Throughout history, comets have been looked upon by human beings as being great omens in the sky. Halley is, of course the most famous of all. Where is Halley's comet right now? It is slowly finding its way out past the orbit of Neptune, approaching aphelion.
Here is the Halley's Comet Rag!
Some comets throughout history have been remarkably bright and impressive. Here is an image of comet McNaught, visible in the southern hemisphere in early 2007. Comets are much more common than most people realize. On any given night, there may be a half-dozen visible in a small pair of binoculars. One only needs to know where to look.
You may have seen a bright comet some time ago but may not be sure of the name. Here is a reference on the most easily observable comets of history. When will the next bright comet show up? No one can say for sure. However, it may be soon.
There have been a few spacecraft that have given us detailed images of comets. THE ESA's Giotto probe sent back detailed images of the nucleus of Comet Halley. The most recent has been the Deep Impact probe which, as the name implies, actually hit a comet nucleus with an object. The Deep impact probe has gone on to a new assignment in the solar system, to another comet named Hartley 2. We now have a good idea of the structure of a comet:
Comet Structure
- nucleus
The nucleus of a comet is the actual physical body which is the source of the comet's material. A nucleus is typically a few kilometers in diameter. We first got a good image of the nucleus of Halley's Comet almost twenty years ago. You can make your own comet nucleus if you have the correct ingredients.
- Coma: The coma is the temporary atmosphere surrounding a comet. The coma generally only develops after the comet passes the orbit of Mars.
- hydrogen envelope
- ion tail
- dust tail
Here is a good source of definitions for comets.
You must see this wonderful image of Comet Hale Bopp taken by Jerry Lodriguss! It is the best image of the gas and dust tails of a comet I have ever seen. Mr. Lodriguss also has included the story of the photograph. What dedication!
Here is another detailed image of the gas and dust tails.
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Updated December 11, 2007