In Depth | 1P/Halley – NASA Solar System Exploration
Halley is often called the most famous comet because it marked the first time astronomers understood comets could be repeat visitors to our night skies. Astronomers have now linked …
In Depth | 2P/Encke – NASA Solar System Exploration
Overview Comet 2P/Encke is a small comet. Its nucleus measures approximately 2.98 miles (4.8 kilometers) in diameter, which is about a third of the size of the object hypothesized to have …
In Depth | Perseids – NASA Solar System Exploration
The pieces of space debris that interact with our atmosphere to create the Perseids originate from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. Swift-Tuttle takes 133 years to orbit the Sun once.
Asteroids, Comets & Meteors - NASA Solar System Exploration
Asteroids and comets – and the meteors that sometimes come from them – are leftovers from the formation of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago.
C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) - NASA Solar System Exploration
Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) was discovered on 23 July 1995 by two independent observers, Alan Hale (Cloudcroft, N.M.) and Thomas Bopp (Stanfield, AZ), and is showing potential of …
In Depth | Oumuamua – NASA Solar System Exploration
No known asteroid or comet from our solar system varies so widely in brightness, with such a large ratio between length and width. The most elongated objects we have seen to date are no …
In Depth | 21P/Giacobini-Zinner – NASA Solar System Exploration
Comet Giacobini-Zinner was discovered on Dec. 20, 1900 by Michel Giacobini at the Nice Observatory in France. The comet was later recovered by Ernst Zinner in 1913 (October 23).
Stardust | JPL | NASA
On July 23, 1995, an unusually bright comet outside of Jupiter's orbit (7.15 AU!) was discovered independently by Alan Hale, New Mexico and Thomas Bopp, Arizona. The new comet, …
Occasionally, giant molecular clouds, stars passing nearby, or tidal interactions with the Milky Way’s disc disturb the orbit of one of these bodies in the outer region of the Oort Cloud, …
In Depth | 19P/Borrelly – NASA Solar System Exploration
In this highest resolution view of the icy, rocky nucleus of comet Borrelly, (about 45 m or 150 feet per pixel) a variety of terrains and surface textures, mountains and fault structures, as well as …