The formation of a second tail on a comet was captured from space.

The LASCO telescope, which observed comet C/2025 R3, managed to observe the formation of a second tail around the comet's body during the last 24 hours before it disappeared from view. The attached video begins at 18:18 UT on April 25 and ends yeaterday, April 26, at 23:18 UT (total duration: 29 hours). The tail forms below the bright core and then rotates clockwise.

The nature of the structure is not entirely clear. Second tails of comets, called ion tails, are usually formed by the action of the solar wind, but since comets are constantly immersed in the solar wind, the associated tails are usually stationary, long-lasting structures. In this case, it is difficult to explain the sudden formation of the tail and its very rapid dynamics: over the course of the 24-hour observation period, the tail rotated around the comet's nucleus by approximately 90°.

One likely explanation is that the comet was struck by one of the two plasma clouds ejected by the Sun on April 23-24, between which the Earth had so conveniently passed the day before. The onset of the formation of C/2025 R3's second tail (midday on April 25) roughly coincides with the estimated time when the comet could have been struck by a solar strike. A sharp increase in the density and temperature of the surrounding gas could have triggered the formation of an ion tail, which lacked the density of the normal solar wind. However, other explanations exist, ranging from the banal—mere coincidence—to the more romantic, such as the awakening of a geyser on the comet's nucleus (this does happen).

The comet should become visible from Earth again within a few days (the Sun is currently preventing this). We'll see if the celestial body retains its second tail by then. If not, then the hypothesis that the tail was temporarily formed by a solar plasma strike becomes very likely.