Comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body or interstellar object that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or coma surrounding the nucleus, and sometimes a tail of gas and dust gas blown out from the coma. These phenomena are due to the effects of solar radiation and the outstreaming solar wind plasma acting upon the nucleus of the comet.
Extends: Comets, [Articles containing video clips](https://wikipedia.org.ai/Articles containing video clips), Ice, [Extraterrestrial water](https://wikipedia.org.ai/Extraterrestrial water), [Concepts in astronomy](https://wikipedia.org.ai/Concepts in astronomy)
Properties
| Property | Expected Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Image | Text | File:Comet Hale-Bopp 1995O1.jpg |
| Caption | Text | Comet Hale–Bopp, perihelion |
| Thing | Text | Small solar system body |
| Where | Text | Star systems |
| Density | Text | 0.6 g/cm3 (average) |
| Qid | Text | Q3559 |
| Commonscat | Text | Comets |
| Size | Text | Typically less than 10 km wide (nucleus) |
| Mass | Text | 1011 kg to 1017 kg |