Earth in a comet's tail, artwork. The comet's tail is a cloud of ions and dust being swept backwards from the icy core (centre) by the solar wind from

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Earth in a comet's tail, artwork. The comet's tail is a cloud of ions and dust being swept backwards from the icy core (centre) by the solar wind from the Sun (upper centre). A comet is a lump of ice and rock whose orbit brings it close enough to the Sun for its icy core to melt and boil into space. Both the Earth (lower centre) and the Moon (upper right) are passing through the tail. This could be a past or future encounter between the Earth and a comet. On 19 May 1910, the Earth passed through the tail of Halley's Comet. Despite panic over reports that the tail contained poisonous cyanogen gas, the tail was too diffuse to have any effect. The bright band of stars at left is the Milky Way.

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Size: 4080px × 5315px
Photo credit: © DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 19, 19/05/1910, 1900s, 1910, 20th, artwork, astronomical, astronomy, century, comet, cometary, comets, computer, earth, galaxy, halley, halleys, historical, history, illustration, media, milky, moon, panic, planet, reporting, sensationalism, sensationalist, solar, space, star, sun, system, tail