COSMIC SNOWBALLS

Take a close-up look into what makes a comet

1 Nucleus Spanning up to tens of kilometres in diameter, a comet nucleus is made up of frozen water, gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, organic molecules and dust. 2 Coma As a comet approaches the Sun its surface sublimates, reducing frozen material into a glowing trail of gas called a coma. 3 Dust tail A red dust tail is formed when solar radiation pressure moves dust particles into a curved tail following the comet. 4 Plasma tail The solar wind interacts with the gaseous coma, ionising particles and pushing them away from the nucleus to create a plasma tail. 5 Kuiper Belt A doughnut-shaped region of space just beyond Neptune that’s filled with millions of icy bodies lying 4.5 to 7.5 billion kilometres (2.7 to 4.6 billion miles)…

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All About Space Annual (Digital) - 1 Issue, All About Space Annual (2024)

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