And here comes a stunning image of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS, taken on Dec. 2 by the dynamic astrophotographer duo of Gerald Rhemann and Michael Jäger, showing the comet's tails in full glory.
It clearly shows a long wispy plasma tail and a dust tail that appears as an "anti-tail" pointing in the opposite direction.
The image was taken by their remote telescope in Namibia.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/227002358661288/user/100003512456563
Credit: Gerald Rhemann & Michael Jäger
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Here is a simple graphic illustrating the formation and viewing of a comet's anti-tail.
The anti-tail consists of larger dust particles, which are less affected by the Sun's radiation pressure, and which create a cloud/disc trailing in the comet's orbital plane. As Earth passes through the comet's orbital plane, this disc is seen side on and appears as the anti-tail.
From outside the comet's orbital plane, the anti-tail is too faint to be imaged.
More info at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_tail
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