stackyFACTS
Science

Comet tails consistently point away from oncoming solar wind

HERE’S THE INTERESTING PART

Logic dictates that a comet's tail should drag behind it like a cape in the wind. However, space doesn't care about your logic. The tail is actually blown entirely by intense streams of radiation from the sun. Therefore, when a comet is traveling away from the sun, its tail points forward, leading the way like a complete physical contradiction.

Comet tails consistently point away from oncoming solar wind
STACKY / Science
One discovery leads to another.

Keep exploring facts in this topic.

Science →
STACKY FOR IPHONE

A bigger world.
One discovery
at a time.

Keep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.

Download on the App Store
ONE MORE DISCOVERY?

Keep exploring

All in this topic →
Oort cloud contains billions of distant icy cosmic objects
Science

Oort cloud contains billions of distant icy cosmic objects

Sitting way out past Pluto is a massive, theoretical spherical shell called the Oort Cloud. It is a cosmic junkyard containing billions of icy, frozen…

Discover more
Every single ounce of gold on Earth was forged billions of years ago in the violent, catastrophic collision of dead neutron stars deep in outer space.
Science

Every single ounce of gold on Earth was forged billions of years ago in the violent, catastrophic collision of dead neutron stars deep in outer space.

Every single ounce of gold on Earth was forged billions of years ago in the violent, catastrophic collision of dead neutron stars deep in outer space. The…

Discover more
Quasars Can Shine Like Trillions of Suns
Science

Quasars Can Shine Like Trillions of Suns

Blasting out energy equal to trillions of suns, quasars are the most wildly destructive engines in the known universe. Sitting at the furious heart of ancient…

Discover more
When the sun unleashes millions of bomb blasts worth of energy
Science

When the sun unleashes millions of bomb blasts worth of energy

The sun frequently throws tantrums that could theoretically vaporize us all. A coronal mass ejection, or solar flare, happens when twisted magnetic field…

Discover more
White dwarfs are the incredibly dense remnants of dead stars
Science

White dwarfs are the incredibly dense remnants of dead stars

When a medium-sized star like our sun eventually dies, it puffs off its outer layers and leaves behind its glowing hot core. This 'white dwarf' is roughly the…

Discover more
Ceres may hold more freshwater than Earth
Science

Ceres may hold more freshwater than Earth

It's literally just a giant rock floating in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, but Ceres is hiding a ridiculous secret. Scientists estimate that…

Discover more
StackyMore discoveries in the app
Download on the App Store