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

The ions are pushed by the solar wind, not dragged behind the motion. The figure is taken from NASA Comets, 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

A comet's tail points away from the Sun

The ions are pushed by the solar wind, not dragged behind the motion A comet has a dust tail that lags its path and a straight plasma tail that runs anti-sunward. Both emerge only as ice sublimates near the Sun. Some comets cross the sky tail first when moving inward. It sits in Mondo's space collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

NASA Comets

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

More facts like this

The Kuiper Belt holds hundreds of thousands of icy bodiesA vast ring of primordial debris extends far beyond Neptune orbit The Oort Cloud is a distant spherical shell of cometsTrillions of icy objects orbit up to one hundred thousand AU from the Sun Meteor showers occur when Earth passes through comet debris trailsTiny dust grains burn up in the upper atmosphere to create shooting stars Comet ion tails point away from the SunSolar wind sweeps charged gas backwards whether the comet is arriving or leaving Geostationary satellites sit 35,786 kilometres upAt that height one orbit takes a day, so the craft appears to hang still Mars launch windows open about every 26 monthsSpacecraft wait for the planets to line up along an elliptical path

Tags: comets, solar-wind, orbits

A comet's tail points away from the Sun: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: The ions are pushed by the solar wind, not dragged behind the motion. The figure is taken from NASA Comets, 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.