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A essay about comets
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Comets
Have you ever looked up in the sky and seen a little ball creeping by?
If so, did you wonder what it was? That little ball is called a comet. Comets
are small, fragile, and irregularly shaped. Most are composed of frozen gas.
However, some are composed of frozen gas and non-volatile grains. They usually
follow very strict paths around the sun. Comets become most visible when they
cross the sun. This also applies to people who view comets with telescopes.
When a comet gets near the sun it becomes very visible because the sun's
radiation starts to sublime its volatile gases, which, in turn, blow away small
bits of the little solid material the comet has.
Another feature of a comet is a long tail. This is caused by materials
breaking off and expanding. They expand into an enormous escaping atmosphere
called the coma. This becomes at least the size of our planet. With the comet
going so fast, these materials are forced behind the comet, forming a long tail
of dust and gas.
Comets are cold bodies. We see them only because the gases they are
composed of glow in the sunlight. All comets are regular family members of the
solar system family. They are bound by gravity to a strict path around the
solar system. Scientists believe that all comets were formed of material,
originally in the outer part of the solar system, which did not become
incorporated into planets. This material is from when the planets just started
forming. This makes comets an extremely interesting topic to scientists who are
studying the history of the solar system.
In comparison to planets, comets are very small. They can be anywhere
from 750 meters (or less) to 20 kilometers in diameter. However, lately,
scientists have been finding proof that there are comets 300 kilometers in
diameter or greater.
Comets are still compared to the planets, though. Planets usually
follow the shape of a sphere. Most planets are fat at the equator. Comets come
in all different shapes and sizes. Most evidence that science has revealed says
that comets are extremely fragile. A comet is so poorly structured that it is
like a loose snowball--it can be pulled apart with one's own bare hands.
Comets have very awkward rotation periods. They are very oblong. When
comets reach their aphelion they are usually near Jupiter or even sometimes
Ne...
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... is expected to reach its closed point to the
sun. At this time it will also be most visible because the sun reflects off the
tail of the comet.
It will come .914 astronomical units from the sun. This is not all
that close to the sun considering the fact that some comets have run into the
sun and others have skimmed the surface of it.
Although the comet will be closest to the sun on April 1, it will be
closest to the earth on March 23, 1997. Some people have been saying that the
comet will hit earth and cause human extinction, just like the dinosaurs. The
fact is, however, THE COMET WILL NOT HIT EARTH. The closest it will come is 120
million miles away from the earth.
Some people are saying that the comet is going to Be huge, and others
say it will be small. We will never know though because we can not see the
nucleus of a comet. The part of the comet we see is the tail. The tail of a
comet can be over 10,000 kilometers long.
In all, comets, the history of comets, and comets waiting to be
discovered is very interesting. I think that one day we will get to see the
nucleus of a comet, and be able to watch comets form in the Oort Cloud.
There are many theories that all the planets and other space rocks in the solar system orbit around the sun and follow the orbiting route due to the sun’s gravitational force keeping them in course. According to Sir Isaac Newton’s first law “An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force. An object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.” This law is often called "the law of inertia". This is why these planets don’t go severely of course due to the consistent gravitational field the sun is providing. The Kuiper belt and the Asteroid belt are where most of the space rocks, also known as asteroids; orbit along and many stay together because they are part of the s...
In the last hundred years we have made enormous progress in studying not our galaxy but ones billions of light-years away. Only a few hundred years ago our world seemed so big that there were areas of the world that had never been charted and people believed that the Earth was flat (and yes for some reason a few people still believe that today). If we continue to make progress at thus rate the universe will actually begin to seem smaller because of how much more we might know.
A comet is a small icy body that travels in an elliptical orbit around the sun. Halley’s Comet, or 1P/Halley, is the most well-known “periodic” comet that orbits the solar system and returns to Earth’s vicinity approximately every seventy-six years. It is one of the only comets that can be seen from Earth that is visible to the naked-eye, and can appear twice in one’s lifetime. The comet’s last visit was in the year 1986, and it is calculated to return mid-2061.
Halley’s Comet or Comet Halley is a comet who orbits earth every 74.5 years! This comet is also the most known comet ever to be documented! Halley is very interesting comet.
would be twice what it is now. Black holes have a power far greater than our minds
First off, there are no asteroids in the solar system that big. We'd have discovered them ages ago; Ceres, the largest asteroid in the main Asteroid Belt, is about 900 kilometers across, and Texas (at its widest point) is about 1,400 kilometers across. Even if we assume the size is an exaggeration, it still doesn't work out. A comet could not simply impact an asteroid and knock it out of orbit.
Europe. In 1577 he proved that the orbit of the comet of 1577 did lay beyond
The sensitive instruments aboard the SOHO spacecraft have already helped scientists here on Earth discover and explain some of the mysteries of the Sun as well as to confirm some of their theories they previously held. For example, in May of 1998 with the help of the Michelson Doppler Interferometer scientists were able to see with greater clarity the giant convective cells inside and on the surface of the Sun.
the buildings. At this point it is hard to determine if the sunlight is actually
Comets and asteroids. They are some of the first celestial bodies that humans observed and truly thought about. From ancient cultures interpreting these near-Earth objects as signs of disaster, to 18th century Europeans studying their paths, to even the extinction of the dinosaurs, comets and asteroids have always been prevalent in the majority of Earth’s history. These objects have intrigued the human race for generations, and continue to do so today. These similar subjects of fascination have many unique and interesting characteristics and a rich history with Earth.
was scary looking at the sky. I walked a few yards and I saw in the
Most big asteroids are ball shaped. Smaller asteroids, which are usually broken off of a larger asteroid, come in a lot of different shapes. All asteroids have craters that form when they bump or crash into other asteroids. The older the asteroid, the more times it has been hit and the more craters it has.
Comets have a predictable orbit. There are one thousand comets that have been charted. Some comets go by the sun once and others, which are called periodic comets, pass the sun repeatedly following a predicable pattern. I have chosen a periodic comet called Tempel-Tuttle. Ernst Wilhelm Liebrecht Tempel and Horace Parnell Tuttle discovered this comet. This comet has been witnessed as early as 1366. The best apparition was that of 1366 when it passed 0.
remember how gigantic it was. I was so afraid of it and there was no way that