"I believe a “fog” of ice crystals surrounding a comet causes the apparent “tail” on a comet. I believe the ice crystals are hovering around the comet, held there by the miniscule gravity of the core of the comet, and that the crystals are aligned with each other by similar forces which cause the ice crystals in the ice fog I see regularly to align with each other. Thus the end of the "tail" of a comet can appear to move millions of miles in just a few days as the comet moves around the sun."
*****
Nice go at a theory. One problem is...the gravitational pull of a comet is negligable at a tiny fraction of the distance of the tail. No way the ice crystals are gravitationally bound. Co-orbiting yes. Gravitationally bound no way. Nother problem is the observed fact that comets literally jet around as they outgass, so they'd leave co-orbiting ice particles behind. Nope, they're constantly outgassing gasses and dust. Doesn't take much gas & dust to make something visible.
-p
Space/Science » in reply to Comet Tails or Tales
Re: Comet Tails or Tales