comets
Icy solar orbiters
Comets are icy bodies that orbit the sun, developing glowing tails of gas and dust as they approach it.
Ancient observers saw them as omens.
Unlike planets, which follow predictable paths, comets appear irregularly—some returning on cycles of decades or centuries, others passing through the solar system only once.
Halley's Comet won't return until 2061.
Central controlling part
- comaUnwakeable unconsciousness
- tailRear animal appendage
- dustFine settled particles
- iceWater's solid form
gas · rocky · debris · methane · ammonia · silicates · volatile · sublimation
Oval-shaped or indirect
- perihelionOrbital point nearest sun
- aphelionFarthest point from sun
- trajectoryPath of moving object
- eccentricityUnconventional behavior or nature
long-period · short-period · parabolic · hyperbolic · perturbation · gravitational · slingshot · retrograde
Sign of future calamity
- harbingerOne who foreshadows
- auguryOmen interpretation practice
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
- prophecyForetelling of future events
superstition · disaster · calamity · doom · fate · sign · warning · dread
Rear animal appendage
- comaUnwakeable unconsciousness
- brightnessDegree of light emitted
- magnitudeSize or scale
- naked-eyeVision without optical aids
binoculars · telescope · stargazing · night-sky · apparition · Halley's · Hale-Bopp · skywatching
Sun-orbiting rocky mass
- meteoroidSmall body in space
- impactForceful contact or consequence
- craterImpact or volcanic basin
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
spacecraft · probe · Rosetta · Philae · rendezvous · panspermia · astrobiology · origins
nucleus
Central controlling part
ice · gas · rocky · debris · methane · ammonia · silicates · volatile · sublimation · outgassing
elliptical
Oval-shaped or indirect
- perihelionOrbital point nearest sun
- aphelionFarthest point from sun
- trajectoryPath of moving object
eccentricity · long-period · short-period · parabolic · hyperbolic · perturbation · gravitational · slingshot · retrograde · inclination
portent
Sign of future calamity
- harbingerOne who foreshadows
- auguryOmen interpretation practice
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
prophecy · superstition · disaster · calamity · doom · fate · sign · warning · dread · awe
tail
Rear animal appendage
- comaUnwakeable unconsciousness
- brightnessDegree of light emitted
- magnitudeSize or scale
naked-eye · binoculars · telescope · stargazing · night-sky · apparition · Halley's · Hale-Bopp · skywatching · ephemeris
asteroid
Sun-orbiting rocky mass
extinction · spacecraft · probe · Rosetta · Philae · rendezvous · panspermia · astrobiology · origins · formation
- solar systemsun, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
- Celestial Objectsstars, planets, moons, galaxies, nebulae
- space scienceastronomy class, planetary science, cosmology, planets, stars
- Fireworksfirework, sparklers, mortars, burst, bursts
- space phenomenastars, black hole, meteors, wormhole, dark energy
- cosmic matterstars, galaxies, dark matter, planets, cosmic dust
cometsfixed stars
Stars appearing motionless
Polaris · asteroids · planets · constellations · moons
- Halley's CometPredictable orbiting frozen body
- comet hunterOne who discovers icy bodies
- comet tailLuminous debris wake
- great cometsExceptionally bright tailed bodies
- vomit cometAircraft creating temporary freefall
- comet impactCelestial body striking surface