The story about the broken comet is short. Comets for children

Comets are bodies of the Solar System moving in elongated orbits. As a comet approaches the Sun, a tail of gas and dust is formed, sometimes reaching millions of kilometers in length. The name "Comet" comes from the ancient Greek word "kometes" - long-haired.

What are comets? According to modern scientific concepts, comet nuclei consist of primary matter that was part of the protoplanetary cloud, from which the bodies of the Solar System were formed 5 billion years ago.

So, tailed travelers witnessed the birth of the Sun and planets and carry with them valuable information about the origin and development of stellar and planetary worlds.

Astronomers gained a deeper understanding of comets thanks to the successful “visits” in 1986 to Halley’s comet by the Soviet spacecraft Vega-1, Vega-2 and the European Giotto. Numerous instruments installed on these devices transmitted images of the comet's nucleus to Earth. It turned out that the nucleus of Comet Halley consists mainly of regular ice(interspersed with carbon dioxide and methane ice), as well as dust particles. The nucleus of Halley's Comet is irregularly shaped; its dimensions are several kilometers: 14 in length, 7.5 in width; The nucleus rotates around its axis, almost perpendicular to the plane of the comet’s orbit. The orbital period is 53 hours.

In 2005, NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft approached Comet Tempel 1, and with the help of the Impactor probe, which separated from the main spacecraft, transmitted images of its surface and collided at a speed of 10.3 km/s (37,000 km/h ) with the comet's nucleus. Processing of data obtained from observing this collision showed that the material in the upper layer of the comet is very different from what was expected to be found there. It was believed that its core was a huge block of ice interspersed with rocks in the form of small fragments. In fact, it turned out that the comet's nucleus consists of very loose material, reminiscent not even of a pile of stones, but of a huge pile of dust, the pores of which make up 80%.

When the probe collided with the comet's nucleus, the ejected material flew up in a narrow, high column. This is only possible with very loose and light soil. The results of this spectacular experiment in space led to the emergence of a new model for the structure of comet nuclei. Previously, the core was considered a contaminated snow bullet, but now it is considered as a very loose body of elongated shape. It remains unclear how such a “fluffy” substance can preserve craters, hills and sharp surface ledges, which are clearly visible in images of the nucleus of comet Tempel-1, obtained both from the Deep Impact station itself and from the impactor, which transmitted the latest images shortly before the collision. These detailed images show that the surface is not smooth or covered with dust - it has quite distinct, sharp landforms and looks much the same as the surface of the Moon, with many craters and small hills.

On March 2, 2004, an Ariane rocket was successfully launched into the nucleus of the periodic comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, discovered at Taras Shevchenko University of Kiev, from the French cosmodrome of Kourou in South America With spacecraft Rosetta with the aim of landing in 2014 from its descent module on the mysterious nucleus of this comet. Such an experiment will be carried out for the first time in the world and it will reveal the exciting mystery of the birth of the bodies of the solar system, including our planet Earth, and, possibly, the mystery of the origin of life on Earth.

With the help of the Rosetta space mission, it is planned to conduct a study of the global characteristics of the cometary nucleus, determine its dynamic properties, study the morphology of the surface layer of the nucleus and its chemical composition, determination of the chemical, mineralogical and isotopic composition of volatile and refractory substances in the cometary nucleus, determination of the physical properties and the ratio of volatile and refractory components of the cometary nucleus, monitoring the development of cometary activity and physical processes in the surface layer of the nucleus, as well as studies of the global characteristics of asteroids, including the determination of dynamic parameters, surface morphology and composition of minor planets. Many scientists believe that the Rosetta space mission is the experiment of the millennium, and in terms of the amount of money spent on it - more than one billion euros - it will be one of the most expensive experiments in the history of science, but it is worth it.

The authors of the project plan to expand the scope of observations of celestial objects in 2010 (in particular, to develop a method for observing planets, satellites of planets, asteroids, meteors, etc. using the Kyiv Internet telescope). We invite schoolchildren, astronomy teachers, amateurs and everyone who is interested in Internet observations of the night sky to participate in this project, where you can not only be observers in the lessons we offer, but also order observations of objects of interest to you in the near and distant Universe.

Comets are the brightest and rarest objects in the night sky. These floating beacons with their beautiful tails fly to us from the outer sphere of the solar system.

What is a comet?

Comet is small world, formed from dust and ice, like a dirty snowball.

Where did they come from? Explanation for children.

Comets come from two places: the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud.

Imagine a place far, far away at the very edge of the solar system. A place where you can see millions of comets flying around in a chaotic direction. These comets come to us from two different places, both of which are very far away. One of the places is called the Oort cloud, and the other is called the Kuiper belt.

Why do Comets leave their homes in the Oort Cloud or Kuiper Belt?

Comets fly for billions of years in the Kuiper belt or Oort cloud. Sometimes two comets come very close to each other or even collide. When this happens, the direction of the comets changes. Sometimes their new path runs into the solar system. Now, children, you know where comets are flying to us.

Do you know, children?

Many people think that a comet's tail always follows it, but in fact the tail can be either behind or in front of the comet. Which direction the tail points depends on where the Sun is. That's right, the sun's heat and radiation produces a wind called the solar wind and when a comet gets close to the sun, it starts to melt. Gas and dust are blown away from the Sun by the solar wind. So if a comet is moving towards the Sun, then the tail will follow behind, but if the comet is moving away from the Sun, then the tail will be in front of the comet.

At a certain moment they begin to glow. Up to this point, the comet could not be distinguished from millions of other objects in the solar system, but as it approaches the Sun, it begins to melt, leaving behind magnificent tails.

Unfortunately, comets don't live very long after they appear in the inner solar system. Just as a snowman melts in the summer, comets melt in the Inner Solar System. Although this is the most glorious part of their lives, traveling through the inner solar system ultimately kills them. After a few thousand years they will melt down to a small piece of ice and dust, not enough to leave a tail. Some even melt completely.

Is it safe to fly through the tail of a comet?

Unlike the recent blockbuster movie that showed a spaceship flying past giant rocks the size of houses, a comet's tail is actually quite harmless. The only thing that can hit your ship is microscopic dust particles.

Many people think that a comet's tail always follows it, but in fact the tail can be either behind or in front of the comet. Which direction the tail points depends on where the Sun is. That's right, the sun's heat and radiation produces a wind called the solar wind and when a comet gets close to the sun, it starts to melt. Gas and dust are blown away from the Sun by the solar wind. So, if a comet is moving towards the Sun, the tail will follow behind, but if the comet is moving away from the Sun, the tail will be in front of the comet.

Comets are bright and interesting objects in the night sky. These celestial objects fly to us from other parts of the Galaxy and are quite frequent guests in the sky.

What is a comet?

A comet is usually understood as a small ball consisting of ice, dust and large inclusions.

Origin of comets

All comets originate from the Oort Cloud or Kuiper Belt.

All children can imagine a distant place at the edge of our solar system. You can see this place only with the most powerful telescope. Here millions of comets fly in a chaotic direction. This is where they fly from comets into our system. Scientists today know only two places for the accumulation of such celestial bodies - the Kuiper Belt and the Oort cloud.

Why do comets fly in outer space?

Comets can travel for billions of years in the Oort cloud and Kuiper belt. However, when they collide with each other, these celestial bodies change their trajectory. And often the new trajectory of movement passes through solar system. We hope that now children know why comets change their trajectory and fly into our system.

Interesting facts about comets

It is generally accepted that the tail of this celestial body must be behind the comet. However, it is not uncommon for it to be located in front of a comet. Its location directly depends on the Sun. The solar wind carries thermal energy that melts the ice on the comet and forms a tail. Such a tail, provided that the solar wind blows from behind the comet, can outpace the celestial globe.

Initially, it is problematic to notice a comet, since they begin to glow only when flying into close proximity from the sun. Under the influence of thermal energy, the comet begins to melt, which leads to the appearance of a tail that is clearly visible to all of us.

Usually a visit to the solar system ends tragically for a comet. The ice melts under the influence of heat from the sun, and soon the tail of this celestial body shrinks so much that it becomes completely invisible. Some small-sized comets completely melt away and are no longer classified by astronomers.

Composition of a comet's tail

Many may be interested in the question of whether it is safe to fly a spaceship through the tail of a comet. We can say that studies have shown that the tail of this celestial body consists of microscopic dust and melted ice. Therefore, flying through such a comet trail will be completely safe.

Based on the shape of the comet's tail, you can determine its direction of movement and the direction of the solar wind. And remember that the tail may not necessarily be located behind the celestial body. It is not uncommon for a plume of dust and melted ice to be in front of a comet.