| A comet is an irregular body, assembled
from millimeter sized dust grains coated heavily with ices. This is the nucleus of a
comet. It has been described as a dirty snowball or a frozen mud ball! The most prominent
ice is water ice, followed by carbon dioxide ice, ammonia ice and methane ice. The dust
and the ices are so loosely held together that a comet has only the strength of a laddu or
a biscuit ! This model of the comet was originally proposed by the American astronomer
Fred Whipple and modified by others. It has been verified by observations to a large
extent. |
Parts of a Comet
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