Comet Hale-Bopp seen here against the background of the glow of the aurora borealis (Northern Lights). Both the gas and dust tails of the comet are seen. The gas or "ion" tail (blue) consists of ionized glowing gas blown away from the comet head by the solar wind. The dust tail (white) consists of grains of dust pushed away from the comet head by the radiation of sunlight. A comet's tail always points away from the Sun. The luminous light of the aurora borealis is caused by charged particles from the Sun interacting with the Earth's upper atmosphere. Comet Hale-Bopp was discovered on 23 June 1995. Photographed on 28th March 1997 in Finland | |
Lizenzart: | Lizenzpflichtig |
Credit: | Science Photo Library / PEKKA PARVIAINEN |
Bildgröße: | 4999 px × 3316 px |
Modell-Rechte: | nicht erforderlich |
Eigentums-Rechte: | nicht erforderlich |
Restrictions: | - |