An icy small body that, when passing close to the Sun, releases gases in outgassing, producing a visible coma and sometimes a tail. Comets originate from the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud at the edges of the solar system.
A circumstellar disc in the outer solar system from Neptune's orbit (30 AU) to about 50 AU. Home to Pluto and many icy b...
A theoretical spherical cloud of icy objects surrounding the Sun at 2,000-100,000 AU. Thought to be the source of most l...
The curved path of a celestial object around a star, planet, or moon under gravity's influence. Orbits can be circular, ...
Dive deeper into comet and related concepts on Cosmos Observatory.