Comet Hyakutake,coloured image. The colours show the various layers of a comet,which is a body of ices and dust. Near the Sun,the icy core (red) melts and boils into space,forming a coma (green/yellow) of gases around the core (nucleus). The solar wind then blows the coma into a tail,pointing away from the Sun,which may be millions of kilometres long. Comet Hyakutake (also known as 1996 B2) was among the brightest comets of the 20th century,passing 15 million kilometres from Earth on 25 March 1996. It is a long-period comet,tracing a large elliptical orbit about the Sun. It last appeared at least 10,000 years ago,and its next visit will be in about 20,000 years time | |
Licence : | Droits gérés |
Crédit: | Science Photo Library / Lodriguss, Jerry |
Taille de l’image : | 4292 px × 2873 px |
Model Release : | Non requis |
Property Release : | Non requis |
Restrictions : |
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