Title
Comet West near the Sun, 1976. Creator: NASA.
Caption
Comet West near the Sun, 1976. Comet West was described as one of the brightest objects to pass through the inner solar system in 1976. The ion tale of a comet usually appears more blue and always points away from the Sun. The nucleus was seen by astronomers to split into four fragments. This was, at the time, one of very few comet breakups observed.
Date
1976
Credit line
Photo12/Heritage Images/Heritage Space
Reference
HRM19F02_289
Model release
No
License type
Rights managed
Available size
62,7Mb (2,2Mb) / 17,7in x 13,8in / 5310 x 4128 (300dpi)