Photographer Yuri Beletsky recently captured this stunning photograph of comet C/2014 Q1 ( Pan - Starrs ) which is presently visible in the Southern Hemisphere .
The photo — a in high spirits Dynamic Range ( HDR ) composite — was taken from a vale in northern Chile latterly last workweek . Beletsky had to climb up a hill to get the accurate shot because the realm is hem in by mountains . I ’d say he breeze through it .
Comet C/2014 Q1 was discovered last year by astronomers work at the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System , hence the suffix “ Pan - Starrs . ”
The Moon in this photo is a thin crescent , which is why its low portion appears so bright ; the long exposure allows its darkened features to be seen .
Phil Plait , generator of the Bad Astronomy Blog , explain the comet ’s unique features :
The comet is sporting two very unlike tail ! steer directly up is the ion tail , made of petrol that sublimated away from ice in the comet and which was after ionise by the Sun ’s ultraviolet visible radiation . ionised gas is missing one or more electron , give the atoms or speck a confirming charge . The Sun ’s solar wind blowing past the comet carries its own magnetic field , which sweeps up the ions and carries them away . The solar wind is typically blowing at several hundred kilometers per 2d , far faster than the comet , so the ion tail compass point right away aside from the Sun .
In the meantime , as the ice holding the comet together turns to throttle , it also loosen debris in the comet . This leave the solid nucleus , and gets hit by sun . This gives the dust particle a footling bit of vim , interchange their orbits much more gently than the ions . The dust tail curves away from the comet , allow in very almost but not quite the same eye socket .
Much morehere .
AstronomyScience
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