Do the periods of comets decrease because they lose mass every time they get near the Sun? Robert Bailey Conover, Wisconsin Great question! Assuming you're referring specifically to the orbital period ...

New photos of comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) suggest that it could be disintegrating due to "thermal stress" from its recent slingshot around the sun. However, its fate is still unclear.

And high above, comet Hale-Bopp hung suspended like a feathery fishing lure, its tail curving off a bit, as if blown to the side by the punishing wind. One by one, stars winked on in a darkening sky.

Scientists claim that, if their predictions are correct, the orbital path of the comet may well direct it closer to the Sun than any other comet in the solar system, resulting in a historical ...

G3 ATLAS is believed to be an old comet, having made at least one previous close approach to the sun, with an orbital period of roughly 160,000 years. It reached its peak brilliance this week ...

One effect of cometary outgassing is that it changes the comet's motion. Actually, there are a number of mechanisms that can accelerate a space rock. There's orbital acceleration that can change ...

Great question! Assuming you’re referring specifically to the orbital period — in other words, how long comets take to make one revolution around the Sun, or a cometary “year ...