The first written records of comets date back to nearly 3,000 years ago from China and Europe. The accounts of these comets were believed to be the causes of terrible events that occurred afterwards. In more recent times, however, astronomers have found out what they really are. A comet is basically a mixture of ices, from both water and frozen gases, and dust.

They have also been given the names "dirty snowballs" or "icy mud balls." The typical comet is less than 10 kilometers across. They spend most of their time frozen solid in the outer parts of our solar system.

Comets are composed of five parts: the nucleus, coma, hydrogen cloud, dust tail, and ion tail. The nucleus is pretty solid and stable, composed mostly of ice and gas with a small amount of dust and other solids. The surface of the nucleus is best described as a black crust. Comet nuclei can range from 1 kilometer to about 50 kilometers across. The black crust on the surface of the nuclei helps the comet to......

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Title: Comets
Approximate Word Count: 2365
Approximate Pages: 10 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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