MCQ Detailed View

Comets are small celestial bodies composed mainly of ice, dust, and rocky material. They are often described as “dirty snowballs” because of their frozen water content mixed with dust and gases. Comets are remnants from the early formation of the solar system, orbiting primarily around the Sun.

Like planets, comets are bound to the Sun by its strong gravitational pull. However, their orbits are often highly elliptical, meaning they travel very far from the Sun and then return close to it after long periods. Some comets take just a few years to complete an orbit, while others may take hundreds or even thousands of years.

When a comet approaches the Sun:

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  Solar heat causes the ice to vaporize, creating a glowing coma (a cloud of gas and dust around the nucleus).

  
  


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  Solar radiation and wind push the released material away, forming the characteristic comet tail, which always points away from the Sun, not necessarily behind the comet’s motion.

  
  


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  Once the comet moves far from the Sun, it cools down, and its tail disappears until its next close approach.

  
  

Comets originate from two main regions:

1. 
   

   Kuiper Belt: A region beyond Neptune containing icy bodies.

   
   


2. 
   

   Oort Cloud: A distant spherical shell of icy objects surrounding the solar system.

   
   

Other options are incorrect:

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  The Moon or the Earth: Comets may pass close to these bodies but do not orbit them permanently.

  
  


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  Venus: It does not have gravitational dominance over comets to capture their orbits.

  
  

The correct answer is Option A: The Sun, because comets are part of our solar system and travel around the Sun in long, elliptical orbits, just like planets but with different paths and periods.