A comet's orbit is very elliptical -- it is a very elongated oval. The sun is at one focus of the ellipse, and typically the other focus is somewhere beyond the orbit of Pluto, in the Oort Cloud. Kepler's Laws tell us that a body orbiting the sun will move more quickly when it is closest to the sun, in this case when it is in the inner system. So a comet will move very slowly at the outer end of its orbit, speeding up as it falls towards the Sun, whip through the inner system at a great speed as it rounds the sun, and then slow down as it heads back out to the cold. Because the orbit is so very eccentric, it takes far longer to travel through the far end of it than through the inner system; a typical case would be a comet with a 70-year period that spends only a week in the inner system each orbit.
74 yo 76 years
When it is from very far away, nothing. But when a comet approaches the inner Solar System,solar radiation causes the volatile materials within the comet to vaporize and stream out of the nucleus, carrying dust away with them. That is what we call the 'tail' of a comet.
Large planetesimals from the outer solar system when they are on a trajectory that leads them to the inner solar system. This keeps large enough asteroids and comets from coming into the inner solar system. This was made very aparent during the comet that crashed into Jupiter in the 90's.
Yes. Halley's Comet is a comet that orbits our sun, and the definition of "Part of the solar system" is 'Any object that orbits our sun.'
Earth is part of the Inner Solar System.
Comet
Yes. Halley's Comet returns to the inner solar system about every 76 years.
74 yo 76 years
A comet is in a solar system. A solar system is in a galaxy, so technically a comet is also in a galaxy.
Halley's Comet is PART OF our solar system. Halley's Comet is the best-known of the short-period comets, returning to the inner solar system every 76 years or so. It never gets much further away than the orbit of Neptune.
When it is from very far away, nothing. But when a comet approaches the inner Solar System,solar radiation causes the volatile materials within the comet to vaporize and stream out of the nucleus, carrying dust away with them. That is what we call the 'tail' of a comet.
Comet C1847 T1, "Maria Mitchell's Comet", was on a hyperbolic trajectory and is not expected to return to the inner solar system.
Usually once every 76 years.
Large planetesimals from the outer solar system when they are on a trajectory that leads them to the inner solar system. This keeps large enough asteroids and comets from coming into the inner solar system. This was made very aparent during the comet that crashed into Jupiter in the 90's.
What does Halley's Comet mean for the future? Nothing special; the comet will return to the inner solar system in 2061, and ought to be a pretty special view. But in the grand scheme of things, it has no special significance.
Yes. Halley's Comet is a comet that orbits our sun, and the definition of "Part of the solar system" is 'Any object that orbits our sun.'
Comet