Archival images from the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed a comet that reversed its spin during a close flyby of Earth in 2017, marking the first time ever. The unusual behavior was triggered by "outgassing" jets that sent an icy mix of gas and dust into the solar system. The comet, named 41P, was discovered by American astronomer Horace Parnell Tuttle in 1858 and rediscovered by French astronomer Michel Giacobini in 1907 and again by Slovak scientist L'ubor Kresák in 1951. The speed and direction of the comet's spin was also changed during the flyby, which was previously attributed to a standard outgassing event. However, an astronomer has discovered that the sudden slowdown was followed by a previously unrecognized acceleration event. Experts are unsure if this extreme outghing event was caused by multiple jets or a single massive outflow.