Comet Hale-Bopp [ http://galileo.ivv.…]'s recent encounter with the inner Solar System [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] allowed many breath-taking pictures. Above, Comet Hale-Bopp [ http://encke.jpl.na…] was photographed on March 8th in the constellation of Cygnus [ http://astro.gmu.ed…]. Visible on the right in red is the North American Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], a bright emission nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] observable from a dark location with binoculars. The North American Nebula [ http://adsabs.harva…] is about 1500 light years away, much farther than the comet, which was about 8 light minutes away. Several bright blue stars from the open cluster [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] M39 are visible just above the comet's blue ion tail [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
Explanation
Comet Hale-Bopp [ http://galileo.ivv.…]'s recent encounter with the inner Solar System [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] allowed many breath-taking pictures. Above, Comet Hale-Bopp [ http://encke.jpl.na…] was photographed on March 8th in the constellation of Cygnus [ http://astro.gmu.ed…]. Visible on the right in red is the North American Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], a bright emission nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] observable from a dark location with binoculars. The North American Nebula [ http://adsabs.harva…] is about 1500 light years away, much farther than the comet, which was about 8 light minutes away. Several bright blue stars from the open cluster [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] M39 are visible just above the comet's blue ion tail [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
