SOLAR SYSTEM

Detailed explanation-1: -When a comet’s orbit brings it close to the Sun, it heats up and spews dust and gases into a giant glowing head larger than most planets. The dust and gases form a tail that stretches away from the Sun for millions of miles.

Detailed explanation-2: -Comet tails will always point away from the sun because of the radiation pressure of sunlight. The force from sunlight on the small dust particles pushing them away from the sun is greater than the force of gravity acting in the direction toward the sun.

Detailed explanation-3: -Heat from the Sun changes the comet’s icy materials to gases. The comet releases these gases, forming the coma. Radiation from the Sun and the solar wind then push a lot of this material away from the nucleus, forming the comet’s tail.

Detailed explanation-4: -As comets move close to the Sun, they develop tails of dust and ionized gas. Comets have two main tails, a dust tail and a plasma tail. The dust tail appears whitish-yellow because it is made up of tiny particles-about the size of particles of smoke-that reflect sunlight.