What popular description is given to comets, the ancient icy remnants from solar system formation?
Answer
Dirty snowballs
Comets, which represent the ancient, frozen building blocks remaining from the initial formation of the solar system approximately 4.6 billion years ago, are frequently characterized by the descriptive term "dirty snowballs." This popular analogy captures their composition, being primarily composed of frozen volatiles mixed with dust and rocky material. These reservoirs of ancient matter are held in distant regions such as the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud until their orbits bring them into the warmer inner solar system, initiating the processes that make them visible.
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