10 Facts about Comets and Asteroids

Monday, February 15th 2016. | Astronomy


If you want to know the difference between asteroids and comets, you have to check Facts about Comets and Asteroids. One of the notable comets in the world is Comet Halley or Halley’s Comet. It is included in a short term comet because the orbit takes less than 200 years. The presence of Halley Comet has been observed by the European, Chinese or even Babylonian people. Here some impressive facts about comets and asteroids:

Facts about Comets and Asteroids 1: when to spot Comet Halley

The people can spot Halley Comet with naked eyes. It appears around 75 to 76 years. In the past, it was spotted around 74 to 79 years.

Facts about Comets and Asteroids 2: the last appearance of Comet Halley

In 1986, the people saw the last appearance of Comet Halley in the inner solar system. It is estimated to appear again in 2061.

Asteroid Belt

Asteroid Belt

Facts about Comets and Asteroids 3: the name of the comet

The name Comet Halley is taken from the name of Edmond Halley. He was an English astronomer who observed the period of the orbit of the comet.

Facts about Comets and Asteroids 4: the tail

The unique feature of a comet can be seen on the presence of coma or tail. When the comet is closer to the sun, the coma appears. Comet Halley has the nucleus with the width at 5 miles, thickness at 5 miles and length at 9.3 miles. It is relatively small. But the length of the tail or coma can reach 100,000 km.

Facts about Comets and Asteroids

Facts about Comets and Asteroids

Facts about Comets and Asteroids 5: Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet

Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet is very famous in the world after it collided with Jupiter in July 1994. It gave the astronomer an opportunity to study more about the collision between a planet and a comet. Find facts about comet here.

Facts about Comets and Asteroids 6: what is asteroid?

The main components of asteroids are metal and rock. They also orbit the sun. The primary difference of comet and asteroid lies on the presence of coma. Asteroid does not have it. The experts often call asteroid as minor planets or planetoids.

Comet Parts

Comet Parts

Facts about Comets and Asteroids 7: the first asteroid

Giuseppe Piazzi was the Italian astronomer who discovered asteroid for the first in 1801. He named it Ceres. The diameter of Ceres is 950 km. Now Ceres is included as a dwarf planet along with Haumea, Makemake, Eris and Pluto since 2006.

Facts about Comets and Asteroids 8: asteroid belt

Asteroid belt consists of the irregular shaped asteroid which lies from Mars to Jupiter.

Asteroid

Asteroid

Facts about Comets and Asteroids 9: the extinction of dinosaur

Some people believe that the extinction of dinosaurs around 65 million year ago is caused by the asteroid impact. Get facts about Comet ISON here.

Facts about Comets and Asteroids 10: the earth and asteroid collision

People concern with the possibility of asteroid and earth collision. It is depicted in movies like Armageddon and Deep Impact.

Asteroids Pictures

Asteroids Pictures

What do you think on facts about comets and asteroids?


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