And high above, comet Hale-Bopp hung suspended like a feathery fishing lure, its tail curving off a bit, as if blown to the side by the punishing wind. One by one, stars winked on in a darkening sky.

In 1950, Dutch astronomer Jan Oort—after whom the cloud was ultimately named—suggested the existence of the Oort Cloud to explain from where long-period comets come from. What causes comets from the ...

Think you're an astronomy genius?! Test your knowledge and let's see how much you know about comets and meteors with our quiz.

“Some comets are like couples—they break up, but then they get back together down the road,” says Distinguished Professor Daniel Scheeres of the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering ...