Tag Archives: Comets

Dirty Snowballs

Posted on April 4, 2018 by natsastronomy

Comets are often referred to as “dirty snowballs“. That is because they are made up of a lot of many components that a dirty snowball would also consist of, and more! Many comets consist of dust, ice, carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane, and many more other components. When a comet gets close to the sun, some … Continue reading Dirty Snowballs → Continue reading →

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Deep Impact: Mission to a Comet

Posted on July 3, 2017 by Paolo Dumancas

Exactly twelve years ago on July 4th, 2005, a NASA Spacecraft called the Deep Impact landed on Comet Temple 1, … More Continue reading →

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Blog 5 – Comet Composition

Posted on April 4, 2017 by johnjohnb4

Comets are the relatively small, icy objects that orbit a star.  They are classified as “small solar system bodies”, as are asteroids.  Along with ice, they contain rocky dust and other complex chemicals, leading them to be described as “dirty snowballs.”  Spectra can be used to determine the composition of comets.  From them, we know […] Continue reading →

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Comets

Posted on April 4, 2017 by ksun1

The formation of the planetary bodies was not a peaceful one. Planetesimals, effectively “planet seeds” that would accrete material to gain mass, would frequently collide with each other at violent speeds. A collision between two planetesimals of similar sizes would spell the doom for both – all of their hard work accreting mass would be […] Continue reading →

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Why do comets have tails?

Posted on April 4, 2017 by aliyazd1407

Generally, comets got kicked out from their home which are the Oort Cloud and the Kuiper Belt. This phenomena occur due to the pull of the gravity by planets or stars. Then, their journey of growing tails begin by moving toward the inner solar system. Far from the Sun, small comets look the same as small asteroids, completely … Continue reading Why do comets have tails? Continue reading →

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Rosetta and Philae

Posted on April 3, 2017 by Natalie

In March of 2004, two friends went ont he adventure of a lifetime. These two friends were the Rosetta space … More Continue reading →

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Famous Comets

Posted on April 3, 2017 by xiangyunastr2110

“Out to sea, the calm lagoon waters were darkening, while the comets overhead glowed brighter, omens in the gloaming.” ― Julian May, Perseus Spur A comet is an icy small body in the solar system that when passing close to the Sun, it produces a visible atmosphere or coma from a process called outgassing — Wikipedia. I always hope […] Continue reading →

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Comets?! ☄️

Posted on April 3, 2017 by mariabulanova

Everyone got some basic knowledge about planets, stars, and asteroids at school, but not many people actually know much about comets. How are these things formed? Why do they have tails? How big are they? Stay with me if you want to find out. 🙂 Our entire Solar System was created by the collapse of […] Continue reading →

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Asteroids: Death, or Life?

Posted on April 10, 2016 by astr2110geoffren

Just hitching a ride Most people don’t think of asteroids as the bringer of life to Earth. Actually, for many, it’s the exact opposite. When someone says asteroids many people automatically think about mass extinctions, specifically the extinction of the dinosaurs (which was caused by a large asteroid). However, there is a theory called panspermia which […] Continue reading →

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Are We Overdue for a Mass Extinction?

Posted on April 10, 2016 by mattsastronomyblog

People have argued about if and when the human race will die out on earth.  We have essentially taken ourselves out of the food chain, meaning that we won’t be hunted to extinction.  We have also made great strides in medicine making it unlikely that we will die out from disease.  It may seem improbable […] Continue reading →

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