A Brief Introduction to Comets
Subject: General Science
Comets are small celestial objects that orbit the Sun. They are composed of a nucleus center and
may have a tail. They orbit the Sun in extremely elliptical orbits at long intervals. They orbit the
Earth according to a cyclical pattern.
The central nucleus of comets is called the coma. The coma is made up of rock, dust, and ice.
The ice melts as the comet approaches the Sun. This creates lots of dust and debris. The solar
wind pushes dust and debris towards the comet tail as the sun's pressure increases. The comet's
tail is illuminated by the sun and can be viewed from Earth.
Comets appeared out of nowhere before the invention of telescopes. They seemed to suddenly
illuminate themselves, much like the recently discovered comet, Comet Holmes. In just a few
days, Comet Holmes experienced a flareup that made it visible to the naked eye on Earth. It was
previously only visible through a telescope.
Scientists can now see comets in a way that is not possible on Earth. Some comets might only be
visible once in a few hundred years due to the cyclical nature comets. An amateur can always
find a comet by using a telescope, just like the Hale-Bopp Comet was discovered in 1996.
The Oort Cloud is believed to be the origin of comets. The Oort Cloud, which is approximately 3
light-years in size, is located in the farthest reaches our solar system. The Oort Cloud is where
