Astronomy Picture of the Day

A Tale of Comet Holmes


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zorg.ch
#104579 by @ 11.11.2007 00:00 - nach oben -
A Tale of Comet Holmes


Explanation:

A beautiful blue ion tail
has become visible in deep telescopic images of
Comet Holmes.

Pointing generally away from the Sun and also planet Earth,
the comet's ion
tail
is seriously
foreshortened
by our extreme viewing angle.

Still, enthusiastic comet watchers
have remarked that on the whole, the compact but tentacled appearance
suggests a jellyfish or even a cosmic
calamari.

This
stunning view
of the comet's greenish coma and blue tail
was recorded on November 4 in clear skies near Budapest, Hungary.

The colors are caused by
molecules in
the tenuous gas, like C2 (green) and CO+ (blue),
fluorescing in sunlight.

In a more recent development,
the dramatic inset
is a deep image from L'Aquila, Italy on November 8,
showing the ion tail
disconnecting from the comet.




Credit & Copyright
zorg.ch
#104588 by @ 12.11.2007 09:56 - nach oben -
woah dä monolith! wie im film "2010 – Das Jahr, in dem wir Kontakt aufnehmen"
zorg.ch
#104590 by @ 12.11.2007 10:20 - nach oben -
hüt chund uf arte gad dä space odysee 2001
zorg.ch
#104593 by @ 12.11.2007 12:47 - nach oben -
dä hani mir am friitig als DVD kauft :-)