Comets Are Not Forever

By Michael Werner, Peter Eisenhardt

These time capsules of the early Solar System can break apart during their journey around the Sun, releasing water and dust.

Astronomy

This Article From Issue

November-December 2019

Volume 107, Number 6

Page 370

DOI: 10.1511/2019.107.6.370

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Comets bring messages from the earliest days of the Solar System, messages that were composed as the comets formed and have remained frozen in them for eons. In their frozen state, in the far reaches of the Solar System, comets are kilometer-sized conglomerates of Solar System debris—rocks, dust, ices, and carbon-rich material.

Comets formed in the early Solar System, and reside in the Oort Cloud or the Kuiper Belt. If they are nudged inward, they release tails of water and dust as they approach the Sun.

**Courtesy ESO**

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