What causes a comet’s tail?

A comet’s tail forms when it approaches the Sun, and heat causes its icy nucleus to sublimate into gas and dust. Solar radiation and the solar wind then push this material away from the comet, forming two distinct tails. The ion tail, composed of charged particles, points directly away from the Sun due to the influence of the solar wind. The dust tail, made of larger particles, follows the comet’s orbit in a curved trajectory. These tails make comets spectacular celestial objects visible from Earth.