Solar system has a tail, just like comets

(The Philippine Star)

July 12, 2013 - 10:19am

This image provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center shows a diagram of the sun, the white dot in the center of the circle which represents the inner heliosphere encompassing the entire solar system. A tail of particles flows to the right of the heliosphere. The elongated shape in light blue, containing the inner heliosphere and heliotail, is the outer heliosphere, the region where the sun still has a small amount of influence. AP

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida â€” Our solar system has a tail, just like comets. Now the U.S. space agency can prove it.

Scientists revealed images Wednesday showing the tail emanating from the bullet-shaped region of space under the grip of the sun, including the solar system and beyond. The region is known as the heliosphere, and the tail is called the heliotail.

The findings are based on data from NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX.

Scientists always presumed the heliosphere had a tail, but this provides the first real data on its shape.

Chief IBEX investigator David McComas says it's difficult to calculate the length of the heliotail. But the evaporating end of the tail could stretch 100 billion miles.

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