COMETS

Comets come from the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud

Comets are celestial objects consisting of a nucleus of ice and dust.

HALLEY'S COMET

• Named after English astronomer Edmond Halley
• Discovered in 1705
• Is seen every 75 years

COMET HALE-BOPP

• Discovered on July 23, 1995
• Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp
• Shone for 19 months
• Won't be seen for another 2,400 years

Comet Swift-Tuttle

• American astronomers Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle were the discoverers
• First seen July 1862
• Passes Earth every 120 years

Comet Hyakutake

• First seen on January 30, 1996
• Yuji Hyakutake an amateur astronomer from southern Japan
• Astronomers believe it was here about 8,000 years ago
• Its orbit will not bring it near the Sun again for about 14,000 years

COMET SHOEMAKER-LEVI

• It was discovered in 1993.
• Astronomers Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker and David Levi found it
• Between July 16 and July 22, 1994, it collided with the planet Jupiter.

Article over comets:

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/comets/index.html

Video over comets:

http://www.sciencechannel.com/video-topics/space-videos/comets.htm