Comet Hale-Bopp
Date: 01 September 1996
Satellite: ISO
Depicts: Hale-Bopp
Copyright: ISO (ESA). P. Lamy and the Hale-Bopp team
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The image is from ISO's camera ISOCAM, and it is one of a series obtained at various infrared wavelengths in October 1996. Analysis of the images is still in progress, but the chief feature is the cloud of dust in the comet's head (coma). The bright region is about 100 000 kilometres across, or more than seven times wider than the Earth. At the time the tail of Comet Hale-Bopp was largely hidden behind the coma, because of the relative angles of the comet, the Sun and the Earth.
Last Update: 1 September 2019