Hubble image archive
Compass and Scale Image for Comet ISON
Image of Comet ISON, with compass arrows, scale bar, and color key for reference. The north and east compass arrows show the orientation of the image on the sky. Note that the relationship between north and east on the sky (as seen from below) is flipped relative to direction arr...
- Date
- Jan 1, 2013
- Mission
- Hubble Space Telescope
- Archive ID
- hubblesite-images-2013-24-3198-image
Image of Comet ISON, with compass arrows, scale bar, and color key for reference.
The north and east compass arrows show the orientation of the image on the sky. Note that the relationship between north and east on the sky (as seen from below) is flipped relative to direction arrows on a map of the ground (as seen from above).
The color key shows which filters from Hubble's WFC3 (Wide Field Camera 3) instrument were used when collecting the light.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and Z. Levay (STScI/AURA)Image Details
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Comet ISON |
| Object Description | Comet |
| Distance | At the time of the Hubble observations on May 8, 2013, the comet was 3.8 astronomical units (354 million miles) from the Sun. The comet was 4.3 astronomical units (403 million miles) from Earth. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The image was created from Hubble data from proposal by the Hubble Heritage Team, PI: Z. Levay, M. Mutchler, C. Christian, L. Frattare, W. Januszewski, M. Livio, J. Mack, and J. Sokol (STScI/AURA), and K. Noll (NASA/GSFC). High-level science products for these data are available from the . |
| Instrument | HST>WFC3/UVIS |
| Exposure Dates | May 8, 2013 |
| Filters | F350LP (long pass) |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | This image was originally black and white and recorded only overall brightness. These brightness values were translated into a range of bluish hues. Such color "maps" can be useful in helping to distinguish subtly varying brightness in an image. |
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Source
Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.
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