Comet Tail: Definition and Types

KOMPAS.com – Comet is a large object made of dust and ice that orbits the Sun. Comets are remnants of the formation of the solar system about 4.6 billion years ago.

Most comets become balls of ice that go undetected in the outermost part of the solar system.

Some of them occasionally venture into the solar system and grow very distinctive long tails.

Reported from University of Colorado, comets are completely frozen when far from the Sun.

The comet’s appearance changes as it approaches the sun. The sun’s heat can warm a comet and give it the anatomy of a comet’s core, coma, and tail.

Read also: Why Comet Borisov Likely Brings Life? Expert Explain

The comet’s tail is the part of the comet that is longer than the rest of the comet.

The direction of this structure is always away from the Sun, regardless of the direction of the comet, due to the impetus from the wind and solar radiation.

A comet’s tail is made up of gas and dust that can extend hundreds of millions of kilometers from the coma.

Comets have two tails

Most comets actually have two tails: a plasma tail made of ionized gas and a dust tail made of small solid particles.

Comets have two tails because the release of gas and dust is affected by the Sun in slightly different ways and the tails point in slightly different directions.

Read also: Astronomers have found the largest comet in the solar system, what does it look like?

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