Solar System/Comets

Physical characteristics[edit | edit source]

Classification[edit | edit source]

Life of the comet[edit | edit source]

Coma and nucleus[edit | edit source]

Temperature[edit | edit source]

Structure and composition of the nucleus[edit | edit source]

The comet's tail[edit | edit source]

"Anti-tails"[edit | edit source]

Tails and plasma[edit | edit source]

The Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud[edit | edit source]

The Kuiper Belt is a belt of objects starting just beyond the orbit of Neptune (with some objects' orbits overlapping that of Neptune). In addition to being the home of some dwarf planets and many smaller objects, it is the source of the short-period comets. The Oort Cloud is a group of objects located much farther from the Sun than the Kuiper Belt; it is the source of the long-period comets.