COMETS
Comets are composed of rock, dust, and ices. They are the frozen leftovers coming from the solar system formation which range from few miles to tens of miles wide. A tail that stretches millions of miles is formed as the comets orbit closer to the sun which causes them to heat up and spew gases and dust into a glowing head that can be larger than a planet.
However, when a comet is frozen, they are as small as the size of the small town. These cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, dust and rock that orbit the Sun in the Kuiper belt are billions in numbers and even more distant Oort Cloud.
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The current number of known comets is 3,691.
Composition of a Comet
01
Nucleus: typically solid and mostly made of gases and ice with traces of dust and other solid materials such as rock. The nucleus is the "core" of the comet. Just think of it as a hunk of rock surrounded by frozen gases and water.
02
Coma: a thick cloud comprised of water, carbon dioxide and other gases emitted by the nucleus that surrounds the nucleus. This is the first cloud layer of the comet that is not typically seen except during the first stages of the comets approach towards the sun. Basically, this is the "fog" of the comet.
03
Hydrogen Cloud: a huge cloud that surrounds the comet which typically hides the interior of the comet. This is typically what you see when viewing a comet from Earth and is what makes the comet visible.
04
Dust Tail: mostly tiny particles of dust that trail behind the comet. This is the "tail" of the comet when viewed. The tail can stretch for miles behind the comet and can contain bits of rocks and ice along with the dust particles.
05
Ion Tail: mostly plasma laced with rays and streamers when interacting with solar winds, this part of the comet is not normally seen by the naked eye. A comparison to better understand the ion tail would be the "wake" of air left when a large object such as a car is in motion.
