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Credit & Copyright: John Gleason
(Celestial Images)
Explanation:
In 1977,
Comet Hale-Bopp's intrinsic
brightness exceeded any comet since
1811.
Since it peaked on the other side of the Earth's orbit,
however, the comet appeared only brighter
than any comet in
two decades.
Visible above are the
two tails shed by
Comet Hale-Bopp.
The
blue ion tail is composed of ionized gas molecules,
of which
carbon monoxide particularly glows blue when reacquiring
electrons.
This tail is created by the particles from the fast
solar wind interacting
with gas from the comet's head.
The blue
ion tail points directly away from the
Sun.
The white
dust tail is created
by bits of grit that have come off the
comet's nucleus
and are being pushed away by the
pressure of light from the Sun.
This tail points nearly away from the Sun.
The
above photograph was taken in March 1997.
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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 - dust - tail - Comet Hale-Bopp
Publications with words: comet - dust - tail - Comet Hale-Bopp
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