What are comets and how do they orbit the sun?

Answer 1

Comets are lumps of rock or ice broken away from larger comets or asteroids. These do not only orbit the sun but other planetary systems around our universe.

They orbit our sun due to the tremendous gravitational force the sun has. It pulls everything around it with less gravity than its self towards it. A well known comet is Haley's comet, which has been orbiting the sun for millions of years. It is locked in a orbit like we are around the sun, and this one particular comet is next estimated to pass Earth again in 2065.

Smaller comets hit earth's atmosphere every day and are seen as shooting stars at night because they are simply too small to penetrate the dense gasses surrounding our planet. These are the size of grains of sand and up-to small cars.

150,000 tonnes of space material of rock and ice enter Earth as a result of gravity from the earth pulling space debris towards us.

Answer 2

Comets are small celestial bodies made of rock, dust, and ice that orbit the sun. Their orbits are typically highly elliptical, taking them from the outer solar system to the inner solar system and back. When they get close to the sun, the heat causes the icy parts of the comet to vaporize, creating a bright glowing coma and sometimes a tail.