Spacecraft Flies Through Dusty Tail of Exploded Comet in Unique Chance Encounter - ScienceAlert

The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter has now given us a unique glimpse into the tail of a disintegrated comet.

However, when Solar Orbiter made its planned rendezvous with the cometary tail, it did indeed detect something.

In other words, Solar Orbiter's instruments detected the magnetic field of the comet's tail, embedded in the ambient interplanetary magnetic field.

The team's results showed that the magnetic field of the ion tail remains for a time after the comet disintegrates.

The magnetic field embedded in the solar wind then bends and drapes around the magnetic field of the ion tail.

The probe's measurements, they said, are consistent with an encounter with a cometary magnetic and plasma structure embedded in the solar wind, either associated with a fragment of the broken comet, or a portion of the tail that was previously disconnected.