The process of the formation of a comet’s tail

KOMPAS.com – Comets are icy bodies of frozen gas, rock, and dust left over from the formation of the solar system about 4.6 billion years ago.

Comets orbit the sun in highly elliptical orbits that can take hundreds of thousands of years.

According to NASA, as of September 2021, the currently known number of comets is 3,743.

However, it is estimated that there are still billions of comets orbiting the sun beyond Neptune in the Kuiper Belt and Oort clouds, far beyond Pluto.

Occasionally, a comet streaks through the inner solar system. Some comets do so regularly and some only once for several centuries.

Also read: What is the Difference Between Comet and Meteor?

Reported from Canon Science Lab, Comets consist of rock, metal dust, and frozen dust of volatile matter.

When far from the sun, comets are like rocks rolling around in the universe.

However, as it approaches the sun, the sun’s heat vaporizes the comet’s gases so that the comet emits dust and micro-particles (electrons and ions).

These ingredients make up comet tail whose flow is affected by the pressure of solar radiation.

There are two types of comet tails that reflect the light spectrum differently.

Also read: Get to know Comet Leonard that will pass near Earth today

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