Comet Hale-Bopp. Coloured optical image of comet Hale-Bopp,showing the individual jets emerging from the nucleus which make up the tail. Red areas are brightest and blue dullest. A comet is a ball of ice and dust that has an eccentric orbit around the Sun. As it approaches the Sun its surface evaporates,releasing a tail of dust and vapour that can be millions of kilometres in length. The tail always points away from the Sun,whatever direction the comet is travelling in. Comet Hale- Bopp was discovered on 23 June 1995 and is predicted to be at its brightest in the sky in March 1997. Image taken on 23 September 1996. Image processed with a rotational gradient algorithm to reveal weakly-contrasted jets | |
Lizenzart: | Lizenzpflichtig |
Credit: | Science Photo Library / Garradd, Gordon |
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