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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 December 16 Á A Kilometer High Cliff on Comet Churyumov Gerasimenko
- APOD: 2024 November 27 Á The Meteor and the Comet
- APOD: 2024 November 11 Á The Unusual Tails of Comet Tsuchinshan Atlas
- APOD: 2024 November 6 Á Comet Tsuchinshan Atlas over the Dolomites
- APOD: 2024 October 21 Á Comet Tsuchinshan ATLAS over California
- Comet Tsuchinshan ATLAS Flys Away
- Most of Comet Tsuchinshan ATLAS