Comet's

A hazy cloud called a coma surrounds the comet's nucleus.

The coma and the nucleus together form the comet's head.

As the comet gets closer to the Sun, the coma grows. The solar winds push the dust and gas away from the coma causing them to stream off into space to form the comet's tail.

Hubble images taken in October 2013 and March 2014 show two jets of dust coming from the comet's core, or nucleus.

The Sun's heat warms the comet's ice, turning it into gas that is blown off as jets.

The annual Halley's Comet meteor shower peaked Monday, but the meteor streaks will still be visible in the sky by the end of the week. The world's best-known comet produces a meteor shower, officially known as Eta Aquariids, which can be seen once a year in the spring when the Earth crosses the comet's path.

If Rosetta's small lander successfully touches down this fall, tools aboard the 220-pound landing unit will analyze material below the comet's surface along with its internal temperature fluctuations as it hurtles through space.

On approach, the comet's tail waggled as it interacted with the magnetic field of the Sun's atmosphere.