Meet the Comets Part 3 – Cosmic Explorers –A Song about Space / Astronomy – with Vincent & The Nirks

Let's go meet some more comets! They are cosmic explorers from near and far and are here to share their stories and adventures. Join Vincent and Luna (our Moon) as they introduce us to some very special comets that have journeyed through our solar system. We'll meet The Green Comet - a comet with 3 tails, The Headless Wonder, a comet without a tail, a binary comet/asteroid and many more! Share an adventure with The Nirks!

Lyrics:
Sometimes you’ll look up into the night sky
And see something amazing passing by
Brighter and closer than any star
Travelling our solar system from very far

A nucleus made from frozen gas, rock and ice
Tails streaming behind them that look so nice
What are these bright visitors in the sky?
Where did they come from, how and why?

They are comets, travelers way up high
Cosmic snowballs that pass us by

I’m the Green Comet or C/2002 E3
The Sun heated carbon gasses I released making my head glow green
I also have not one, or two, but 3 visible tails
A main dust tail, blue ion tail and one anti-tail

My anti-tail is a spike pointing towards the sun not away from it
It’s large particles from my dust trail, lagging behind ‘cause I’m so quick
I visited in 2023, but won’t be back soon I fear
I’m from the Oort cloud, but might return in a million years

I’m Comet Holmes, a periodic comet
I orbit the sun every 7 years and keep coming back
With an inclined elliptical orbit between Jupiter and Mars
I’m a Jupiter family comet, I’m not very far

In 2007, I put on an exciting show to see
An outburst increased my brightness and my coma swelled drastically
Just a bright ball in your sky because you were looking at my face
I’ll be back again to visit in January 2028

I’m comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock
When I was discovered in 1983, I gave astronomers a shock
I didn’t have a tail! Where did it go?
I just looked like a fuzzy globular cluster that glowed

I was about the size of a full moon in your night sky
My tail was so dim, it couldn’t be seen when I passed by
I’m a long period comet, I won’t be back soon
It’ll take over 900 years for me to return


Comets, Our journey is so much fun
As we slingshot around the sun


Comets are classified by their orbit’s duration
Short-periodic comets take less than 200 years to orbit the sun
Comets between Mars and Jupiter with orbits less than 20 years
Are called Jupitar family comets, they live very near

Long-period comets take over 200 years to orbit
Some of them will take thousands of years between each visit
Some comets journey for hundreds of thousands of years
These non-periodic comets, pass by then disappear


Comets, travelers way up high
Cosmic snowballs that pass us by

I’m the Headless Wonder, As you can see
I have a long comet tail but no visible head on me
Also known as the Great Southern Comet of 1887
My lack of head still raises a lot of questions

I’m Comet NEAT, discovered in November 2002
By the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking Observatory, it’s true
A very small comet, they thought I wouldn’t survive the sun
But I did, so I’ll return when my long-period orbit is done

I’m comet West discovered in November 1975
Around my perihelion, I shared an awesome surprise
For three whole days I became so bright
That I was visible in your sky in broad daylight!

My tail was a spectacular sight to see
But as I passed by your Sun something happened to me
I exploded into four pieces that were scattered around
Astronomers studied the two pieces that were found

Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, I’m on my way
I’m from the Oort Cloud and I want to say Hey!
Discovered by the Purple Mountain Observatory in 2023
I’ll reach Perihelion in October 2024, you’ll see

Hartley 2 a hyperactive comet with reflective spots on me
My odd shape makes me spin one direction and tumble chaotically
I release gas jets from different locations across my surface
A Jupiter family periodic comet, not near Earth so don’t be nervous

P/2006 VW139
If you want to hear an interesting comet story, it’s mine
I’m a binary comet, I have two heads that orbit each other
We have a very wide orbit around one another

I’m in the asteroid belt and classified as a binary asteroid too
The first binary object that’s both asteroid and comet, cool!
Discovered in 2006 by the PAN-STARRS1 telescope
My orbit takes about 5 years, so I’ll keep coming back around I hope

Comets, exploring outer space
On an adventure, We’ll be back some day. …

©Copyright January 2024 Goes to Eleven Media. All Rights Reserved.