SOLAR SYSTEM

Detailed explanation-1: -Sungrazing comets are a special class of comets that come very close to the sun at their nearest approach, a point called perihelion. To be considered a sungrazer, a comet needs to get within about 850, 000 miles from the sun at perihelion. Many come even closer, even to within a few thousand miles.

Detailed explanation-2: -Can you have sungrazing asteroids? Sure–but they’re less common than the sungrazing comets, as comets typically have more elongated looping orbits in the first place, where asteroids tends to follow more circular type orbits, keeping them further away from our star.

Detailed explanation-3: -Comets go around the Sun in a highly elliptical orbit. They can spend hundreds and thousands of years out in the depths of the solar system before they return to Sun at their perihelion. Like all orbiting bodies, comets follow Kepler’s Laws-the closer they are to the Sun, the faster they move.

Detailed explanation-4: -Some asteroids are round, some are elongated, and some even have a satellite. A comet also orbits the Sun, but unlike an asteroid, it’s composed of ice and dust. So, when a comet gets close to the Sun, its ice and dust content start to vaporize. So, when seen in a telescope, a comet appears fuzzy and/or has a tail.

Detailed explanation-5: -Comets are also known as shooting stars.

Detailed explanation-6: -Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. Although asteroids orbit the Sun like planets, they are much smaller than planets.