<p>The only data I could find indicates that the brightness is similar approaching and receding:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/GoYPj.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/GoYPj.png" alt="enter image description here"></a>
<a href="https://openspacescience.blog/2018/11/06/stand-by-for-comet-wirtanen-but-dont-get-too-excited/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Source</a><br>
This is for the unusual almost "tailless" <a href="https://openspacescience.blog/2018/11/06/stand-by-for-comet-wirtanen-but-dont-get-too-excited/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Comet Wirtanen</a> .</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-14T05:25:12.093Z
2019-12-14T05:25:12.093Z
Keith McClary
<p>Do the tails of comets increase on their return trip from the Sun?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-13T15:44:36.173Z
I think increase is self-evident in the context, as in, a longer tail during recession.
HaleBopp
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-13T15:46:46.453Z
Comet tails as seen from Earth can grow, shrink, or vanish entirely during the course of the comets journey through the inner solar system, depending both on what happens to the comets' supply of dust and volatiles and the relative geometry of the comets' orbits to that of the earth.
antlersoft
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-13T16:00:15.233Z
@antlersoft I think you should expand this into an answer
astrosnapper
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-13T21:31:10.533Z
It seems likely that both the decreased cometary activity from lower solar heating, and the comet itself catching up to already-emitted dust and gas would result in a shorter tail as it recedes from the sun.
notovny
<comets>
Do comet tails increase as comets move away from the Sun?
HaleBopp
# Do comet tails increase as comets move away from the Sun?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-12-13)

Do the tails of comets increase on their return trip from the Sun?

**Tags:** comets

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I think increase is self-evident in the context, as in, a longer tail during recession.  
> **username_1**: Comet tails as seen from Earth can grow, shrink, or vanish entirely during the course of the comets journey through the inner solar system, depending both on what happens to the comets' supply of dust and volatiles and the relative geometry of the comets' orbits to that of the earth.  
> **username_2**: @username_1 I think you should expand this into an answer  
> **username_3**: It seems likely that both the decreased cometary activity from lower solar heating, and the comet itself catching up to already-emitted dust and gas would result in a shorter tail as it recedes from the sun.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-12-14. Score: 1

The only data I could find indicates that the brightness is similar approaching and receding:
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/GoYPj.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/GoYPj.png)
[Source](https://openspacescience.blog/2018/11/06/stand-by-for-comet-wirtanen-but-dont-get-too-excited/)  
This is for the unusual almost "tailless" [Comet Wirtanen](https://openspacescience.blog/2018/11/06/stand-by-for-comet-wirtanen-but-dont-get-too-excited/) .


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