Comet C/2001 Q4 on 7 May 2004,the day after it passed closest to the Earth. Q4 reached perihelion (closest point to the Sun) just over a week later,on the 15 May. A comet is a ball of water ice and dust,which has a highly elliptical orbit around the Sun. As comets approach the Sun,they develop a tail of vaporised gas and dust that always points away from the Sun due to the solar wind. This comet was discovered by the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking system (NEAT) project in 2001,and the image was captured by the WIYN 0.9-metre telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory,USA | |
Lizenzart: | Lizenzpflichtig |
Credit: | Science Photo Library / NSF / AURA / NOAO |
Bildgröße: | 4136 px × 3813 px |
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