Comet C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) and star cluster M44. Comets are bodies of ice and dust that enter the inner solar system from the outer solar system. As th

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Comet C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) and star cluster M44. Comets are bodies of ice and dust that enter the inner solar system from the outer solar system. As they approach the Sun, the ice boils, producing a coma around the nucleus and a tail behind it. Comet C/2013 R1 (lower left) was discovered in September 2013 by Australian comet observer Terry Lovejoy. Here, it is about 75 million kilometres from Earth and 180 million kilometres from the Sun. Open star cluster M44 (centre right, the Beehive Cluster) is located in the constellation of Cancer. The yellowish-bright star below the comet is Delta Cancri. This image was obtained on 7 November 2013.

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Size: 3686px × 4822px
Photo credit: © DAMIAN PEACH/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: /2013, , 21st, 7, 44, 189, 2013, 2632, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, beehive, boiling, cancer, cancri, century, cluster, comet, cometary, cr, delta, dust, , gaseous, gassing, ice, lovejoy, m44, messier, ngc, november, nucleus, open, optical, periodic, planetary, praesepe, r1, science, solar, space, star, stl-11k, system, tail, telescope, universe, visible