Solar system has a tail, just like comets

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — Our solar system has a tail, just like comets. Now the U.S. space agency can prove it.

Scientists revealed images Wednesday showing the tail emanating from the bullet-shaped region of space under the grip of the sun, including the solar system and beyond. The region is known as the heliosphere, and the tail is called the heliotail.

The findings are based on data from NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX.

Scientists always presumed the heliosphere had a tail, but this provides the first real data on its shape.

Chief IBEX investigator David McComas says it's difficult to calculate the length of the heliotail. But the evaporating end of the tail could stretch 100 billion miles.