Interesting scientific information about comets for children. Some interesting facts about comets

Comets are small objects solar system, which move in orbit around the Sun and can be observed as a bright point with a long tail. They are interesting for several reasons.
Since ancient times, people have observed comets in the sky. Only once every 10 years can we see a comet from Earth with the naked eye. Its impressive tail flashes across the sky for days or weeks.

In ancient times, comets were considered a curse or a sign that preceded disaster. So in 1910, when the tail of Halley’s Comet hit the Earth, some entrepreneurs took advantage of the situation and sold people gas masks, comet pills, and umbrellas for protection against comets.

The comet got its name from Greek word"long-haired", as people in Ancient Greece They thought that comets looked like stars with flowing hair.

As it approaches the Sun, the ice begins to heat up and evaporate, releasing gases and dust particles that form a cloud or atmosphere around the comet called a coma. As the comet continues to move closer to the Sun, dust particles and other debris in the coma begin to be blown away due to the pressure of sunlight from the Sun. This process forms a dust tail.

If the tail is bright enough, we can see it from Earth when sunlight reflected from dust particles. As a rule, comets also have a second tail. It's called an ion or gas, and it forms when core ices heat up and change directly into gases without going through a liquid stage, a process called sublimation. The residual gas is visible due to the glow caused by solar radiation.

After the comets begin to move in reverse direction from the Sun, then their activity decreases, and tails and coma disappear. They turn into a simple ice core again. And when the orbits of comets return them to the Sun again, the head and tails of the comet begin to form again.

Comets have a wide range of sizes. The smallest comets can have a nucleus size of up to 16 kilometers. The largest core was observed to be about 40 kilometers in diameter. The tails of dust and ions can be huge. Comet Hyakutake's ion tail extended over a distance of about 580 million kilometers.

There are many versions of the formation of comets, but the most common is that comets arose from the remains of matter during the formation of the Solar System.

Some scientists believe that it was comets that brought water to Earth and organic matter, which became the source of the origin of life.
Meteor showers can be observed when the Earth's orbit intersects the trail of debris left behind by a comet.

It is unknown how many comets exist, since most never seen. But there is a cluster of comets called the Kuyper Belt, located 480 million kilometers from Pluto. There is another such cluster surrounding the solar system called the Oort Cloud - it can simultaneously contain more than a trillion comets that move in different direction. As of 2010, astronomers have discovered about 4,000 comets in our solar system.

IN to a greater extent seeing a comet is a miracle that many dream of seeing at least once in their life. But exclusively in rare cases, comets can cause problems on Earth. Most scientists believe that a very large asteroid or comet may have struck the Earth approximately 65 million years ago. As a result, the resulting changes on Earth led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Very large asteroids, as well as very large comets, could cause severe damage if they reached Earth. However, scientists believe that major impacts like those that killed the dinosaurs occur once every few hundred million years.

Comets can change direction for several reasons. If they pass close enough to a planet, the pull of that planet's gravity can slightly change the comet's path. Jupiter, the most big planet, is the most suitable planet to change the path of a comet. Telescopes and spacecraft captured images of at least one comet, Shoemaker-Levy 9, as it crashed into Jupiter's atmosphere. In addition, sometimes comets moving towards the Sun fall directly into it.

Over millions of years, most comets gravitationally fly out of the solar system or lose their ices and disintegrate as they move.

A comet is a small celestial body consisting of ice interspersed with dust and rock debris. As it approaches the sun, the ice begins to evaporate, leaving a tail behind the comet, sometimes stretching for millions of kilometers. The comet's tail is made of dust and gas.

Comet orbit

As a rule, the orbit of most comets is an ellipse. However, circular and hyperbolic trajectories along which icy bodies move in outer space are also quite rare.

Comets passing through the solar system

Many comets pass through the solar system. Let's focus on the most famous space wanderers.

Comet Arend-Roland was first discovered by astronomers in 1957.

Halley's Comet passes near our planet once every 75.5 years. Named after the British astronomer Edmund Halley. The first mentions of this celestial body are found in Chinese ancient texts. Perhaps the most famous comet in the history of civilization.

Comet Donati was discovered in 1858 by the Italian astronomer Donati.

Comet Ikeya-Seki was noticed by Japanese amateur astronomers in 1965. It was bright.

Comet Lexel was discovered in 1770 French astronomer Charles Messier.

Comet Morehouse was discovered by American scientists in 1908. It is noteworthy that photography was used for the first time in its study. It was distinguished by the presence of three tails.

Comet Hale-Bopp was visible in 1997 with the naked eye.

Comet Hyakutake was observed by scientists in 1996 at a short distance from Earth.

Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann was first noticed by German astronomers in 1927.

"Young" comets have a bluish tint. This is due to the presence large quantity ice. As the comet orbits the sun, the ice melts and the comet takes on a yellowish hue.

Most comets come from the Kuiper belt, which is a collection of frozen bodies that are located near Neptune.

If the comet's tail is blue and turned away from the Sun, this is evidence that it consists of gases. If the tail is yellowish and turned towards the Sun, then it contains a lot of dust and other impurities that are attracted to the star.

Study of comets

Scientists obtain information about comets visually through powerful telescopes. However, in the near future (in 2014), the ESA Rosetta spacecraft is planned to be launched to study one of the comets. It is assumed that the device will remain near the comet for a long time, accompanying the space wanderer on its journey around the Sun.

Note that NASA previously launched the Deep Impact spacecraft to collide with one of the solar system’s comets. Currently, the device is in good condition and is used by NASA to study icy cosmic bodies.

will help study small objects of the solar system. You will discover a lot of new and useful things, so many secrets are kept by the relative silence of the universe, located in constant movement and development.

Comet - cosmic body, existing within the Solar System, moving in orbit around the Sun. Comets appeared with the emergence of the solar system four and a half billion years ago..
The name has Greek origin . “Comet” is a Greek word that means “long-tailed,” since this body was so anciently associated with people whose hair flowed strong wind. The closest point of the orbit in relation to the Sun is perihelion, the farthest point is aphelion.
Comet - dirty snow. Chemical composition: water, methandrostenolone, frozen ammonia, dust, stones, space debris. The tail part appears when it is closest to the Sun. At a considerable distance, it looks like a dark object, representing a clot of ice. central part represented by a stone core. It has a dark surface, its composition is precisely unknown.
As the comet approaches the Sun, it heats up and melts. Melting ice as it approaches the sun leads to the formation of a dust cloud, which creates a tail effect. When approaching the luminary, the body heats up, causing the process of sublimation. When ice is close to the surface, it heats up and creates a jet, erupting like a geyser.
There are many comets. The smallest of them has a core with a diameter of sixteen kilometers, the largest - forty. The size of the tail reaches enormous sizes. Hyakutake has a tail of five hundred and eighty million kilometers. In the “Oort Cloud”, which envelops space, several trillion copies can be counted. There are about four thousand comets in total.
Jupiter can influence the movement of comets. The largest planet can influence the direction of movement of these celestial bodies. The planet's gravitational force is so strong that Shoemaker Levy 9 was destroyed when it hit the planet's atmosphere.
Under the influence of gravity, a tailed comet takes on the shape of a sphere.. The asteroid is quite small to form a sphere, resembling a dumbbell shape. Asteroids accumulate in piles containing materials of various origins. The largest, Casetere, is nine hundred and fifty kilometers in diameter. An asteroid that enters the planetary atmosphere is called a meteor; when it falls to the ground, it is a meteorite.
Comet is a potential threat to earthlings. Our civilization could be destroyed by a meteor with a diameter of one kilometer. Continued research is needed to understand the nature of caudates, design optimal methods protection from them. Even in ancient times, these bodies were considered a sign that could bring disaster.
Halley's Comet periodically visits the Solar System. In 1910, Comet Halley passed close to the Earth, which enters the solar system every 76 years. Some enterprising businessmen used this fact to increase the number of sales of gas masks, comet remedies, and umbrellas.
Comets usually have two tails. The first, dust, can be observed with the naked eye. The second tail consists of gases, stretching up to three hundred and sixty miles. The ion tail is the result of solar wind. The orbit of comets resembles an elliptical shape. As the body approaches the Sun, the icy component begins to heat up, causing evaporation. The gases and dust form a cloud called a coma, which moves behind the body. As it moves towards the star, dust and debris are blown off the body, forming a dust tail.
The farther from the Sun, the more the comet is an ordinary stone block. Gas tail becomes visible when exposed to solar radiation. As it moves away from the Sun, the body cools, leaving only an icy core.
Scientists suggest that comets brought water to Earth. Water on Earth could have come from a comet, just like many organic substances. They were the means of the origin of life.
Some scientists believe that sixty-five million years ago large asteroid could have touched the surface, causing the dinosaurs to become extinct.
Comets are subject to extinction or departure from the solar system. They leave the system or melt as they are repeatedly exposed to heat.
Only once a decade can we observe a comet in the sky. The comet's tail can be observed for several days or even weeks.

Comets are small solar system objects that orbit the Sun and can be observed as a bright point with a long tail. They are interesting for several reasons.
Since ancient times, people have observed comets in the sky. Only once every 10 years can we see a comet from Earth with the naked eye. Its impressive tail flashes across the sky for days or weeks.
In ancient times, comets were considered a curse or a sign that preceded disaster. So in 1910, when the tail of Halley’s Comet hit the Earth, some entrepreneurs took advantage of the situation and sold people gas masks, comet pills, and umbrellas for protection against comets.
The comet got its name from the Greek word for “long-haired,” as people in Ancient Greece thought that comets looked like stars with flowing hair.

Comets only develop tails when they are close to the Sun. When they are far from the Sun, comets are exceptionally dark, cold, icy objects. The ice body is called the core. It makes up 90% of the comet's mass. The core is made up of various types of ice, dirt and dust. In turn, ice includes frozen water, as well as impurities of various gases, such as ammonia, carbon, methane, etc. And in the center there is a small core of stone.

As it approaches the Sun, the ice begins to heat up and evaporate, releasing gases and dust particles that form a cloud or atmosphere around the comet called a coma. As the comet continues to move closer to the Sun, dust particles and other debris in the coma begin to be blown away due to the pressure of sunlight from the Sun. This process forms a dust tail.

If the tail is bright enough, we can see it from Earth when sunlight reflects off dust particles. As a rule, comets also have a second tail. It's called an ion or gas, and it forms when core ices heat up and change directly into gases without going through a liquid stage, a process called sublimation. The residual gas is visible due to the glow caused by solar radiation.

After comets begin to move in the opposite direction from the Sun, their activity decreases, and their tails and coma disappear. They turn into a simple ice core again. And when the orbits of comets return them to the Sun again, the head and tails of the comet begin to form again.
Comets have a wide range of sizes. The smallest comets can have a nucleus size of up to 16 kilometers. The largest core was observed to be about 40 kilometers in diameter. The tails of dust and ions can be huge. Comet Hyakutake's ion tail extended over a distance of about 580 million kilometers.

There are many versions of the formation of comets, but the most common is that comets arose from the remains of matter during the formation of the Solar System.
Some scientists believe that it was comets that brought water and organic substances to Earth, which became the source of the origin of life.
Meteor showers can be observed when the Earth's orbit intersects the trail of debris left behind by a comet.

It is unknown how many comets exist, since most have never been seen. But there is a cluster of comets called the Kuyper Belt, located 480 million kilometers from Pluto. There is another such cluster surrounding the solar system called the Oort Cloud - it can simultaneously contain more than a trillion comets that are moving in different directions. As of 2010, astronomers have discovered about 4,000 comets in our solar system.

To a greater extent, seeing a comet is a miracle that many dream of seeing at least once in their life. But in extremely rare cases, comets can cause problems on Earth. Most scientists believe that a very large asteroid or comet may have struck the Earth approximately 65 million years ago. As a result, the resulting changes on Earth led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Very large asteroids, as well as very large comets, could cause severe damage if they reached Earth. However, scientists believe that major impacts like those that killed the dinosaurs occur once every few hundred million years.

Comets can change direction for several reasons. If they pass close enough to a planet, the pull of that planet's gravity can slightly change the comet's path. Jupiter, the largest planet, is the most suitable planet to change the path of a comet. Telescopes and spacecraft have captured images of at least one comet, Shoemaker-Levy 9, crashing into Jupiter's atmosphere. In addition, sometimes comets moving towards the Sun fall directly into it.

Over millions of years, most comets gravitationally fly out of the solar system or lose their ices and disintegrate as they move.

Artem Novichonok,
Researcher at the Petrozavodsk State University Observatory,
discoverer of two comets and several dozen asteroids
“Trinity Option” No. 21(165), October 21, 2014

Comets are one of the types of small bodies in the Solar System. They owe their name to the characteristic tails that “bloom” near the Sun. In Greek κομήτης means “hairy”, “having long hair" Even the astronomical symbol for a comet (☄) has the shape of a disk, from which three lines extend, like hair.
The periods of revolution of comets around the Sun range over a wide range - from several years to several million years. Based on this, comets are divided into short- and long-period. The orbits of the latter are highly elongated, the minimum possible distance of the comet from the Sun can practically coincide with the surface of the star, and the maximum can be tens of thousands of astronomical units.
The main part of a comet is the nucleus. The size of the nuclei is relatively small - up to several tens of kilometers. The kernels consist of a loose mixture rocks, dust and fusible substances (frozen H 2 O, CO 2, CO, NH 3, etc.). Comet nuclei are very dark - they reflect only a few percent of the light falling on them.
As a comet approaches the Sun, the surface temperature of its core increases, causing ice of different compositions to sublimate. The coma (atmosphere) of the comet is formed, which, together with the nucleus, makes up the head of the comet. The size of the coma can reach several million kilometers.
When approaching the Sun, the comet also forms a tail, consisting of coma particles moving away from the nucleus. There are two types of tails: ion (gas) tails, which are always directed in the direction opposite to the Sun due to the action of the solar wind, and dust tails, “spreading” along the comet’s orbit with relatively small deviations. The length of a comet's tail can reach hundreds of millions of kilometers.
As a result of cometary activity, a fair amount of small celestial bodies - meteor particles - remain in the comet's orbit. If the comet's orbit is close enough to the Earth's orbit, it can be observed meteor shower- many meteors (“shooting stars”) visible in a short period of time. During heavy meteor showers, thousands of meteors can be observed per hour.
Since comets are constantly losing matter, they cannot survive for long. active phase and over time, disintegrate into fragments, completely turn into interplanetary dust, or, having lost the supply of near-surface fusible substances, become inert asteroid-like objects.
Every year, dozens of comets are discovered coming to us from the outskirts of the solar system. Consequently, there (at distances up to 50–100 thousand AU) there is a large reservoir of cometary nuclei - the Oort cloud. It cannot be observed directly, but comets provide compelling evidence of its existence.
In the Middle Ages, comets caused fear among people and were considered harbingers tragic events in the life of peoples (wars, epidemics) and royal persons. And even the appearance of Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997 is infamous mass suicides members of the Gates of Heaven sect.
Very bright comets appear infrequently. But they are certainly among the most beautiful and impressive objects in the sky. Suffice it to mention, for example, Big comet 1861, C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp), which was easy to observe even in cities in the spring of 1997, or comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught), which was observed in January 2007, including during daylight hours, and at dusk, demonstrated huge fan-shaped tail.