Comet NEOWISE And Its Two Tails
As comets approach the sun, they can form two tails. The ion tail (blue here) is pressed straight outwards by the solar wind, and so always points directly away from the sun. The dust tail is the trail of material outgassed by the comet as the Sun heats it up, and can take on a curved path as the comet moves in space. Here, Comet C 2020 F3 NEOWISE demonstrates for us.
As comets approach the sun, they can form two tails. The ion tail (blue here) is pressed straight outwards by the solar wind, and so always points directly away from the sun. The dust tail is the trail of material outgassed by the comet as the Sun heats it up, and can take on a curved path as the comet moves in space. Here, Comet C 2020 F3 NEOWISE demonstrates for us.
As comets approach the sun, they can form two tails. The ion tail (blue here) is pressed straight outwards by the solar wind, and so always points directly away from the sun. The dust tail is the trail of material outgassed by the comet as the Sun heats it up, and can take on a curved path as the comet moves in space. Here, Comet C 2020 F3 NEOWISE demonstrates for us.