of the most spectacular astronomical sights when they appear in our skies. Comets never fail to capture the imagination when they pass by Earth.
After years of observations, astronomers managed to uncover the hidden secrets of comets.
Comets have nuclei containing ice mixed with rock and dust. Comet nuclei can be several kilometers wide. Although sometimes referred to as ‘dirty snowballs,’ the ice found on comets is much more exotic than ice on Earth.
When the Rosetta spacecraft reached comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014, it performed the first in-situ analysis of a comet’s nucleus.
From those observations, Rosetta found not only water ice, but also carbon dioxide and monoxide, as well as traces of ammonia, methane and methanol.
These highly volatile compounds are usually found as gas or liquid on Earth. However, because of the coldness of space, these substances are found in the form of ice which is as hard as stone.
Orbit Comet
Comets travel in large elliptical orbits. Comets occasionally visit the inner Solar System before traveling billions of kilometers to the outer regions of the Solar System.
Some comets, such as Halley’s Comet, have orbits that last only a few years or decades. This comet is a short period comet.
Long-period comets travel further into deep space. This type of comet takes thousands of years to complete one orbit.
What Happens When a Comet Approaches the Sun?
For most of a comet’s orbit, the comet’s nucleus remains as an icy lump. However, the comet’s nucleus changes as the comet approaches perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun.
2024-01-06 23:30:00
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