From the sea – To date, there are 3,743 known comets. In fact, there may be billions of comets orbiting the Sun.
Comets are remnants of the formation of the solar system consisting of dust, rock and ice. Comets range in size from a few miles to tens of miles in width.
But, as Solarsystem.nasa.gov writes, as it orbits closer to the Sun, the comet will heat up and spit out glowing gas and dust.
This material forms a tail that spans millions of miles.
Comets are cosmic snowballs of frozen gas, rock, and dust that orbit the Sun. When frozen, the comet is the size of a small town.
When the comet’s orbit brings it close to the Sun, it heats up and spews out giant glowing dust and gas that is larger than most planets.
The dust and gas form a tail that extends from the Sun for millions of miles. There are likely billions of comets orbiting our Sun in the Kuiper Belt and even the more distant Oort Cloud.
Comets orbit the Sun like planets and asteroids. Comets usually have very long orbits.
As the comet gets closer to the Sun, some of the ice begins to melt and boil, along with the dust particles. These particles and gases create a cloud around the nucleus, which is called a coma.
The coma is illuminated by the Sun. The sun’s rays also push this material into the comet’s beautiful, brightly lit tail.
As an example Komet Halley which orbits once every 76 years when viewed from Earth and Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle every 133 years.
There are many more comets orbiting Earth. Like Comet Neowise atau C/2020 F3.
This comet was seen closest to Earth on Thursday, July 23, 2020. The comet’s closest point to Earth is at a distance of 103.5 million km.
It will take another 6800 years for Comet Neowise to reunite near Earth’s orbit.
Meanwhile, on July 3, 2020 at 23.20.06 WIB, Comet Neowise is at its closest point to the Sun with a distance of 44.1 million km.
According to the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN), this comet was first discovered on March 27, 2020 through a space telescope Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE).
Neowise includes comets with retrograde orbits with nearly parabolic orbits.
Source: Solarsystem.nasa.gov and Eight
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