SOLAR SYSTEM

Detailed explanation-1: -When comets come near the Sun, their tails become visible because heat from the Sun vaporizes some of the icy nucleus or head and sunlight reflects from the vapor. Solar wind pushes the vapor in a direction away from the Sun to form the comet’s tail. For this reason, comet tails generally point away from the Sun.

Detailed explanation-2: -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-3: -Comets develop tails as they approach perihelion-the place in their orbits when they are closest to the Sun. The Sun’s heat vaporizes some of the comet’s material, releasing dust particles that were trapped in the ice.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Sun’s heat causes the comet’s ices to change to gases so the coma gets larger. The coma may extend hundreds of thousands of kilometers. The pressure of sunlight and high-speed solar particles (solar wind) can blow the coma dust and gas away from the Sun, sometimes forming a long, bright tail.