Essay Archive - Comets
Comets
Have you ever looked up in the sky and seen a little ball creeping by?
If so, did you wonder what it was? That little ball is called a comet. Comets
are small, fragile, and irregularly shaped. Most are composed of frozen gas.
However, some are composed of frozen gas and non-volatile grains. They usually
follow very strict paths around the sun. Comets become most visible when they
cross the sun. This also applies to people who view comets with telescopes.
When a comet gets near the sun it becomes very visible because the sun's
radiation starts to sublime its volatile gases, which, in turn, blow away small
bits ....
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