Comet nucleus. Artwork of the icy core (nucleus) of a comet. Comets are mostly frozen ices (water,methane and ammonia) and dust,and they are often referred to as 'dirty snowballs'. The nucleus of a comet can be many kilometres across. Comets orbit the Sun,and are part of the debris left over from the formation of the solar system. Large numbers of these objects orbit far beyond the planets,well away from the heat of the Sun. Some are disturbed from their orbits,and pass through the inner solar system where the Sun boils the ices into a coma (white). The solar wind blows the coma material into a tail millions of kilometres long,sometimes visible from Earth | |
Licence : | Droits gérés |
Crédit: | Science Photo Library / Garlick, Mark |
Taille de l’image : | 5315 px × 2683 px |
Model Release : | Non requis |
Property Release : | Non requis |
Restrictions : | - |