Part one of term paper
A comet is generally considered to consist of a small, sharp nucleus embedded in a nebulous disk called the coma. American astronomer Fred L. Whipple proposed in 1949 that the nucleus, containing practically all the mass of the comet, is a “dirty snowball” conglomerate of ices and dust. Major proofs of the snowball theory rest on various ...

Part two of term paper
... molecules CH4 (methane), NH3 (ammonia), and H2O (water), which may exist as ices or more complex, very cold compounds in the nucleus. Another fact in support of the snowball theory is that the best-observed comets move in orbits that deviate significantly from Newtonian gravitational motion. This provides clear evidence that the escaping gases produce a jet action, propelling the nucleus of a comet slightly away from its otherwise predictable path. In addition, short-period comets, observed over ...