Comet Hale-Bopp, at a distance of nearly 2,000 million kilometres from the Sun.
Comet Hale-Bopp, still active at a distance of nearly 2,000 million kilometres from the Sun. The photo is a colour composite of several exposures in different wavebands, obtained with the Wide-Field Imager (WFI) camera at the MPG/ESO 2.2-m telescope at the La Silla Observatory. Despite the very large distance from the Sun, the comet is still "active" — it continues to lose material, as demonstrated by the curved jet, and also possesses an enormous coma. The broad, fan-shaped extension in the tail direction (to the upper left) measures at least 2 million kilometres.
Credit:
ESO
About the Image
| Id: | eso0108a |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 6 March 2001 |
| Related releases: | eso0108 |
| Size: | 2826 x 1928 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Comet Hale-Bopp |
| Type: | • Solar System : Interplanetary Body : Comet • X - Solar System |
Colours & filters
| Band | Telescope |
| Optical B |
MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope WFI |
| Optical V |
MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope WFI |
| Optical R |
MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope WFI |
Images
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