¿ Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2020 July 22 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. The Structured Tails of Comet NEOWISE Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Zixuan Lin ([4]Beijing Normal U.) Explanation: What is creating the structure in Comet NEOWISE's tails? Of the [5]two tails evident, the blue ion tail on the left points directly away from the Sun and is pushed out by the flowing and charged solar wind. Structure in the [6]ion tail comes from different rates of expelled blue-glowing ions from the comet's nucleus, as well as the always complex and continually changing structure of our [7]Sun's wind. Most unusual for [8]Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE), though, is the wavy structure of its [9]dust tail. This dust [10]tail is pushed out by sunlight, but curves as heavier [11]dust particles are better able to resist this light pressure and continue along a solar orbit. [12]Comet NEOWISE's impressive dust-tail striations are [13]not fully understood, as yet, but likely related to [14]rotating streams of sun-reflecting grit liberated by ice melting on its [15]5-kilometer wide nucleus. The featured 40-image conglomerate, [16]digitally enhanced, was captured three days ago through the dark skies of the [17]Gobi Desert in [18]Inner Mongolia, [19]China. [20]Comet NEOWISE will make it [21]closest pass to the Earth tomorrow as it moves out from the Sun. [22]The comet, already fading but [23]still visible to the unaided eye, should fade more rapidly as it recedes from the Earth. Notable NEOWISE Images Submitted to APOD: July [24]21 || [25]20 || [26]19 || [27]18 || [28]17 || [29]16 || [30]15 || [31]14 || [32]13 || [33]12 || [34]11 || [35]10 & earlier || Tomorrow's picture: open space __________________________________________________________________ [36]< | [37]Archive | [38]Submissions | [39]Index | [40]Search | [41]Calendar | [42]RSS | [43]Education | [44]About APOD | [45]Discuss | [46]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [47]Robert Nemiroff ([48]MTU) & [49]Jerry Bonnell ([50]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [51]Specific rights apply. [52]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [53]ASD at [54]NASA / [55]GSFC & [56]Michigan Tech. U. 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