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Astronomy Picture of the Day
A Year of Spectacular Comets
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#105178
by
[z]Barbara Harris
@
01.01.2008 00:00
- nach oben -
A Year of Spectacular Comets
Explanation: Two spectacular comets graced Earth's skies during 2007. Both comets became bright enough to be
seen by
the unaided eye of the casual
sky enthusiast
. Early in 2007,
Comet McNaught
grew brighter than any comet in 40 years, displaying a
beautiful dust tail
that flowed across the sky.
Comet McNaught
(c/2006 P1) became known as the
Great Comet of 2007
, sported
unusual striations
in its expansive
dust tail
, and showed unexpectedly
complex chemistry
in its
ion tail
. Toward the year's end, normally docile and faint
Comet Holmes
brightened suddenly and unexpectedly to naked eye visibility. Remarkably,
Comet 17P/Holmes
stayed bright for weeks even though
it
lies beyond the orbit of
Mars
. No distant
comet
in recent history has remained so bright for so long.
In this view
, a white
Comet Holmes
was photographed in early December posing with the
Heart and Soul Nebulas
. APOD presents:
Astronomy Pictures of the Year for 2007
Credit & Copyright