Comet ISON (C/2012 S1), as observed on 10 April 2013 by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This comet was discovered on 21 September 2012 by the Intern

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Comet ISON (C/2012 S1), as observed on 10 April 2013 by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This comet was discovered on 21 September 2012 by the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON). Here, it is 621 million kilometres from the Sun, and 634 million kilometres from the Earth. It will pass close to the Sun in November 2013, increasing greatly in brightness. The area visible here is over 80,000 kilometres across, and was obtained by the HST's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) instrument. The cometary nucleus itself is only a few kilometres across. This is an enhanced view of the comet's coma (see C015/9816).

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Size: 2965px × 2965px
Photo credit: © NASA/ESA/STSCI/J.-Y. LI (PLANETARY SCIENCE INSTITUTE)/HUBBLE COMET ISON IMAGING SCIENCE TEAM/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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