Earth Sciences 1086F/G Lecture 20: Unit 6.2_Comets
4 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
A small (over 100m in diameter making them larger than a meteorite) mainly icy object that streaks through the solar system along a long sun-orbiting elliptical track! As they warm from solar heat, frozen gases (water, methane, ammonia) vaporize, leaving visible traces across space! We would now know they existed if it weren"t for their luminous tails that extend for millions of km past the head! When far from the sun, they remain frozen, and are known as dirty snowballs"! As they get closer to the sun, surface of the nucleus warms and volatile material on the surface vaporizes: these gases contain small particles that create the tail! When nucleus is frozen, comet can only be seen when it re ects sunlight! They probably brought just the amino acids - building blocks for life! Solid, centrally located part of the comet! Usually between 1-10km in diameter (only 10 have been measured)!
