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To: RightWhale
why isnt the tail pointing away from the sun?
7 posted on 01/30/2003 2:05:52 PM PST by Mr. K (all your (OPTIONAL TAG LINE) are belong to us)
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To: Mr. K
why isnt the tail pointing away from the sun?

It does, but only generally away from the sun. It is made of at least some particulate matter that would follow a composite vector of the comet's motion and the pressure from the sun's radiation. The tail looks so short in the image that we are probably looking at a severely foreshortened angle out of the plane of the orbit.

8 posted on 01/30/2003 2:30:58 PM PST by RightWhale
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