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Credit & Copyright: A. Dimai, (Col Druscie
Obs.),
AAC
Explanation:
Comet Hale-Bopp,
the Great Comet of 1997,
became much brighter than any surrounding stars.
It was seen even over bright city lights.
Away from city lights, however, it put on quite a
spectacular show.
Here
Comet Hale-Bopp was photographed above Val Parola Pass in the
Dolomite
mountains surrounding
Cortina
d'Ampezzo,
Italy.
Comet Hale-Bopp's
blue ion tail, consisting of
ions from the
comet's nucleus,
is pushed out by the solar wind.
The white
dust tail is composed of larger particles of
dust from the nucleus driven by
the pressure of sunlight, that orbit behind the
comet.
Observations showed that
Comet Hale-Bopp's nucleus spins about once every 12 hours.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Comet Hale-Bopp - comet
Publications with words: Comet Hale-Bopp - comet
See also:
- Comet C/2025 F2 SWAN
- APOD: 2025 February 5 B Comet G3 ATLAS Setting over a Chilean Hill
- APOD: 2025 February 2 B Comet G3 ATLAS Disintegrates
- APOD: 2025 January 28 B Comet G3 ATLAS over Uruguay
- APOD: 2025 January 26 B The Many Tails of Comet G3 ATLAS
- Comet G3 ATLAS: a Tail and a Telescope
- APOD: 2025 January 21 B Comet ATLAS over Brasilia