Howstuffworks "How Comets Work"

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How Comets Work

by Craig C. Freudenrich, Ph.D.

Comets have fascinated mankind since humans first noticed the distinctive tail streaking across the
night sky. We mark the date that we saw a comet that comes around only once a century or even
once in four centuries and we remember the sight for the rest of our lives. Astronomers find comets
fascinating, too. Comets are remarkable pieces of our universe's past, and they tell us a great deal
about how the universe was formed.

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Photo courtesy of NASA

Comet Kohoutek appears in this image taken by members of the
lunar and planetary laboratory photographic team from the
University of Arizona at the Catalina Observatory on January 11,
1974.

Almost every year, we are visited by comets from the outer reaches our solar system. Most recently,
comet LINEAR rounded the sun and broke apart. In this edition of How Stuff Works, we will examine
the fascinating world of comets. We will find out what comets are, what they are made of, where they
come from and how to observe them. You can learn where to look for comets and maybe even
discover one yourself!

What is a Comet?
Comets are small members of the solar system, usually a Astronomical Unit
few miles or kilometers in diameter. They have been The astronomical unit (AU) is a basic unit
described as "dirty snowballs" by astronomer Fred Whipple of distance used by astronomers. It is the
and are thought to be made of: average distance from the Earth to the
sun and is about 93-million miles (150-
● dust million km).
● ice (water, ammonia, methane, carbon dioxide)
● some carbon-containing (organic) materials (e.g., tar)
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● a rocky center (some comets)

Comets are thought to be made from the earliest materials of the solar system. When the sun first
formed, it blew lighter material (gases, dust) out into space. Some of this material (mainly gas)
condensed to form the outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) and some remains in orbit far
from the sun in two areas:

● Oort Cloud - a sphere about 50,000 AUs from the sun; named after the Dutch astronomer Jan
Oort who proposed it
● Kuiper Belt - an area within the plane of the solar system outside the orbit of Pluto

The Path of a Comet

Comets are thought to orbit the sun in either the Oort cloud or Kuiper belt. When another star passes
by the solar system, its gravity pushes the Oort cloud and/or Kuiper belt and causes comets to
descend toward the sun in a highly elliptical orbit with the sun at one focus of the ellipse. Comets can
have short period orbits (less than 200 years such as Halley's comet) or long period orbits (greater
than 200 years such as comet Hale-Bopp).

Photo courtesy NASA/JPL

Path of Halley's comet through the solar system.

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As the comet passes within six AUs of the sun, the ice begins to go directly from the solid to the gas
state (sublimation) much like the way fog is formed. When the ice sublimes, the gas and dust
particles flow away from the sun to form the comet's tail.

Parts of a Comet
As a comet approaches the sun, it warms up. During this warming, you can observe several distinct
parts:

● nucleus
● coma
● hydrogen envelope
● dust tail
● ion tail

The nucleus is the main, solid part of the comet. The nucleus is usually 1 to 10 kilometers in
diameter, but can be as big as 100 kilometers. It can be composed of rock.

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Courtesy of NASA/NSSDC Planetary Image Archives

This is a false color image of the nucleus of Halley's comet
taken from the Giotto mission. Note the jets of evaporating gas
coming from the nucleus on the left side.

The coma is a halo of evaporated gas (water vapor, ammonia, carbon dioxide) and dust that
surrounds the nucleus. The coma is made as the comet warms up and is often 1,000 times larger
than the nucleus. It can even become as big as Jupiter or Saturn (100,000 kilometers). The coma
and nucleus together form the head of the comet.

Surrounding the coma is an invisible layer of hydrogen called the hydrogen envelope; the hydrogen
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may come from water molecules. It usually has an irregular shape because it is distorted by the solar
wind. The hydrogen envelope gets bigger as the comet approaches the sun.

The comet's dust tail always faces away from the sun. The tail is made of small (one micron) dust
particles that have evaporated from the nucleus and are pushed away from the comet by the
pressure of sunlight. The dust tail is the easiest part of the comet to see because it reflects sunlight
and because it is long, several million kilometers (several degrees of the sky). The dust tail is often
curved because the comet is moving in its orbit at the same speed that the dust is moving away,
much as water curves away from the nozzle of a moving hose.

Photo courtesy NASA/JPL

Comet Halley as it appeared in several images from the 1910
apparition. The comet's tail gets bigger as it gets closer to the
sun and then decreases as it moves away from the sun.

Comets often have a second tail called an ion tail (also called the plasma or gas tail). The ion tail is
made of electrically charged gas molecules (carbon dioxide, nitrogen, water) that are pushed away
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from the nucleus by the solar wind. Sometimes, the gas tail disappears and later reappears when the
comet crosses a boundary where direction of the sun's magnetic field is reversed.

Comets Can Break Apart

As comets pass through the inner solar system, they can be broken into pieces by Jupiter's gravity.
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was broken into 20 pieces, each of which collided with Jupiter in one of
the most spectacular examples of interplanetary impacts in recorded history.

Photo courtesy NASA/Space Telescope Science Institute

Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was broken into 20 pieces by
Jupiter's gravity.

Photo courtesy NASA/JPL

Artist's rendering of the collision of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
and Jupiter

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Photo courtesy NASA/JPL

Here is a Hubble Space Telescope image of Jupiter after pieces
of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 hit the planet. The dark spots are
the impact sites.

Recently, comet LINEAR was also broken into fragments by the sun's gravity as it passed the sun.

NASA's Stardust Mission

NASA has launched a mission called Stardust to comet Wild-2 to return pieces of the comet. The
spacecraft will fly into the comet's tail and catch particles in a gel called aerogel, which is mounted
on the panels of the spacecraft. Once captured, the particles will be returned to Earth in 2006. By
studying the particles, scientists hope to learn more about comets and the composition of the early
solar system.

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Photo courtesy NASA/JPL

Artist's rendering of the Stardust encounter with comet Wild-2

Observing Comets
Many comets are actually discovered by amateur astronomers. To look for comets, here are things to
keep in mind:

● Go to a place where there are few lights.

● Learn what a comet looks like (observe as many comets as you can) and what a comet does
not look like (observe other deep sky objects because they also appear as small fuzzy
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objects).
● Use binoculars or a telescope (low magnification, 20-40x).
● Look toward the east about 30 minutes before sunrise or to the west about 20 minutes after
sunset because comets are often spotted by their tails.
● Sweep the sky slowly near the horizon.

Comets will appear as small, fuzzy objects. This type of observing takes discipline, long hours and
patience. On average, comet hunters spend several hundred hours of observing time to find a new
comet. However, comets are named after their discoverers, so many people think it is worth the
effort. For a discussion of comet hunting, consult The Sky: a User's Guide by David H. Levy, who has
discovered several comets including comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 that hit Jupiter.

Lots More Information

Related HowStuffWorks Articles

● How the Sun Works

● How Light Works
● How Solar Sails Will Work

More Great Links

● Comet Observation Home Page

● Comets Currently Visible
● Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9: Collision with Jupiter
● Asteroid and Comet Impact Hazards
● Near-Live Comet Watching System
● Comet Hale-Bopp Home Page
● Comets and Meteor Showers
● Sky & Telescope Magazine's Comet Page
● NASA's Stardust Mission to Comet Wild Home Page
● Educator's Guide to the Stardust Mission
● Space Telescope Science Intitute: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's Encounter With Jupiter
● National Air and Space Museum: Exploring Comets
● Teacher Lesson Plan: Anatomy of a Comet
● Teacher Lesson Plan: Comet Cones
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Howstuffworks "How Comets Work"

● Giotto Mission to Halley's Comet

● Comet Hale-Bopp for Kids
● The ICQ Comet Information Web site
● Comet Observing
● NOVA: Comets 101
● Small Comets
● Comets, a site that offers beginner, intermediate and advanced explanations
● StarChild Learning Center for Young Astronomers: Comets
● Comet Introduction
● The Comet Watch Program
● American Scientist: Perturbing the Oort Cloud

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