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Comet Hyakutake

The Inner Coma of Comet Hyakutake: Sunlight Scattered By Dust (left) and Ultraviolet Radiation From Hydrogen (right)
These are two images of the inner coma of Comet Hyakutake made on April 3 and 4, 1996, using the NASA Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). The first one, shown in red, was taken through a narrow-band red filter that shows only sunlight scattered by dust...

The Hubble telescope has probed the inner regions of Comet Hyakutake. This picture captures sunlight scattered by dust particles in the comet's inner coma.

The coma is the head or dusty-gas atmosphere surrounding a comet's icy nucleus. This image will help astronomers understand the effects of sunlight on the comet's icy central region.

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Last Updated
Mar 20, 2025
Contact
Media

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

Credits

M. Combi (University of Michigan)