Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. First discovered during the passing of Comet Hyakutake in 1996, the reason a cold comet would produce hot X-rays has since remained a mystery. The key to the solution turns out to be the unusual wind of fast ions emitted by our Sun . These ions apparently collide with gas recently emitted by the comet and cause some ions to acquire a new electron . As other comets move into the inner Solar System , this discovery should allow future study of the continually evolving gas cloud that surrounds comets as well as the composition of the solar wind .
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