Comets

4072 TRACKED

Ice and dust on long orbits, growing a tail only when the Sun gets close enough to boil them.

RANKED LISTS
Largest▸
167P/CINEOS — 33.09 km
TOP 25
PRIMER — 60 SECONDS

Why the tail points away from the Sun

It is not trailing behind the motion — solar wind and radiation pressure push it directly away from the Sun, so an outbound comet flies tail-first.

Where they come from

Short-period comets from the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune; long-period ones from the Oort Cloud, a shell reaching a fair fraction of the way to the nearest star.

[

THE FAMOUS ONES

] 5 ENTRIES
NAME
CLASS
MASS
DISTANCE
MAG
CONSTELLATION
C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp)★
Comet
—
177.4 AU · Sun
—
—
1P/Halley★
Halley-type comet
—
17.93 AU · Sun
—
—
9P/Tempel 1★
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.146 AU · Sun
—
—
2P/Encke★
Encke-type comet
—
2.22 AU · Sun
—
—
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko★
Jupiter-family comet
9.92×10¹² kg
3.462 AU · Sun
—
—
ALL CLASSESPARABOLIC COMET · 1763JUPITER-FAMILY COMET · 846COMET · 731HYPERBOLIC COMET · 520HALLEY-TYPE COMET · 111ENCKE-TYPE COMET · 79CHIRON-TYPE COMET · 22
NAME▲
CLASS
MASS
DISTANCE
MAG
CONSTELLATION
447P/Sheppard-Tholen
Jupiter-family comet
—
5.695 AU · Sun
—
—
448P/PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.63 AU · Sun
—
—
449P/Leonard
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.598 AU · Sun
—
—
44P/Reinmuth 2
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.689 AU · Sun
—
—
450P/LONEOS
Jupiter-family comet
—
7.936 AU · Sun
—
—
451P/Christensen
Jupiter-family comet
—
6.317 AU · Sun
—
—
452P/Sheppard-Jewitt
Jupiter-family comet
—
7.271 AU · Sun
—
—
453P/WISE-Lemmon
Jupiter-family comet
—
5.457 AU · Sun
—
—
454P/PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.208 AU · Sun
—
—
455P/PANSTARRS
Encke-type comet
—
3.155 AU · Sun
—
—
456P/PANSTARRS
Encke-type comet
—
3.165 AU · Sun
—
—
457P/Lemmon-PANSTARRS
Encke-type comet
—
2.646 AU · Sun
—
—
458P/Jahn
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.861 AU · Sun
—
—
459P/Catalina
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.352 AU · Sun
—
—
45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.026 AU · Sun
—
—
460P/PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.022 AU · Sun
—
—
461P/WISE
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.139 AU · Sun
—
—
462P/LONEOS-PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.888 AU · Sun
—
—
463P/NEOWISE
Jupiter-family comet
—
2.976 AU · Sun
—
—
464P/PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.69 AU · Sun
—
—
465P/Hill
Jupiter-family comet
—
6.013 AU · Sun
—
—
466P/PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.044 AU · Sun
—
—
467P/LINEAR-Grauer
Jupiter-family comet
—
5.701 AU · Sun
—
—
468P/Siding Spring
Jupiter-family comet
—
7.147 AU · Sun
—
—
469P/PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.335 AU · Sun
—
—
46P/Wirtanen
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.093 AU · Sun
—
—
470P/PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.462 AU · Sun
—
—
471P/LINEAR-Lemmon
Jupiter-family comet
—
5.704 AU · Sun
—
—
472P/NEAT-LINEAR
Jupiter-family comet
—
7.643 AU · Sun
—
—
473P/NEAT
Halley-type comet
—
7.927 AU · Sun
—
—
474P/Hogan
Encke-type comet
—
3.129 AU · Sun
—
—
475P/Spacewatch-LINEAR
Jupiter-family comet
—
7.298 AU · Sun
—
—
476P/PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.756 AU · Sun
—
—
477P/PANSTARRS
Encke-type comet
—
3.007 AU · Sun
—
—
478P/ATLAS
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.647 AU · Sun
—
—
479P/Elenin
Jupiter-family comet
—
5.62 AU · Sun
—
—
47P/Ashbrook-Jackson
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.123 AU · Sun
—
—
480P/PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.65 AU · Sun
—
—
481P/Lemmon-PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.785 AU · Sun
—
—
482P/PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.762 AU · Sun
—
—
483P/PANSTARRS-A
Encke-type comet
—
3.173 AU · Sun
—
—
483P/PANSTARRS-B
Encke-type comet
—
3.172 AU · Sun
—
—
484P/Spacewatch
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.762 AU · Sun
—
—
485P/Sheppard-Tholen
Jupiter-family comet
—
6.841 AU · Sun
—
—
486P/Leonard
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.629 AU · Sun
—
—
487P/Siding Spring
Jupiter-family comet
—
5.165 AU · Sun
—
—
488P/NEAT-PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.737 AU · Sun
—
—
489P/Denning
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.443 AU · Sun
—
—
48P/Johnson
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.499 AU · Sun
—
—
490P/ATLAS
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.025 AU · Sun
—
—
491P/Spacewatch-PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
5.012 AU · Sun
—
—
492P/LINEAR
Jupiter-family comet
—
5.746 AU · Sun
—
—
493P/LONEOS
Jupiter-family comet
—
7.116 AU · Sun
—
—
494P/PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.798 AU · Sun
—
—
495P/Christensen
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.751 AU · Sun
—
—
496P/Hill
Jupiter-family comet
—
6.079 AU · Sun
—
—
497P/Spacewatch-PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
5.587 AU · Sun
—
—
498P/LINEAR
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.592 AU · Sun
—
—
499P/Catalina
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.015 AU · Sun
—
—
49P/Arend-Rigaux
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.567 AU · Sun
—
—
4P/Faye
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.798 AU · Sun
—
—
500P/PANSTARRS
Encke-type comet
—
3.356 AU · Sun
—
—
501P/Rankin
Encke-type comet
—
2.236 AU · Sun
—
—
502P/NEAT
Jupiter-family comet
—
8.05 AU · Sun
—
—
503P/PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.648 AU · Sun
—
—
504P/WISE-PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.745 AU · Sun
—
—
505P/Palomar
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.085 AU · Sun
—
—
506P/WISE-LINEAR
Jupiter-family comet
—
5.577 AU · Sun
—
—
507P/Lemmon
Jupiter-family comet
—
6.289 AU · Sun
—
—
508P/McNaught
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.57 AU · Sun
—
—
509P/Catalina
Jupiter-family comet
—
7.022 AU · Sun
—
—
50P/Arend
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.087 AU · Sun
—
—
510P/Boattini
Jupiter-family comet
—
6.514 AU · Sun
—
—
511P/PANSTARRS
Encke-type comet
—
3.012 AU · Sun
—
—
512P/PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
5.727 AU · Sun
—
—
513P/Broughton
Jupiter-family comet
—
7.293 AU · Sun
—
—
514P/Lemmon-PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.554 AU · Sun
—
—
515P/PANSTARRS
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.385 AU · Sun
—
—
516P/PANSTARRS
Encke-type comet
—
3.637 AU · Sun
—
—
51P/Harrington
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.71 AU · Sun
—
—
51P/Harrington-A
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.581 AU · Sun
—
—
51P/Harrington-D
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.709 AU · Sun
—
—
52P/Harrington-Abell
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.859 AU · Sun
—
—
53P/Van Biesbroeck
Jupiter-family comet
—
5.405 AU · Sun
—
—
54P/de Vico-Swift-NEAT
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.791 AU · Sun
—
—
55P/Tempel-Tuttle
Halley-type comet
—
10.34 AU · Sun
—
—
56P/Slaughter-Burnham
Jupiter-family comet
—
5.086 AU · Sun
—
—
57P/duToit-Neujmin-Delporte
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.45 AU · Sun
—
—
57P/duToit-Neujmin-Delporte-A
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.452 AU · Sun
—
—
58P/Jackson-Neujmin
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.09 AU · Sun
—
—
59P/Kearns-Kwee
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.491 AU · Sun
—
—
5D/Brorsen
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.101 AU · Sun
—
—
60P/Tsuchinshan 2
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.51 AU · Sun
—
—
61P/Shajn-Schaldach
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.692 AU · Sun
—
—
62P/Tsuchinshan 1
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.438 AU · Sun
—
—
63P/Wild 1
Jupiter-family comet
—
5.596 AU · Sun
—
—
64P/Swift-Gehrels
Jupiter-family comet
—
4.456 AU · Sun
—
—
65P/Gunn
Jupiter-family comet
—
3.884 AU · Sun
—
—
66P/du Toit
Jupiter-family comet
—
6.023 AU · Sun
—
—
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko★
Jupiter-family comet
9.92×10¹² kg
3.462 AU · Sun
—
—