Comet Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The meaning of COMET is a celestial body that appears as a fuzzy head usually surrounding a bright nucleus, that has a usually highly eccentric orbit, that consists primarily of ice and dust, and that often develops one or more long tails when near the sun.
Comet - Wikipedia
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or coma surrounding the nucleus, and sometimes a tail of gas and dust gas blown out from the coma.
Comet | Definition, Composition, & Facts | Britannica
3 天之前 · Comet, a small body orbiting the Sun with a substantial fraction of its composition made up of volatile ices. Comets are among the most-spectacular objects in the sky, with their bright glowing comae and their long tails. Comets can appear at random from any direction as they move in eccentric orbits around the Sun.
What Are Comets | What Does a Comet Look Like | Comet Facts
4 天之前 · Comets: to sum up. A comet is a space object primarily composed of ice, dust, and rocky material. Comets orbit the Sun and are often categorized based on their orbital periods: short-period comets take less than 200 years to orbit the Sun, while long-period comets take more than 200 years.
What Is a Comet? | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids
2024年10月11日 · The Short Answer: Comets are large objects made of dust and ice that orbit the Sun. Best known for their long, streaming tails, these ancient objects are leftovers from the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago.
COMET | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
COMET definition: 1. an object that moves around the sun, usually at a great distance from it, that is seen on rare…. Learn more.
Comets - NASA Science
Comets are frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system composed of dust, rock, and ices. They range from a few miles to tens of miles wide, but as they orbit closer to the Sun, they heat up and spew gases and dust into a glowing head that can be larger than a planet.
COMET Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
A celestial object that orbits the Sun along an elongated path. A comet that is not near the Sun consists only of a nucleus—a solid core of frozen water, frozen gases, and dust. When a comet comes close to the Sun, its nucleus heats up and releases …
Comet: Definition, Tails, Facts, Orbit, Visibility, Difference
2024年9月12日 · What is the definition of a comet? Comets are small, icy celestial bodies that orbit the sun in highly eccentric paths. Comets consist primarily of dust and frozen gases like water, methane, and ammonia, earning them the nickname “dirty snowballs” due to their composition and diminutive size.
Comet - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms - Vocabulary.com
A comet is a small, icy object that orbits the sun and has a long "tail" of gas. Some comets can be seen from Earth every few years, while others pass by once in a person's lifetime.