Media Information
 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Title:
The Ion Tail of Comet Hyakutake
Explanation:
This picture of Comet Hyakutake [ http://www.eso.org/…] was taken on March 14, 1996. Structure in the ion tale of Comet Hyakutake [ http://www.astro.wa…] is now clearly visible. An ion tale forms as a comet nears the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Sunlight causes gas and dust to boil off the comet's solid nucleus. Charged gas - called ions - are then accelerated away from the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] by the solar wind [ http://www-spof.gsf…] - fast moving particles streaming out from the Sun's corona [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. The ion tale will appear blue and glows by fluorescence [ http://charlie.ab.u…]. As Comet Hyakutake [ http://cfa-www.harv…] gets closer to the Sun during the next month, a dust tail is expected to be visible as well. Dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] tails shine by light reflected from the Sun. Comet tails [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] point away from the Sun, even as a comet moves away from the Sun. For observers in the Northern Hemisphere, Comet Hyakutake should appear tonight [ http://encke.jpl.na…] in the eastern part of the constellation of Virgo and should be about magnitude 2.5. The comet will look the most impressive in the darkest skies - in a city you are likely to see only a fuzzy blob!
Credit and Copyright:
Oscar Pizarro, 1-meter Schmidt Telescope, La Silla, Chile, European Southern Observatory [ http://www.eso.org/]
facet_when:
March 14, 1996
facet_where:
Washington
facet_where:
Chile
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_what:
ESO
facet_what:
Sun
facet_what:
FAST
facet_what:
Virgo
facet_what:
COMETS
facet_what:
comet
facet_what:
Comet Hyakutake
facet_when_year:
1996
original url:
http://antwrp.gsfc.…
UID:
SPD-APOD-ap960319

The Ion Tail of Comet Hyakutake
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