A celestial object characterized by a long visible tail when orbiting near the sun. It has a small nucleus with a gaseous envelope called the coma, with dust that is blown away by solar radiation. The tail may extend as long as 100,000,000 kilometers, despite the fact that its nucleus may be only about 10 kilometers wide. The comet has a second tail, called the plasma tail, composed of ionized gases blown by the solar wind.

A comet’s revolution around the sun may range from three years to hundreds of thousands of years. Astronomers believe that there are hundreds of millions of comets in what is now called the Oort Cloud which is about a light-year away from the solar system.

Helena P. Blavatsky states in The Secret Doctrine that comets are a phase of the evolutionary development of celestial bodies in the cosmos. Diffused matter in space form themselves into comets and later become suns and globes. Quoting esoteric sources, she states:

“The Central Sun causes Fohat to collect primordial dust in the form of balls, to impel them to move in converging lines and finally to approach each other and aggregate.” (Book of Dzyan). . . . . “Being scattered in Space, without order or system, the world-germs come into frequent collision until their final aggregation, after which they become wanderers (Comets). Then the battles and struggles begin. The older (bodies) attract the younger, while others repel them. Many perish, devoured by their stronger companions. Those that escape become worlds.” (SD I:201)

V.H.C.

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