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The comet is currently not close enough to the sun to have the activity leading to a large, visible tail (this would be in conflict with the mission's aims). Ho

• codezero 12y ago
  There's no set distance from the Sun for where a comet tail will develop, as it depends a lot on the size of the comet and the magnitude of the solar wind at the particular position. This comet's aphelion is around Jupiter, and comets have been observed with tails (from telescopes, not naked eyes! :P) at that distance. This comet probably is too small though. See my other comment for a better explanation of why the tail wouldn't be visible in this image. Here's a cool image of Comet Humason that was taken while it was near Jupiter in the 60s, it's pretty epic, one of the most awesome comets I came across in my studies, this image is from an obscure journal that I can't find now, but I found the image on a forum :P http://foro.tiempo.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=129406.0;attach=160470;image http://foro.tiempo.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=12940...