Among the most brilliant, and most rare objects in the night sky. These soaring beacons with their beautiful tails come from the outer realms of the Solar System

Many people think that a comets tail is always following behind it, but actually the coma, or tail can either be behind the comet or in front of it. Which way the tail is pointing depends on where the Sun is. That's right, the Sun's heat and radiation produce a wind called the Solar Wind, as a comet gets close to the Sun it begins to melt. The gas and dust that melt off are blown away from the Sun by the solar winds. So if a comet is traveling towards the Sun then the tail will follow behind, but if the comet is traveling away from the Sun the tail will be in front of the comet

A comet is a small world which scientists sometimes call a planetesimal. They are made out of dust, and ice. Kind of like a dirty snow ball.
Where do they come from?Comets come from two places: The Kuiper Belt, and the Oort Cloud

Imagine a place far far away, at the very edge of the Solar System. A place where millions of comets can be seen swishing around in every direction. These Icy comets are orbiting the Sun in two different places, both of which are very distant. One place is called the Oort cloud, and the other is called the Kuiper Belt.
Why do Comets leave their home in the Oort Cloud or Kuiper Belt?A comet will spend billions of years in the Kuiper Belt or Oort Cloud. Sometimes two comets will come very close to each other, or even crash into one another. When this happens the comets change directions. Sometimes their new path will bring them into the Inner Solar System.
This is when a comet begins to shine. Up until now the comet has been among millions of others exactly the same, but as they approach the warmer Inner Solar System they begin to melt leaving behind magnificent tails.
Unfortunately Comets don't live very long once they enter the warmer part of the Solar System. Just like a snowman melts in the summer, comets melt in the Inner Solar System. Although it is the most glorious part of their lives, traveling through the Inner Solar System eventually kills them. After several thousand years they melt down to a little bit of ice, and dust, not nearly enough to leave a tail. Some even melt away completely.
Would it be safe to fly through the tail of a comet?Unlike a recent blockbuster movie showing a space ship flying past giant rocks the size of houses, a comets tail is actually quite safe. The only thing that would hit your ship would be microscopic pieces of dust.

What Is The Solar System?
The Solar System is made up of all the planets that orbit our Sun. In addition to planets, the Solar System also consists of moons, comets, asteroids, minor planets, and dust and gas.
Everything in the Solar System orbits or revolves around the Sun. The Sun contains around 98% of all the material in the Solar System. The larger an object is, the more gravity it has. Because the Sun is so large, its powerful gravity attracts all the other objects in the Solar System towards it. At the same time, these objects, which are moving very rapidly, try to fly away from the Sun, outward into the emptiness of outer space. The result of the planets trying to fly away, at the same time that the Sun is trying to pull them inward is that they become trapped half-way in between. Balanced between flying towards the Sun, and escaping into space, they spend eternity orbiting around their parent star.

How Did The Solar System form?
This is an important question, and one that is difficult for scientists to understand. After all, the creation of our Solar System took place billions of years before there were any people around to witness it. Our own evolution is tied closely to the evolution of the Solar System. Thus, without understanding from where the Solar System came from, it is difficult to comprehend how mankind came to be.
Scientists believe that the Solar System evolved from a giant cloud of dust and gas. They believe that this dust and gas began to collapse under the weight of its own gravity. As it did so, the matter in this could begin moving in a giant circle, much like the water in a drain moves around the center of the drain in a circle.
At the center of this spinning cloud, a small star begin to form. This star grew larger and larger, as it collected more of the dust and gas that were collapsing into it.
Further away from the star that was forming in the center were smaller clumps of dust and gas that were also collapsing. The star in the center eventually ignited forming our Sun, while the smaller clumps became the planets, minor planets, moons, comets, and asteroids.
Solar System FactsEach page is full of fun and exciting facts about our Solar System. Take your time, and enjoy exploring our solar family.