Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Solar wind sweeps charged gas backwards whether the comet is arriving or leaving. The figure is taken from NASA Science, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a space fact?

Yes. It sits on the Space shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Comet ion tails point away from the Sun

Solar wind sweeps charged gas backwards whether the comet is arriving or leaving Sunlight ionises gas escaping from a comet's nucleus, and the solar wind carries those ions straight outward. The blue ion tail therefore streams anti-sunward on both legs of the orbit, unlike the curved yellowish dust tail that trails the comet's path. Ion tails can stretch tens of millions of kilometres. It sits in Mondo's space collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

NASA Science

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Space & Astronomy trivia

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Tags: comets, solarwind, tails

Comet ion tails point away from the Sun: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Solar wind sweeps charged gas backwards whether the comet is arriving or leaving. The figure is taken from NASA Science, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a space fact?: Yes. It sits on the Space shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.