Comets are like the holidays, they come and they go, only their role in the universe is a bit more perplexing than the annual family get together. They might have killed the dinosaurs (bad for them, good for us?). They also might have helped bring water to Earth and other planets. For all the unknowns surrounding comets, they are at least predictable in their orbits. Every year like clockwork, their long, icy tails deliver meteor showers: As Earth moves through the path of their tail, the rice-sized bits of dust and ice burn up in our atmosphere and look like shooting stars. That’s just one manifestation of the awesomeness of comets, the theme of our visual tour this week.
Orbit on over to here to peer at more celestial bodies.
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