Which of the following statements about comets is true? A. Comets rarely fall into an orbit around the Sun. They usually enter t
he inner solar system only once and then are gone forever. B. Most comets have a circular orbit that keeps them in the space between Mars and Jupiter. C. Comets have very elliptical orbits that usually take them far beyond the orbit of Pluto, but also take them closer to the Sun than Earth. D. Comets have very elliptical orbits that usually take them closer to the Sun than Earth, but rarely do they get further away than Pluto.
<h2>Right answer: Comets have very elliptical orbits that usually take them far beyond the orbit of Pluto, but also take them closer to the Sun than Earth</h2>
Comets are celestial bodies constituted by ice, dust and rocks that orbit around the Sun, after having been altered by the Oort cloud; following different trajectories that can be <u>highly eccentric elliptical</u><u> </u>(periodic trajectories), parabolic or hyperbolic.
One of the main characteristics of a comet is that it travels quite fast, on its way around the Sun and has a long tail. It should be noted that the tails of comets always go in the opposite direction to the Sun (due to the radiation pressure of sunlight).
