Shortly after comet Hyakutake went out of sight, another
comet arrived and promised to become one of the brightest of our century.
And the astronomers' hopes were not too high ...
Due to the geometry of the comet's path gas and dust
are separated very thoroughly. Heavier dust particles (yellowish tail)
are less easily carried away by the sun wind, so the tail is bent while
the nucleus moves on to his way through our solar system. Ionized gas in
turn is blown away straight from the sun.