Where do comets come from?
Comet Hale-Bopp, like most comets, has an orbit that is very different from the planets. The planets are all circling the Sun in roughly the same plane, as if they were all traveling on the same dinner plate. But Comet Hale-Bopp came swooping in from above the solar system, passing through the northern skies for a few months, then passing through to the southern part of the skies where only people who live in the southern hemisphere could see it.
While a comet is looping in toward the Sun, the Earth is circling in its own orbit. When, the Earth is on the opposite side of the Sun from the comet, the comet is hard to see.
Comet Hale-Bopp passed closest to the Earth on March 22 and closest to the Sun on March 31, so this was when the comet looked its brightest. Usually the best display is for a few weeks after a comet passes closest to the Sun.
- Teacher Store
-
Pluto
The Teacher Store 
Pluto
Discusses the smallest, most distant, and most mysterious planet in our solar system, its discovery, and its peculiar orbit.
$6.95
Paperback Book | Grades 3-5
Grades 3-5 $6.95
- Teacher Store
-
Saturn
The Teacher Store 
Saturn
Examines the physical characteristics and conditions of Saturn, describing its position in relation to the sun and other planets and surveying humanity's attempts to penetrate its mysteries.
$6.95
Paperback Book | Grades 3-5
Grades 3-5 $6.95
LESSON PLAN
ONLINE ACTIVITY
