Comet Hale-Bopp. Coloured optical image of comet Hale-Bopp (at lower right) with the galaxy M14 in the background at upper left. A comet is a ball of ice and dust that has an eccentric orbit around the Sun. As it approaches the Sun its surface evaporates,releasing a tail of dust and vapour that can be millions of kilometres in length. The tail always points away from the Sun,whatever direction the comet is travelling in. Comet Hale- Bopp was discovered on 23 June 1995 and is pred- icted to be brightest in the sky in March 1997. Image taken on 23 October 1996; by this time water vapour has just begun to sublimate off the surface | |
Licence : | Droits gérés |
Crédit: | Science Photo Library / Garradd, Gordon |
Taille de l’image : | 2814 px × 3465 px |
Model Release : | Non requis |
Property Release : | Non requis |
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