Can comets be seen in daylight?
To be seen in daylight a body has to be sufficiently bright. Generally comets can be seen only at night. However, there have been cases of bright comets, visible in the daytime also. For example, comet Ikeya-Seki was visible in daylight when it appeared in 1965. Another case is that of the so-called ‘Daylight Comet’ seen in 1910.
What is meant by the period of a comet?
The time taken by a comet to make one revolution around the Sun is called the year of the comet or the period of the comet. For example, the year Halley’s Comet is 76 Earth Years.
What happens to the material in a comet when the comet comes close to the Sun?
For a short duration, when the comet comes very close to the Sun, the Sun’s heat vaporizes some of the comet’s material to form a vapour cloud around the comet. The cloud is only a temporary ‘atmosphere’ that recondenses on the comet when it moves away from the Sun.
What kind of material does a comet contain?
A comet contains frozen gases and dust in the form of a giant “ice ball” less than a hundred kilometers in diameter. In astronomical terms, they are extremely tiny bodies.
What is the composition of a comet and its vapour cloud?
When it is near the Sun, the comet consists of a solid portion called the nucleus surrounded by three layers. The first layer is called the coma. The second and third layers consist of dust particles and gas respectively.