• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Universe / What Is a Comet?

What Is a Comet?

April 23, 2020 by Karen Hill

A comet looks to us like a bright, fuzzy dot in the sky, followed by a long, shiny tail. Although we do not see comets very often, there are about 2 million of them in our solar system. They travel at speeds ranging from 700 miles per hour in outer space to speeds of 1,250,000 miles per hour near the sun.

For many years, scientists thought that a comet was made up of tiny bits of solid matter that stayed together as a result of gravity. Today, however, that theory has changed. A comet is now believed to be made up of frozen gases and frozen water mixed with particles of dust and larger pieces of metals and rock.

A comet has two distinct parts that are visible, either with the naked eye or a telescope. Those two parts are the head and the tail. The head of a comet has a definite center, or nucleus, which is relatively small (less than 10 miles wide). Surrounding the nucleus is a fuzzy cloud, called the coma. The coma can measure up to 1,000,000 miles across!

Comas are believed to form when the frozen water and frozen gases of the nucleus evaporate as the comet travels near the sun. At the same time, gases and dust particles are pushed away from the coma to form the tail.

The best-known comet is Halley’s Comet, which is seen by people on earth as it travels in its orbit around the sun every 76-79 years. It was last seen in 1910 and should be visible again about 1986.

The most recent comet seen by man on earth was Comet Kohoutek in 1973. Not only was Kohoutek studied by astronomers on the ground, but it was also studied and photographed by astronauts orbiting in the Skylab space station.

The tail of a comet can extend 100,000,000 miles across space!

Related Facts

  • Why Is a Comet's Tail Sometimes In Front of the Comet and How Big Was the Great Comet of 1811?
  • What Is a Comet Made of, Why Do Comets Have Irregular Shapes, and What Does the Word Comet Mean In Latin?
  • What Happens If Earth Passes Through a Comet's Tail and What Were The Superstitions Surrounding Halley's Comet?
  • Which Space Probes Were Sent To Observe Halley's Comet and Why Was Giotto Knocked Out of the Comet's Path?
  • What Are the Physical Characteristics of a Comet and What Happens To Comets As They Approach the Sun?
  • What Are the Chances of a Comet Colliding With Earth and Are Comets Likely To Collide With Other Planets?

Filed Under: Universe

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « How Do We Measure the Distance Between Stars?
Next Post: What Is Nature’s Colored Light Show? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2021 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy