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Astronomy & Space vocabulary · Solar System & Planets

Comet

Meaning in astronomy & space, with examples

/ˈkɑːmɪt/nounCore term

In astronomy & space, comet means: A small icy body that orbits the Sun. When it comes close to the Sun, its ice turns to gas and forms a glowing cloud and often long tails.

In Turkish: kuyruklu yıldız

How it is used

News stories report that a comet is 'visible to the naked eye' or 'approaching the Sun'. Astronomers name its parts: nucleus, coma and tail. Halley's Comet, the most famous, returns about every 76 years.

Example sentences

  1. A comet's tails point away from the Sun, pushed by sunlight and the solar wind.

  2. Halley's Comet will next return to the inner solar system in 2061.

Common collocations

  • comet's tail
  • bright comet
  • periodic comet
  • comet nucleus
  • Halley's Comet
  • asteroidA small rocky or metallic body that orbits the Sun. Most asteroids are found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
  • Kuiper BeltA wide ring of icy bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune, about 30 to 50 AU from the Sun. Pluto and other dwarf planets orbit there, and many short-period comets come from it.
  • meteor showerA period when many meteors seem to come from the same point in the sky, as Earth passes through dust left by a comet or an asteroid. Showers return on the same dates every year.
  • solar windA constant stream of charged particles flowing out from the Sun into space at hundreds of kilometres per second.

More terms: Solar System & Planets

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