Film backdrop image for What is a Comet? (2016)

20163 minPGexplainer

Space Exploration Scientific Research

What is a Comet?

20163 minPGexplainer

Comets, such as Hale-Bopp and Halley's Comet, are small icy bodies in the Solar System that form visible comas and tails as they approach the Sun, with significant insights gained from missions like ESA's Rosetta.

Space Exploration Scientific Research

Genres

Channel: Naked Science

What is a Comet?

2016• 3 minPG

Synopsis

Comets, such as Hale-Bopp and Halley's Comet, are small icy bodies in the Solar System that form visible comas and tails as they approach the Sun, with significant insights gained from missions like ESA's Rosetta.

Synopsis

Comets, small icy bodies in the Solar System, become visible as they approach the Sun, resulting in outgassing that forms a coma and tail. Notable examples include Hale-Bopp, the Great Comet of 1997, and Halley's Comet, which was closely studied by the Giotto spacecraft in 1986. The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission marked a significant achievement with the first successful landing on a comet, specifically 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This exploration highlights the importance of comets in understanding the cosmos and the origins of the Solar System.

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