Comet | The Independent

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The green comet, which will be visible from Earth for the first time since the Ice Age, appears to be undergoing unusual changes.

Comet ZTF has generated excitement in recent weeks as it hurtles toward Earth, getting close enough to the planet that it should be visible to the naked eye. It will be the first closing approach in 50,000 years, and it will reach its closest point on February 1.

New images of the creature show that its tail has been ripped off. Pictures taken by comet hunter Michael Jagger, for example, make it look as if the tail is separating.

This is probably a result of what scientists call a “separation event,” where the tail is carried away by the solar wind. A 2018 study described this event as the “most notable phenomenon” in the plasma tails that form behind such comets.

This phenomenon occurs during moments of intense solar wind. This weather separates the tail from the comet’s head, and is thought to be the result of the formation of an electrostatic field behind it.

In some cases, the separation can be so strong that the tail separates from the comet.

It’s been a busy period for coronal mass ejections, which can cause powerful blasts of solar winds. There have been a number of such entities that have passed the comet, which is approaching Earth and the Sun at a time of busy solar activity, SpaceWeather.com notes.

Astronomers including those at home will be able to track the comet as it approaches Earth and should even be able to observe changes in the comet as it does so. As the ZTF approaches, it and possibly its tail should be visible to the naked eye.

The tail makes up much of what we see in a comet: although the object itself may only be a few miles across, the tail behind it can extend thousands of miles. It is made up of dust that comes out of the body and is released by the heat of the sun.

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