NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has observed the inner core surrounding the icy nucleus of Comet Levy more clearly than can be done with ground-based telescopes
The image was taken September 27th with the HST's Wide Field/Planetary Camera, when the comet was at a distance of about 160,000,000 kilometers (100,000,000 miles) from Earth.
In this 4-second exposure of the comet, taken through an infrared filter, most of what can be seen is sunlight reflected from solid grains of cometary dust, carried outward by gas expanding from the icy nucleus as it is warmed by the Sun. The resulting "coma" is brightest in a fan-shaped region on the sunlit side of the nucleus.
The image has been computer processed to provide good visibility of the central con- densation of the coma. The central region is enlarged four-fold In the picture on the right side.
Comet Levy is interesting because it comes from the outermost reaches of the Solar System. The comet's solid nucleus body, no more than a few kilometers across, is unlikely to-have been significantly altered from its composition when it was created.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and STScI| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Comet Levy |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
