Earth Sciences 1086F/G Chapter Notes - Chapter 18: Comet Nucleus, Volatiles, Silicate Minerals

• School: Western University
• Department: Earth Sciences
• Course: Earth Sciences 1086F/G
• Professor: Anthony Withers

Document Summary

The nucleus: the solid, centrally located part of the comet known as the nucleus is typically 1 to. Oxygen-nitrogen) grains: the coma and the nucleus form the head of the comet. Orbits: highly elliptical orbits take many comets past pluto, or even further where they move more slowly and spend more of their time, majority of comets take hundreds of thousands, some even millions of years to orbit the. Kuiper belt: however, there is a scattered disc" of icy bodies between the two, which is proving to be a major source of comets. 3. 0 the origin of comets: short-period comets come from the kuiper belt, research suggests that most originate from a wide and diffuse region called the. Scattered disc", just past the kuiper belt: long-period comets come from the oort cloud: a swarm of icy bodies orbiting the sun at a distance of more than a light year.