• Question: What gases do comets give off?

    Asked by alexanderg123 to Alan on 12 Mar 2014.
    • Photo: Alan Fitzsimmons

      Alan Fitzsimmons answered on 12 Mar 2014:

      Most of the gas is water (steam), with a little bit of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, and some really tiny quantities of other gases.

      This is because a comet is mostly made of frozen water ice, carbon monoxide ice and carbon dioxide ice. When it comes near the Sun it gets warm and the ice boils off the surface into a gas.

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