Comet tails are formed by solar wind
Comets dazzle with glowing tails formed when the Sun's solar wind sweeps away gases and dust released from their icy cores during close solar encounters, revealing ancient solar system secrets.
Comets, often called 'dirty snowballs,' develop their spectacular tails when approaching the Sun. The Sun's heat causes the comet's ice to turn directly into gas, forming a hazy atmosphere called a coma. The solar wind, a stream of charged particles, then pushes these gases and dust particles away, creating two distinct tails. One is a straight, bluish ion tail, and the other is a curved, whitish dust tail. These tails can stretch up to 150 million kilometers, making comets visible from Earth and offering clues about the early solar system.