What icy body orbits the Sun and often has a glowing tail?

What icy body orbits the Sun and often has a glowing tail?

• A. Moon
• B. Asteroid
• C. Comet
• D. Star

Answer: (C)

Comets are icy bodies that orbit the Sun and develop a glowing tail when they get close to it. The heat from the Sun causes the ices to sublimate, turning into gas and dust that form a fuzzy coma around the nucleus. The solar wind and radiation pressure push this material away from the Sun, creating tails that always point outward from the Sun. This combination of an icy composition, solar-driven activity, and a visible tail is what makes comets distinctive. The Moon is a rocky satellite that orbits Earth and doesn’t produce a glowing tail. An asteroid is typically a rocky object orbiting the Sun without a coma or tail. A star is a massive luminous body that shines on its own, not a small icy object orbiting and developing a tail.

Comets are icy bodies that orbit the Sun and develop a glowing tail when they get close to it. The heat from the Sun causes the ices to sublimate, turning into gas and dust that form a fuzzy coma around the nucleus. The solar wind and radiation pressure push this material away from the Sun, creating tails that always point outward from the Sun. This combination of an icy composition, solar-driven activity, and a visible tail is what makes comets distinctive.

The Moon is a rocky satellite that orbits Earth and doesn’t produce a glowing tail. An asteroid is typically a rocky object orbiting the Sun without a coma or tail. A star is a massive luminous body that shines on its own, not a small icy object orbiting and developing a tail.