Comet Hale-Bopp. Optical image of comet Hale-Bopp over the Little Ajo mountains, Arizona, USA. Hale- Bopp was one of the brightest comets of the 20th

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Comet Hale-Bopp. Optical image of comet Hale-Bopp over the Little Ajo mountains, Arizona, USA. Hale- Bopp was one of the brightest comets of the 20th century. Its dust tail (white) consists of grains of dust pushed away from the comet head by the radiation of sunlight. The ion tail (blue) is made up of gases ionised by the effects of the solar wind. Comets have a nucleus of ice and dust. As they approach the Sun their surface evaporates, releasing a tail millions of kilometres long. The silhouette of a large saguaro cactus is seen at right. Photographed on 18th March 1997.

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Size: 4709px × 3210px
Photo credit: © FRANK ZULLO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: ajo, astronomy, comet, cometary, cosmology, dust, hale-bopp, ion, mountain, science, tail