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Chapter 15: Problem 24

Why do the ion tail and dust tail of a comet point in different directions?

Short Answer

Expert verified
The ion tail of a comet points directly away from the Sun due to the solar wind, while the dust tail follows a slightly curved path as it's influenced by both the solar radiation pressure and the comet's momentum.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding Comets

A comet is a celestial object made of ice, dust, and rocky material. When it gets close to the Sun, the heat causes the nucleus of the comet to vaporize creating an envelope of gas, or coma, around it. This process is known as sublimation. The Sun's light pressure and solar wind blow material away from the coma, forming two distinct tails.
02

Identifying the Ion Tail

The ion tail, also known as the plasma tail, is composed of ionized gas or plasma. The solar wind, which is a continuous stream of charged particles emitted by the Sun, influences the direction of the ion tail. Because the solar wind moves from the Sun towards the outer space, the ion tail always points away from the Sun, regardless of the comet's movement direction.
03

Identifying the Dust Tail

The dust tail is made up of small dust particles that were once part of the comet's nucleus. This tail does not trail directly away from the Sun like the ion tail. Instead, due to the solar radiation pressure, it curves slightly along the comet's orbital path. Therefore, it does not always directly point away from the Sun, but rather follows a slightly curved path.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

What is the evidence that an asteroid impact could have contributed to the demise of the dinosaurs?

Sun-grazing comets come so close to the Sun that their perihelion distances are essentially zero. Find the orbital periods of Sun-grazing comets whose aphelion distances are (a) 100 \(\mathrm{AU}\), (b) \(1000 \mathrm{AU}\), (c) \(10,000 \mathrm{AU}\), and (d) \(100,000 \mathrm{AU}\). Assuming that these comets can survive only a hundred perihelion passages, calculate their lifetimes. (Hint: Remember that the semimajor axis of an orbit is one-half the length of the orbit's long axis.)

The asteroid 243 Ida, which was viewed by the Galileo spacecraft, is a member of a Hirayama family. Discuss what this tells us about the history of this asteroid. Where might you look to find other members of the same family?

Suppose that a binary asteroid (two asteroids orbiting each other) is observed in which one member is 16 times brighter than the other. Suppose that both members have the same albedo and that the larger of the two is \(120 \mathrm{~km}\) in diameter. What is the diameter of the other member?

Why is the phrase "dirty snowball" an appropriate characterization of a comet's nucleus?
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