This picture of Comet Hyakutake [ http://www.eso.org/…] was taken on March 14, 1996. Structure in the ion tale of Comet Hyakutake [ http://www.astro.wa…] is now clearly visible. An ion tale forms as a comet nears the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Sunlight causes gas and dust to boil off the comet's solid nucleus. Charged gas - called ions - are then accelerated away from the Sun [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] by the solar wind [ http://www-spof.gsf…] - fast moving particles streaming out from the Sun's corona [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. The ion tale will appear blue and glows by fluorescence [ http://charlie.ab.u…]. As Comet Hyakutake [ http://cfa-www.harv…] gets closer to the Sun during the next month, a dust tail is expected to be visible as well. Dust [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] tails shine by light reflected from the Sun. Comet tails [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] point away from the Sun, even as a comet moves away from the Sun. For observers in the Northern Hemisphere, Comet Hyakutake should appear tonight [ http://encke.jpl.na…] in the eastern part of the constellation of Virgo and should be about magnitude 2.5. The comet will look the most impressive in the darkest skies - in a city you are likely to see only a fuzzy blob!
Credit and Copyright:
Oscar Pizarro, 1-meter Schmidt Telescope, La Silla, Chile, European Southern Observatory [ http://www.eso.org/]
