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Comet Hale-Bopp Update
| Title |
Comet Hale-Bopp Update |
| Explanation |
Will comet Hale-Bopp [ http://www.halebopp.com/ ] become the brightest comet of the Century in early 1997? Since its discovery in July [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950820.html ] this year, Hale-Bopp [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/hale_bopp_info.html ] has caused much speculation. Even though it is still beyond the orbit of Jupiter it is astonishingly bright and expected to get much brighter as it plunges inward, toward the Sun. In this latest Hubble Space Telescope image [ http://www.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/95/41.html ] a bright clump of material (above center) has apparently been ejected by evaporation and the rotation of the icy nucleus [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#comet ] (below center). Astronomers are using this and other observations to try to figure out if Hale-Bopp is really a giant comet or a smaller object which will fizzle out sooner than expected as it approaches the Sun. |
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Comet Hale-Bopp Outbound
| Title |
Comet Hale-Bopp Outbound |
| Explanation |
Hale-Bopp [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/hale_bopp_info.html ], the Comet of the Century [ http://www.halebopp.com/facts.htm ], is leaving the inner Solar System. Outbound at about 12 miles per second it is presently nearing the main asteroid [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970908.html ] belt between Mars [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970627.html ] and Jupiter [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/jupiter.html ]. This false-color image [ http://www.boulder.swri.edu/swuis/bluevue.htm ] represents a recent view from low Earth orbit [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970902.html ] showing the comet surrounded by its shrinking coma [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/glossary.html#coma ] against a background of stars. It was constructed from [ http://www.boulder.swri.edu/swuis/mission.html ] a fraction of the data taken aboard the Space Shuttle [ http://shuttle.nasa.gov/reference/shutref/orbiter/ ] Discovery in August by a small innovative telescopic camera known as the Southwest Ultraviolet Imaging System [ http://www.boulder.swri.edu/swuis/ ] or SWUIS. SWUIS (sounds like "swiss") images will be particularly interesting to astronomers who wish to continue to follow the Great Comet's [ http://galileo.ivv.nasa.gov/comet/ ] interaction with the Solar Wind [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970217.html ]. The once bright Hale-Bopp [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970825.html ] has faded below 4th magnitude [ http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/universe/MAG.HTML ] but is still visible [ http://galileo.ivv.nasa.gov/comet/news.html ] to Earthbound observers south of 35 degrees north latitude [ http://galileo.ivv.nasa.gov/comet/news85.html ]. |
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Comet Hale-Bopp Over the Sup
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| Title |
Comet Hale-Bopp Over the Superstition Mountains |
| Explanation |
Four years ago, Comet Hale-Bopp [ http://galileo.ivv.nasa.gov/comet/ ] was discovered [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950820.html ] out near Jupiter [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/jupiter.html ] falling toward the inner Solar System [ http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/Curriculum.Support/Space.Science/Our.Solar.System/.index.html ]. Two years ago, it provided spectacular pictures [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/cossc/apod_search?Hale-Bopp ] as it neared its closest approach to the Sun [ http://shutter.vet.ohio-state.edu/astronomy/faq/index.htm ]. Still today, spectacular pictures [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970723.html ] of the brightest comet of the 1990s are surfacing. Above, Comet Hale-Bopp was photographed in 1997 behind the Superstition Mountains [ http://www.goodnet.com/~rfidler/Page/Superstitions.htm ] in Arizona [ http://www.state.az.us/ ]. Clearly visible are the comets white dust tail [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960326.html ] that shines by reflected sunlight, and the blue ion tail [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970514.html ] that shines by glowing gas. Currently, there are several comets visible [ http://comets.amsmeteors.org/comets/current_comets.html ] from the proper location with a small telescope. A comet visible to the unaided eye [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/bright_comet.html ] appears about once every five years. |
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