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Basically the evaporated gas of whatever the comet nucleus is made of. Often methane, ammonia, carbon mon- and di-oxide. A very good article is in the link below. However, due to relative motion and a few other forces, the tail is not all that straight.
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoSometimes it does, when it gets near the Sun. The tail may in fact sometimes be larger than the distance from Earth to Sun.
Sometimes it does, when it gets near the Sun. The tail may in fact sometimes be larger than the distance from Earth to Sun.
Sometimes it does, when it gets near the Sun. The tail may in fact sometimes be larger than the distance from Earth to Sun.
Sometimes it does, when it gets near the Sun. The tail may in fact sometimes be larger than the distance from Earth to Sun.
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoThe tail of a comet is largest when the comet is nearer to the Sun.
As a comet approaches the Sun, it develops an enormous tail of luminous material that extend for millions of kilometres from the head, away from the Sun.
The comet's ion tail is due to ionized gas from the comet's coma.
When the comet is far from the Sun, the nucleus is very cold and its material is frozen solid within the nucleus. When a comet approaches within a few AU of the Sun, the surface of the nucleus begins to warm, and the volatiles evaporate. The evaporated molecules boil off and carry small solid particles with them, forming the comet's coma of gas and dust. These are swept into the comet's tail.
(check the related link for an image)
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoAsteroids do not form tails, typically. They are dry, rocky material. Comets form tails when they get sufficiently close to the sun--generally within the orbit of Jupiter. The tail is formed by CO2, water vapor, and methane gas venting from within the comet as it heats up in the steady sunlight.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoThe wind you are referring to is solar wind.
These are the energized and charged particles that are expelled by the sun in every direction. It's not the kind of wind you experience here on earth.
These particles interact with our atmosphere to give us the northern and southern lights AND light up the dust tail of a comet. The comet's tail will always face away from the sun.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agotail of comet is away from sun because whenever a comet is approaching sun, the solar winds from sun that is the high spped moving ions fron sun force the tail of comet to be oppositely oriented from the sun. Further comet is is travelling than either ice is melting or dust or any material that comet consist of experience force due to solar wind which keeps its tail way from the sun.
Wiki User
∙ 10y agoA comet, well out from the Sun, is a "dirty snowball"; a core that might be ice, or rock, or a mixture of ice and rock, probably covered with more ice and dust or gravel rocks. When it falls into the inner solar system and starts to get near the Sun, the heat of the Sun starts to melt the ice, and vaporize it into vapor. (There are lots of different ices; methane ice and ammonia ice and, yes, some water ice - all kinds!)
The energy from the Sun actually has a pressure; someday in the future, mankind may create "solar sailboats" and race them around the solar system like we race yachts in the ocean today. Arthur C. Clarke wrote a Science Fiction story about that, almost 55 years ago, which I read in Boy's Life magazine.)
The vapor carries the dust and gravel away from the core or "nucleus" of the comet, and is pushed away from the comet by light pressure. That's why the comet's tail always points away from the Sun.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoAs a comet comes nearer to the Sun, its temperature begins to rise. This can cause frozen gases to be released along with ice, dust, and rock. The solar wind blows these into a fan shape behind the comet. The light reflected from these particles gives the comet its "tail", providing a spectacular view when they come close enough to Earth.
(*Unless a comet is moving directly away from the Sun, the tail may be formed laterally, rather than along the direct path that the comet has taken.
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoSolar wind makes a comet's tail stream out behind it.
Wiki User
∙ 7y agoA comet's tail is made of the particles knocked off or melted off of the comet's surface by the Sun's rays.
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Why would a comet stretch out and seem to have a tail as it gets closer to the sun?
I don't think it would stretch out. The tail is the result of the comet evaporating; the tail goes away from the Sun, as a result of the solar wind.
What state of matter is comets?
The nucleus of a comet is mostly solid, while the coma and tail of the comet is composed of gasses and (we believe) a lot of dust. As the comet approaches the Sun, sunlight heats the nucleus of the comet and melts some of the frozen gasses, which sublimate into space carrying dust into space, forming the coma and the tail of the comet.
A cleanser with the name to a celestial body with a nucleus and a long tail?
Comet
If a comets ion tail is pointing perpendicular to its direction of travel the comet is?
Close to or at perihelion.
Does Halley's comet atmosphere?
Good question,but NO comets do not really have lots of gravity to have a atmosphere.But they have two tails i'll tell you what they are called,one is a Rocky Tail while another is an ion tail that extends millions of miles into space. They also have a nucleus, which is basically the center of the comet. So hoped I helped ya!! :)
What shapes the comets tail into a shimmering tail?
a ion tail or a dust tail
What object produces a shimmering tail that last a few days when it approaches the sun?
a comet
What is the comet part that can be millions of miles long?
The tail of a comet is over a million miles long.
What part of a comet is formed due to the melting of the comet by the suns energy?
tail
What part of a comet is formed due to melting of the comet by the sun's energy?
tail
What is the part of a comet that points away from the sun?
tail
What is the name of the long slender part of a comet?
a tail
What part of a comet stretches directly away from the sun?
The tail
Which part of comet is on the opposite side of a comet from the sun?
Solar winds blow the debris of the traveling comet to make it appear it has a tail.
Can a comets tail be hundreds of millions of kilometers long?
Sure. As a comet approaches the sun, the comet sheds some of its material, which trails behind it for millions of kilometers. It is this tail that is the most visible part of a comet. In fact, the word comet means "hairy star," referring to the long, streaming tail. In 1910, the earth actually passed through the tail of Halley's Comet.
Part of comet that always points away from the sun?
It's tail
Do comets have a tail throughout their whole orbit?
No. The tail of a comet is just dust and vapor blown away from the comet by the solar wind. It is visible only because it reflects the Sun's light. The closer the comet is to the Sun, the more vapor and dust will be released, and the longer the comet's tail will be.It also depends on our viewing angle to the comet is. If the comet's tail is perpendicular to our line of sight, the comet tail will appear longer. If the comet's tail is pointed toward Earth or away from it, then the tail may appear very short or may not be visible at all.
