Comet — a snowy ball with a bright head and a long tail
Hi! A comet is like a dirty snowball that visits the Sun. Let’s look at its parts one by one.
- Nucleus — The tiny inside piece. It is a hard, icy rock. Think of it like a dirty snowball.
- Coma — The fuzzy glowing head around the nucleus. When the Sun warms the comet, ice turns into gas and makes a big fuzzy cloud.
- Dust tail — A long, streaky tail made of little dust bits. It looks a bit yellowish and curves behind the comet.
- Gas (ion) tail — A straight, bluish tail made of gas pushed by the Sun’s wind. It points straight away from the Sun.
How the tails point: The tails always point away from the Sun, even if the comet is flying in another direction.
Try this — Draw a comet!
- Draw a small circle for the nucleus.
- Draw a bigger fuzzy cloud around it for the coma.
- Draw two tails coming off the cloud: one yellowish and curvy (dust), and one blue and straight (gas). Make the tails point away from the Sun, which you can draw as a big yellow circle off to one side.
Great job! Now you know the comet’s parts: nucleus, coma, dust tail, and gas tail.