Download Comets

Comets
10/9/13
-Parts of a comet:
1. nucleus- solid frozen portion of the comet; made
of frozen gases, frozen water, and dust
2. coma- cloud of gas and dust expanding outward
from nucleus; caused by solar wind and pressure
of the Sun’s radiation
3. tail- extension of coma caused by solar wind;
made of evaporated water vapor and dust
-Where do comets come from:
1. Oort Cloud
2. Kuiper Belt
-comets orbit the Sun on a path just as planets orbit
the Sun
-when a comet is on its orbit near the far end of the
solar system, the comet is frozen solid
-when a comet is moving towards the Sun, the heat of
the Sun begins to evaporate the nucleus forming the
coma and tail
-when the comet is moving away from the Sun, the
coma and tail freeze again
-as the comet orbits the Sun, the tail is always facing
away from the Sun; sometimes the nucleus leads first
and sometimes the tail leads first
-Nicknames:
 dirty snowball
 hairy star
 star with a beard