2007-11-15 12:06:19 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Comet Holmes itself is not bigger than the sun. The nucleus is probably only a few kilometers wide. What has happened is that it's coma has grown larger in diameter than our sun. The coma is the scarce "atmosphere" of dust and gas that the comet has expelled around it. It's certainly not more massive than the sun. The envelope of rarified debris it has spit out however makes a cloud that is bigger than the sun is.
2007-11-15 12:42:53 · answer #1 · answered by Arkalius 5 · 7⤊ 1⤋
It's the actual Coma surrounding the comet 17P Holmes that is bigger than the sun by about 9000km.
The Coma is made up of dust and gases that the comet is giving off out of 3 vents.
Comet Holmes was discovered about 100yrs ago when it did exactly the same thing.
It's the biggest object in our Solar System at the moment.
2007-11-15 18:00:44 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The coma of the comet wouldn't be bigger, but the tail certainly could. It's made of many millions of small bits of ice & rock - spread out, it could very well be bigger than the sun.
2007-11-15 13:15:52 · answer #3 · answered by quantumclaustrophobe 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, there would desire to no longer be. undemanding as that. in the in the solar, the warmth and tension is so great that for the duration of basic terms some varieties of atoms can exist. No actual physique would desire to proceed to exist intact interior that ecosystem. in spite of everything, the warmth from the solar could thoroughly wreck any comet, asteroid or the rest that got here close sufficient, long till now it even have been given previous the exterior.
2016-12-16 10:03:57 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
What the article meant was that to the naked eye, as we see it here standing on the earth, the disk of the sun is about the same size in the sky as the size of the disk of comet Holmes. One is in the daylight. One is at night. They are very far away from us at very different locations. If they were side by side, the sun would be huge compared to the comet, but because of distances and our perception from the earth, they look like they are pretty close to the same size.
2007-11-15 12:26:33 · answer #5 · answered by B. 7 · 4⤊ 2⤋
possibly they meant the comet's tail was longer than the diameter of the Sun?
it could happen.
2007-11-15 13:00:01 · answer #6 · answered by Faesson 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If it was bigger and more massive the Sun would be orbiting around it and not the other way around.
Unless the comet was spotted in another solar system.
2007-11-15 12:26:09 · answer #7 · answered by PragmaticAlien 5 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Comets are made of frozen gasses and non-volatile grains that are fused together. So being that there are an possibly endless supply of these materials in outer space, in theory a comet could be any size.
2007-11-15 12:21:14 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
The cloud of dust and gas that it has given off has expanded to become larger in diameter than the Sun. WOW!
2007-11-15 13:47:33 · answer #9 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Its a big universe, any size comet or asteroid could be floating around in the endless abyss.
2007-11-15 12:15:28 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 4⤋