SOLAR SYSTEM

Detailed explanation-1: -Most comets actually have 2 tails: a plasma tail made of ionized gas, and a dust tail made of small solid particles. Comet tails point away from the Sun.

Detailed explanation-2: -Comets are cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock, and dust that orbit the Sun. When frozen, they are the size of a small town. 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.

Detailed explanation-3: -Why do comets have tails? As dust and gases stream away from the nucleus, sunlight and particles coming from the Sun push them into a bright tail that stretches behind the comet for millions of miles. When astronomers look closely, they find that comets actually have two separate tails.

Detailed explanation-4: -On January 29, 2013, ESA scientists reported that the ionosphere of the planet Venus streams outwards in a manner similar to “the ion tail seen streaming from a comet under similar conditions.” The MESSENGER mission observed magnesium and sodium being primary components of the Mercury tail.

Detailed explanation-5: -Asteroids, which are mostly rocky, do not usually form tails when they approach the Sun. Comets, however, are a mix of ice and rock, and typically do form tails as the Sun vaporizes their ice, blasting material off their surfaces and leaving a trail along their orbits.

Detailed explanation-6: -The dust tail of a comet is curved. There are two models that I tried that can make a curved tail-either different sized dust or dust released at different times. In short, a comet’s tail is curved because the net force (light plus gravity) puts the dust into different orbits than the original comet.