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Credit & Copyright: T. Puckett
(Puckett Observatory)
Explanation:
Star trails
streak this composite time exposure of
Comet Tempel-Tuttle recorded by T. Puckett on January 26, 1998.
Then passing through the
inner solar system on its 33 year orbit around the Sun,
Tempel-Tuttle brightened unexpectedly, but
binoculars or small telescopes
were still required to visually observe it.
Tempel-Tuttle is also called
"the Leonid Comet" as the yearly
Leonid meteor shower
results when the Earth crosses this comet's orbital
plane and encounters cometary dust.
So, while not rivaling spectacular naked-eye comets like
Hyakutake or
Hale-Bopp,
Tempel-Tuttle still puts on a show.
When the Earth plunges through Tempel-Tuttle's debris tail in November of
this year,
many sky-watchers are anticipating an extremely
active meteor shower to result,
perhaps even a meteor storm!
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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 - Leonids
Publications with words: comet - Leonids
See also:
- APOD: 2024 April 17 Á Total Eclipse and Comets
- APOD: 2024 April 8 Á The Changing Ion Tail of Comet Pons Brooks
- Comet Pons-Brooks at Night
- APOD: 2024 March 18 Á Comet Pons Brooks Swirling Coma
- Comet 12P/Pons Brooks in Northern Spring
- Structure in the Tail of Comet 12P/Pons Brooks
- The Snows of Churyumov Gerasimenko