Figure 8-28 The Two Tails of Comet Mrkos (a) Comet Mrkos dominated the evening sky in August 1957. These three views, taken at 2-day intervals, show dramatic changes in the comet’s gas tail. In contrast, the slightly curved dust tail remained fuzzy and featureless. (b) Wind blowing smoke from this forest fire causes the smoke column to change shape and direction, just like the solar wind and sunlight cause the tails of comets to change shape and direction.