Donati’s Comet of 1858, seen from Cambridge, Mass., 4 October 1858.

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The Great Comet of 1858, or Donati's Comet. It achieved great prominence in October of that year, and featured in many illustrations. This engraving shows its main scimitar-shaped dust tail and two thinner gas tails. The bright star close to its head is Arcturus.

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Size: 2559px × 3954px
Location: Cambridge. Mass MA USA
Photo credit: © Galaxy Picture Library / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1858, astronomy, comet, donati, dust, gas, great, historical, observatory, plasma, scimitar-shaped, space, tail