http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap071030.html
Comet Haley's Nucleolus
This picture is a picture of a comet. In this picture you can see very well the actual nucleus of the comet. The nucleus is formed by the primordial stuff of the solar system. I believed that comets are basically very dirty icebergs but with new technology and ground-based telescopes we know the surrounding cloud of dust and gas around active comets close to a star are clearly resolving only the comet's coma. In 1986 European spacecraft, Giotto, became one of the first ever to get a photograph of a nucleus of a comet. This picture is of Halley's comet, one of the most popular comets. The nucleolus is potato shaped and about 15 kilometers wide. Haley's comet comes by only ever 76 years. So we do not get to see it very often, but know with the close up photo everyone can see it every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment