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Comet Tails (2D)

2D Keplerian comet-tail lab: elliptical orbits with true angular-momentum-conserving speed, and dust/ion tails that always point radially away from the Sun and lengthen near perihelion.

Space & Astronomy2DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

This 2D companion replaces the original's fixed angular step with real Keplerian mechanics: each comet's true anomaly is integrated from a conserved angular momentum, so orbital speed correctly peaks at perihelion and drops at aphelion, and the dust/ion tail is recomputed every frame to point straight away from the Sun with a length that grows as the comet nears it — the same solar-wind sublimation effect that gives real comets their brightest tails at closest approach.

⚙ Under the hood

2D Keplerian comet-tail lab with angular-momentum-conserving orbital speed and a Sun-relative dust/ion tail that lengthens near perihelion.

comet tailskepler orbitsorbital mechanicssolar windangular momentumperihelion

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install

Why do comet tails always point away from the Sun, not backward along the orbit?

Solar wind and radiation pressure push a comet's dust and ionized gas radially outward from the Sun, regardless of which way the comet is moving. That is why a comet's tail can appear to lead it on the outbound leg of its orbit.

Why does the comet speed up near the Sun in this simulation?

The orbit conserves angular momentum (Kepler's second law): h = r² · dθ/dt stays constant, so as the orbital radius r shrinks near perihelion, the angular speed dθ/dt must rise to compensate.