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A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma (a thin, fuzzy, temporary atmosphere) and sometimes also a tail. In the outer solar system, comets remain frozen and are extremely difficult or impossible to detect from Earth due to their small size. As a comet approaches the inner solar system, solar radiation causes the volatile materials within the comet to vaporize and stream out of the nucleus, carrying dust away with them. The streams of dust and gas thus released form a huge, extremely tenuous atmosphere around the comet called the coma, and the force exerted on the coma by the Sun's radiation pressure and solar wind cause an enormous tail to form, which points away from the sun. Thus, a tail of the coma was formed.

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13y ago
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13y ago

When the comet heats up when it

1. Enters the atmosphere.

The comet will burn up by air friction. The gasses released by this process will form the tail.

2. Get's close to the sun.

The comet will heat up and some of the comet's material will vaporize, forming a tail.

I'm afraid, part 1 is wrong. As explained in 2, a comet develops a tail well before it enters Earth's atmosphere. As a matter of fact, and luckily for us, comets very rarely enters the Earth's atmosphere.

An object that enters the atmosphere and leaves a trail of incandescent debris is called a meteor and what's left of it when it impact with Earth's surface is called a meteorite.

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14y ago

When they pass close to the sun, the heat creates vapor which becomes a tail

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9y ago

When it gets near to the sun. The sun's radiation pressure and solar causes dust and gas to stream away from the core.

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8y ago

When they become subject to solar heating.

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Q: When do you comets develop tails?
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Related questions

Do comets and asteroids both develop glowing tails near the sun?

no, only comets develop glowing tails.Fun Fact:some scientists called comets "dirty snowballs"


Why do comments have tails?

Why do comets have tails


Do asteroids tails burn?

No, they do not burn only comets have tails.


Do only comets have tails or no?

yes


Do meteorites have tails?

No, that would be comets.


What is the balls of ice in the sky with tails?

Comets


Why does an asteroid not develop a tail when its closer to the sun?

Comets develop a tail as the sun's energy vaporizes substances such as ice and dry ice that form the comet. Asteroids lack these substances and so do not devlop tails.


What makes up the tails of comets?

rocks and dust


When are comets tails present?

When they reach the inner solar system.


How long are the tails of comets?

It depends on how fast the comet is going.


Does Mars have tails?

In the sense that an observer can see tails on comets - no, the gravity and composition of Mars is not favorable to the production of a tail.


Do all comets have tails?

Because they aren't traveling towards the sun. Comet tails are caused by debries being burned off.