The long ion tail of comet Wilson

Eso_eso8707a_1024

eso_eso8707a May 14th, 1987

Credit: ESO

The long ion tail of Comet Wilson. This photo of Comet Wilson was obtained with the ESO 1m Schmidt telescope on March 28, 1987, three weeks before its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion). It shows the development of a long, weak ion tail, consisting of ionized atoms and molecules which are pushed away from the coma (comet head) by action of the solar wind. This straight ion tail measures about 3 degrees, corresponding to about 11 million km (projected) and points towards southwest. Note also the streamers near the coma. A short, stubby dust tail is seen towards north (to the left in this picture).

Provider: European Southern Observatory

Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso8707a/

Curator: European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Comet Wilson
Subject - Solar System
Interplanetary Body > Comet

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Pseudocolor ESO-1m (None) Optical -
Eso_eso8707a_1280
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ID
eso8707a
Subject Category
A.2.2  
Subject Name
Comet Wilson
Credits
ESO
Release Date
1987-05-14T00:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso8707a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
ESO 1-metre Schmidt telescope
Instrument
None
Color Assignment
Pseudocolor
Band
Optical
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
1374.0, 1773.0
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
European Southern Observatory
URL
http://www.eso.org/
Name
Zeutschel Omniscan 11
Email
Telephone
Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City
Garching bei München
State/Province
Postal Code
D-85748
Country
Germany
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
European Southern Observatory
Publisher ID
eso
Resource ID
eso8707a
Metadata Date
2009-12-10T21:09:23+01:00
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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