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Comets

http://www.zenite.nu/

            Comets are dirty rock of ice. The dirt consists mainly of dust and rocks.

            Can be regular or not and are composed primarily of ice of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3) and water (H2O), mixed with dust and various mineral aggregates. Its life does not exceed 10 million years. It is believed that comets are remnants of the condensation of solar nebulae.

Comet structure

http://www.cdcc.sc.usp.br/cda/aprendendo-basico/sistema-solar/cometas.html

• Nucleus (Núcleo)

            Relatively robust and stable, a mixture of ice and dust lytic;

• Coma

            A dense cloud of water, carbon dioxide and other gases, sublimated from the nucleus by solar heat;

• Cloud of hydrogen

            Invisible, with millions of kilometers in diameter and which extends for millions of miles;

• Tail of dust

            The most obvious to the naked eye, consisting of dust carried by the release of gases;

• Tail of ion

            With up to some hundreds of millions of kilometers in length, composed of plasma by interaction with the solar wind.

The Wonderful World of Astronomy - ThinkQuest
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2009