Interesting Facts About Comets

Comets are made of ices such as water, carbon dioxide, ammonia & methane, mixed with dust from when the Solar System was formed.

There are many interesting facts about comets that you probably didn’t know. But fear not, that’s what we’re here to learn about today!

Check out these top 20 facts about comets and find out what they’re made of, where they come from and some of the famous comets.

A comets center or nucleus is made of ice and vary greatly in size per comet, ranging from a few meters, to kilometers wide.

Comets lose mass each time they get close to the sun due to a process called sublimation. After many years of circling the sun, the comet will eventually break apart from being so small and moving at such a great speed.

The ice that makes up the nucleus of a comet isn’t just frozen water like you might put in your summer drink, super cold methane, ammonia, and carbon dioxide ices are also in the mix, along with dust, rocks & other debris from the solar system.

Halley’s enters the inner solar system every 76 Earth years & is one of the most famous.

Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is just one of the comets in our solar system, not quite as famous as Halley, but in 1993, Shoemaker-Levy 9 broke into pieces which scattered over Jupiter.

Comets only reflect 4% of the light that falls on them, the rest is absorbed.

It is unknown at this time what lies beneath the ice of a comet nucleus.

The “coma” is the dust and gas surrounding the nucleus.