Comet Hyakutake. Comet Hyakutake (1996 B2,at upper left),seen in the night sky over a tree. The comet's head (bright) is comprised of a ball of ice and dust only a few kilometres across. When the comet approaches the Sun,some of the ice melts and is blown away by a stream of high- velocity charged particles from the Sun (the solar wind) to form a tail (stretching from upper left to top right). The tail is visible due to the reflection of sunlight by dust and discharges by excited gases. Comet Hyakutake passed only 15 million kilometres from Earth and was once of the brightest comets to appear in the 20th century. Photographed on 26 March 1996 | |
Licence : | Droits gérés |
Crédit: | Science Photo Library / Schad, Jerry |
Taille de l’image : | 3423 px × 5225 px |
Model Release : | Non requis |
Property Release : | Non requis |
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