Comets

How long is the tail of Halley's comet?

150 mill. km. and 93 mill. mi.

What year did Sir Edmund Halley first see his comet and did he live to see its return?

1682, he did not live to see it at it's predicted time.

What year will we next see Halley's Comet in the Earth's sky??

2062.

How many times since 1758 has Halley's comet appeared?

3 times.

A comet may spend most of its long orbit around the ___.

A comet may spend most of its long orbit around the sun.

What is the center of a comet called?

A nucleus.

What is a comet?

A small member of out solar system that is made of frozen ice, dust, rock, dust, and gasses.

An astronomer once described a comet as a dirty snowball. Its tiny nucleus measuring less than 10 mi in diameter, is made of _____ and ____ cemented together by frozen ______. Comets travel in long elliptical _____ that take them from the outer most regions of the solar system toward the ___. As the comet approaches the sun, the solar wind pushes on the ____ to form a long, thin ____ that is millions of miles long and glows in the sunlight.

An astronomer once described a comet as a dirty snowball. Its tiny nucleus measuring less than 10 mi in diameter, is made of rocks and dust cemented together by frozen gasses. Comets travel in long elliptical orbits that take them from the outer most regions of the solar system toward the sun. As the comet approaches the sun, the solar wind pushes on the coma to form a long, thin tail that is millions of miles long and glows in the sunlight.

Comets are described as what and why?

Comets are described as dirty snow balls because their nucleus contains frozen water and bits of rock

Comets formed ________ of years ago when the solar system was young.

Comets formed billions of years ago when the solar system was young.

What are short period comets?

Comets from the Kuiper Belt that either go straight into the sun or take 200 or less years to orbit the sun.

What are long period comets?

Comets from the Oort cloud that can take thousands of years to orbit the sun.

Comets get _______ each time they complete a solar trip.

Comets get smaller each time they complete a solar trip.

What are differences of a planet and comet?

Comets have tails and are made out of not just left over sun particles, but also planets themselves.

Comets orbit the sun in long ________.

Comets orbit the sun in long ellipses.

What is the nucleus of a comet partly made of?

Dust.

What is Halley's first name?

Edmund.

For most of their trip around the sun, comet are _________.

For most of their trip around the sun, comet are invisible.

What are comets made of?

Frozen water, dry ice, gasses, metals and dust.

________ comet orbits the sun every 75-76 years.

Halley's comet orbits the sun every 75-76 years.

Ice and dust ________ as the comet comes near the sun.

Ice and dust vaporize as the comet comes near the sun.

What might happen if a comet passed to closely to Earth?

It could crash in to the Earth because of its gravitational pull.

Why is Halley's comet called this?

It is called this to honor Sir Edmund Halley for first accurately predicting it's orbital course.

What puts comets into motion?

Nearby stars.

Does a comet always travel at the same speed?

No, as it is farther away from the sun it travels 2,000 mph and as it nears the sun its speed increases to 100,000 mph because it is pulled by the sun's gravity.

Describe the tails of comets.

Not all comets have tails, but the ones that do are made up of one or more tails that make up one big tail. There are three different kinds of tails, sodium tail, dust tail, and dust tail (which is usually on the outside). Tails are usually up to 100 million miles long and glow in the sunlight that is pushed by the solar wind, causing it to change position as the comet orbits the sun, as the comet leaves orbit, the tail is in front because it will always point away from the sun. It is made of gas and dust.

What are the three parts of a comet?

Nucleus, coma, and tail.

What helped Sir Edmund Halley predict the next appearance of the comet?

Research of records of comet history from 1531 and 1607, with this he concluded that because they all seemed to have the same orbital path, they were all the same comet.

Small pieces of an old comet's nucleus combine with other particles in space to form ___________.

Small pieces of an old comet's nucleus combine with other particles in space to form meteoroids.

________ and the solar wind push the gas and dust to form a tail on a comet.

Sunlight and the solar wind push the gas and dust to form a tail on a comet

The ____ _____ is a moving mass of icy cosmic debris from which comets are thought to originate.

The Oort cloud is a moving mass of icy cosmic debris from which comets are thought to originate.

The ____ is a cloud of gas that surrounds the nucleus.

The coma is a cloud of gas that surrounds the nucleus.

The coma is a cloud of ______.

The coma is a cloud of gases.

What is the head of the comet called?

The coma.

The comet's _______ is made of frozen water, gas, and dust that appears as a streak of light.

The comet's tail is made of frozen water, gas, and dust that appears as a streak of light.

The gasses and dust _________ of a comet form a long filmy tail.

The gasses and dust particles of a comet form a long filmy tail.

The ___ of a comet is a cloud of gas and dust that appears as a streak of light.

The tail of a comet is a cloud of gas and dust that appears as a streak of light.

The three parts of a comet are the nucleus, ____, and the ____.

The three parts of a comet are the nucleus, coma, and the tail.

What are the similarities of a planet and comet?

They both orbit the sun and are round.

Why are people excited about seeing Halley's comet?

This is because it is a once in a life time experience.

Why does the tail always point away from the Sun?

This is because of the Sun's solar winds.

What does it mean to uncover or find something new?

To discover.