A comet is a small Solar System body composed mainly of ice, dust, and organic compounds. As they approach the Sun, cometary ices sublimate, releasing gas and dust that form the glowing coma and distinctive tails—often extending millions of kilometers.
Comets originate from two primary reservoirs: the Kuiper Belt—home to short-period comets with orbits under ~200 years—and the distant Oort Cloud, which sends long-period comets with orbits spanning thousands of years. Occasionally, interstellar objects like ‘Oumuamua pass through our system, appearing comet-like.
They are “dirty snowballs” and among the most primitive remnants of the early Solar System, preserving original ices and organic material from 4.6 billion years ago.
Landmark missions include ESA’s Rosetta—with its lander Philae—which orbited and sampled Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (2014–2016). NASA’s Deep Impact struck Comet Tempel 1 in 2005 to analyze interior composition.
These missions discovered complex organic molecules, including amino-acid precursors, and supported the theory that comets may have delivered water and prebiotic compounds to early Earth.
Looking ahead, ESA–JAXA’s Comet Interceptor (launch planned for 2029) intends to perform a rapid flyby of a dynamically new or interstellar comet, using multiple spacecraft to sample both nucleus and coma environments.
Comets are studied across the electromagnetic spectrum—from radio to gamma rays—using telescopes and spacecraft to understand composition, internal structure, activity, and their roles in planetary formation, the evolution of the solar system, and the origin of life.
6 January 2024
You couldn't really be caught in this blizzard while standing by a cliff on periodic comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Orbiting the comet in June of 2016, the Rosetta spacecraft's narrow angle camera did record streaks of dust and ice particles similar to snow as they drifted across the field of view close to the camera and above the comet's surface. Still, some of the bright specks in the scene are likely due to a rain of energetic charged particles or cosmic rays hitting the camera, and the dense background of stars in the direction of the constellation of the Big Dog (Canis Major). In the video, the background stars are easy to spot trailing from top to bottom. The stunning movie was constructed from 33 consecutive images taken over 25 minutes while Rosetta cruised some 13 kilometers from the comet's nucleus. In September 2016, the nucleus became the final resting place for the Rosetta spacecraft after its mission was ended with a successful controlled impact on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.