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Credit: A. Dimai & D. Ghirardo (Col Druscie Obs.),
AAC
Explanation:
Comet Hale-Bopp is living up to its expectations.
Besides the brightness of its coma,
a comet is typically remembered by the length of its tails.
As visible in the above picture
taken last week, Comet Hale-Bopp's
blue ion tail shows a dramatic extension,
with current reports
of about 20 degrees from dark locations. The comet's white dust
tail has so far shown a more modest extent but appears to be growing
significantly. Comet Hale-Bopp's closest approach to the Sun
occurs in about two weeks, and although it will not get much closer
to the Sun than does our Earth, Comet Hale-Bopp is likely to tell even more spectacular tails then.
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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
Publications with words: Comet Hale-Bopp
See also: