What processes cause the difference in appearance between gas tails and dust tails in comets?
What will be an ideal response?
A comet's gas tail is produced by ionized gas carried away from the nucleus by the solar wind. The spectrum of a gas tail is an emission spectrum. The atoms are ionized by the ultraviolet component of sunlight. The wisps and kinks in gas tails are produced by the magnetic field embedded in the solar wind. Spectra of gas tails reveal atoms and ions such as H2O, CO2, CO, H, OH, HCN, O, S, C, and so on. These are released by the vaporizing ices or produced by the breakdown of those molecules. Some gases such as hydrogen isocyanide (HNC) are apparently formed by chemical reactions in the coma.
A dust tail consists of dust that was contained in the vaporized ices of the nucleus. The dust is pushed gently outward by the pressure of sunlight but is not affected by the magnetic field of the solar wind, so dust tails are more uniform than gas tails. Dust tails are often curved because the dust particles follow individual orbits around the Sun once they leave the nucleus.
Both gas and dust tails extend away from the Sun because of the forces acting on them.
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a. simple fruit b. multiple fruit c. aggregate fruit d. accessory fruit
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a. behavioral b. behavioral c. community d. ecosystem e. organismal