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Compass and Scale Image for Comet ISON

Compass and Scale Image for Comet ISON

About the Object

  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    At the time of the Hubble observations on October 9, 2013, the comet was 1.49 astronomical units (139 million miles) from the Sun. The comet was 1.91 astronomical units (177 million miles) from Earth.

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
    The image was created from Hubble data from proposal 13229 by the Hubble Heritage Team, PI: Z. Levay, M. Mutchler, C. Christian, L. Frattare, W. Januszewski, M. Livio, J. Mack, and J. Sokol (STScI/AURA), and K. Noll (NASA/GSFC). High-level science products for these data are available from the MAST archive at http://archive.stsci.edu/prepds/ison.
  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    HST>WFC3/UVIS
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    October 9, 2013, Exposure Time: 29 minutes
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F438W (B) and F775W (i')
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Comet ISON
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Comet
  • Release Date
    October 17, 2013
  • Science Release
    Comet ISON Appears Intact
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, and Z. Levay (STScI/AURA)

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Compass and Scale Image for Comet ISON
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

This image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3/UVIS instrument. Several filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue/green: F438W (B) and Orange: F775W (i')

Compass and Scale
Compass and ScaleAn astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.

Related Images & Videos

Incoming Comet ISON Appears Intact to NASA's Hubble

Incoming Comet ISON Appears Intact to NASA's Hubble

A new image of the sunward plunging Comet ISON suggests that the comet is intact despite some predictions that the fragile icy nucleus might disintegrate as the Sun warms it. The comet will pass closest to the Sun on November 28. In this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image taken...

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Details

Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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