Hubble image archive
The Region Around the Nucleus of Comet Hyakutake
This image is 2070 miles across (3340 km) and shows that most of the dust is being produced on the sunward-facing hemisphere of the comet. Also at upper left are three small pieces which have broken off the comet and are forming their own tails. Icy regions on the nucleus are act...
- Date
- Jan 1, 1996
- Mission
- Hubble Space Telescope
- Archive ID
- hubblesite-images-1996-14-412-image
This image is 2070 miles across (3340 km) and shows that most of the dust is being produced on the sunward-facing hemisphere of the comet. Also at upper left are three small pieces which have broken off the comet and are forming their own tails.
Icy regions on the nucleus are activated as they rotate into sunlight, ejecting large amounts of dust in the jets that are faintly visible in this image. Sunlight striking this dust eventually turns it around and "blows" it into the tailward hemisphere. What might be another jet is emanating from the nightside of the nucleus, but this direction might be misleading due to the angle of the jet relative to our line-of-site.
Image Details
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Comet Hyakutake |
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Source
Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.
View on NASA.gov