In Depth | 1P/Halley – NASA Solar System Exploration
Until the time of English astronomer Edmond Halley (1656-1742), comets were believed to make only one pass through the solar system. But in 1705, Halley used Isaac Newton's theories of gravitation …
Asteroids, Comets & Meteors - NASA Solar System Exploration
Our solar system’s small bodies – asteroids, comets, and meteors – pack big surprises. These chunks of rock, ice, and metal are leftovers from the formation of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago.
In Depth | Our Solar System – NASA Solar System Exploration
Our solar system consists of our star, the Sun, and everything bound to it by gravity – the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; dwarf planets such as Pluto; …
In 1950, astronomer Jan Oort proposed that certain comets come from a vast, extremely distant spherical shell of icy bodies surrounding the solar system. This giant swarm of objects, now named …
RPS 3D Viewer - NASA Solar System Exploration
Oct 21, 2025 · Asteroids, Comets & Meteors About Asteroids, Comets & Meteors BY TYPE Meteors & Meteorites Asteroids Comets
In Depth | Kuiper Belt – NASA Solar System Exploration
Researchers have found that some near-Earth asteroids are actually burned-out comets, and most of them would have started out in the Kuiper Belt. Many comets crash into the Sun or the planets.
In Depth | 21P/Giacobini-Zinner – NASA Solar System Exploration
Comets are usually named for their discoverer (s) or for the name of the observatory/telescope used in the discovery. Since both Michel Giacobini and Ernst Zinner discovered and recovered this comet it …
In Depth | Earth's Moon – NASA Solar System Exploration
With too sparse an atmosphere to impede impacts, a steady rain of asteroids, meteoroids, and comets strikes the surface of the Moon, leaving numerous craters behind.
C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) - NASA Solar System Exploration
Comets are usually named for their discoverer (s) or for the name of the observatory/telescope used in the discovery. Since both Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp discovered this comet it is named for them.
In Depth | Sun – NASA Solar System Exploration
The Sun orbits the center of the Milky Way, bringing with it the planets, asteroids, comets, and other objects in our solar system. Our solar system is moving with an average velocity of 450,000 miles …