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Life of a comet

Life of a comet

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This animation shows how most comets originate in an area beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto, filled with millions of tiny comet nuclei. Occasionally a comet has a gravitational encounter with a planet and is dragged into orbit around the Sun.

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Last modified 20 January 2005

More about...

  • History of cometary missions
  • Why study comets?
  • Life of a comet
  • How many comets are there?
  • Where life began
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