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Message Subject Great Comet Of 2013 ISON C/2012 S1 & Asteroid DA14 Update
Poster Handle Hydra
Post Content
I know that it's only a computer representation on the video, but I've always wondered, whenever I've seen an animation or graphical representation of a comet's tail, how the point furthest away from the sun moves so quickly in relation to the comet itself?

If the tail is a stream of ice and dust particles that is being blown away from the sun, how do the particles at the end of the tail, millions of miles further away from the sun than the nucleus, manage to keep pace or even move round the sun faster than the nucleus so as to be streaming away in front of it as it starts it's journey away from the sun?

I seem to be struggling to describe what I'm thinking here :), but how is it possible that as the nucleus is zipping round the sun a million miles or so away, the far end of the tail is hundreds of million miles away, out past Jupiter's orbit, but it's swinging round the sun faster than the comet itself?

The speed at which the end of the tail must be moving through space when the nucleus is rounding the sun must be huge if it's covering the distance of Jupiter's orbit within the space of a few hours/days/weeks.

It's almost as if it's more like a torch beam than a stream of particles...
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 22729277

It dont: [link to www.google.de]

(The simulation is not perfect)



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