Astronomy › Section J · Small bodies and the origin of the solar system › Topic J.2
Comets
A comet is a small, dark lump of ice and dust that spends most of its life frozen far from the Sun. When it swings close, the ice turns to gas and the comet grows a glowing head and tails millions of kilometres long.
In this topic
- Hairy stars
- Halley and comet orbits
- Short-period and long-period comets
- Worked example: Halley's orbit
- The nucleus: a dirty snowball
- Coma and tails
- Visiting comets
- Worked example: how dense is a comet?
- What comets are made of
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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