A
comet or “hairy star” is a celestial body that is usually in an
elliptical orbit around the Sun.
A comet resembles a dirty snowball.
It is made mostly of ice and dirt, but may also contain organic
matter (compounds containing carbon).
As the comet approaches the Sun it becomes very bright and may
develop a brilliant tail sometimes extending many billions of
kilometers into space. This
tail is caused by the solar heat, which evaporates or reflects more
and more light off of its surface the ice.
The comet’s head is called “the coma”. The tail is
generally directed away from the Sun.
Vocabulary:
Comet:
A large ball of ice, dust, rock and gas that orbits the Sun, circling
the dark edges of the Solar System.
Questions:
- 1)
What is a large ball of ice, dust, rock and gas that orbits the
Sun, circling the dark edges of the Solar System?
A
comet.
- 2)
What does a comet resemble?
- 3)
What extends for billions of kilometers into space?
- 4)
What is the comet’s head referred to?
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- 5.Tell
two new pieces of info that you learned from the links
provided concerning this topic. Insert these into your defense
log.
