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APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Comet Hale-Bopp Over Val Parola Pass
Explanation: Comet Hale-Bopp , the Great Comet of 1997, became much brighter than any surrounding stars. It was seen even over bright city lights . Away from city lights, however, it put on quite a spectacular show . Here Comet Hale-Bopp was photographed above Val Parola Pass in the Dolomite mountains surrounding Cortina d'Ampezzo , Italy . Comet Hale-Bopp 's blue ion tail , consisting of ions from the comet's nucleus , is pushed out by the solar wind . The white dust tail is composed of larger particles of dust from the nucleus driven by the pressure of sunlight, that orbit behind the comet . Observations showed that Comet Hale-Bopp 's nucleus spins about once every 12 hours.
| Date | March 2, 2008 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit & Copyright: A. Dimai, ( Col Druscie Obs. ), AAC |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |