The discussion focuses on the formation of comet tails, which are primarily influenced by the drag factor resulting from the interaction between solar wind and the gases emitted from the comet's nucleus. The solar wind, composed of particles ejected from the sun, interacts with the comet's vapor, creating a tail that consistently points away from the sun. This phenomenon occurs even in the extremely thin environment of space, where the density of the solar wind is lower than most artificial vacuums. The orientation of the tail changes depending on the comet's trajectory relative to the sun.
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Originally posted by charlatan
A tail of vapour behind a moving object suggests that the object is moving through a medium, and the phenomenon can be explained in terms of drag factor. So what is creating the familiar tail of comets we see moving through space?