Comet Impact -

Comets, often described as "dirty snowballs" or "icy mudballs," are primitive remnants from the formation of our solar system roughly 4.6 billion years ago. While asteroid strikes are more frequent, a comet impact carries unique risks due to its immense velocity and volatile composition of frozen gases, rock, and dust. The Mechanics of an Impact

What Is a Comet? | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids Comet Impact

: Long-period comets can be pulled apart by the sun's gravity before reaching Earth, potentially hitting as a "cluster" of fragments rather than a single body. Comets, often described as "dirty snowballs" or "icy

: While asteroids typically hit at about 20 km/s, comets can reach speeds up to 71 km/s. Because kinetic energy scales with the square of velocity, a comet can deliver more than 100 times the energy of a similarly sized asteroid. | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for