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Discussion: Comets continued...!!!
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Poonamrodrigues |
Comets continued...!!!
Feb 17 2008, 7:58 AM EST
The Sun's radiation pressure and solar wind accelerate materials away from the comet's head at differing velocities according to the size and mass of the materials. Thus, relatively massive dust tails are accelerated slowly and tend to be curved. The ion tail is much less massive, and is accelerated so greatly that it appears as a nearly straight line extending away from the comet opposite the Sun. The following view of Comet West shows two distinct tails. The thin blue plasma tail is made up of gases and the broad white tail is made up of microscopic dust particles. Comet West Each time a comet visits the Sun, it loses some of its volatiles. Eventually, it becomes just another rocky mass in the solar system. For this reason, comets are said to be short-lived, on a cosmological time scale. Many scientists believe that some asteroids are extinct comet nuclei, comets that have lost all of their volatiles. Do you find this valuable? |
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