This revised edition places a unique emphasis on all the new results from ground-based, satellites and space missions — detection of molecule H2 and prompt emission lines of OH for the first time; discovery of X-rays in comets; observed diversity in chemical composition among comets; the puzzle of the constancy of spin temperature; the well-established mineralogy of cometary dust; extensive theoretical modeling carried out for understanding the observed effects; the similarity in the mineralogy of dust in circumstellar shell of stars, comets, meteorites, asteroids and IDPs, thus indicating the generic relationship between them.Contents:General IntroductionDynamicsPhysical AspectsSpectraSpectra of ComaGas-Production Rates in ComaDust TailsLight Scattering TheoryThe Nature of Dust ParticlesIon TailsNucleusOriginRelation to Other Solar System StudiesProblems and ProspectsReadership: Advanced undergraduates and researchers in physics and chemistry, and astronomers.