... Near the Nucleus of Hyakutake . ... NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of the near-nuclear region of Comet Hyakutake on March 25 as the comet approached within 9.3 million miles of the Earth. ... The above true-color photo taken March 25th shows Comet Hyakutake passing below the stars of the Big Dipper. ... The tail of comet Hyakutake, visible in this recent color image, is composed of dust and gas driven off the icy comet nucleus by the Sun's heat and blown away by the solar wind. ...