August 26, 1995
You are a way for the cosmos to know itself, Carl Sagan once said. On your birthday, the cosmos got to know itself a little better.
Two Tails of Comet West
Birthday · August 26, 1995
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APOD published August 26, 1995. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
August 26, 1995 Two Tails of Comet West Credit: Observatoire de Haute, Provence, France Explanation: Here Comet West is seen showing two enormous tails that wrap around the sky. The ion tale of a comet usually appears more blue and always points away from the Sun. The dust tail trailing the comet's nucleus is the most prominent. Comet West was a visually spectacular comet, reaching its most picturesque in March of 1976. A comet this bright occurs only about once a decade. Comets are really just large dirty snowballs that shed material when they reach the inner solar-system. Many astronomers are hopeful that Comet Hale-Bopp will look as spectacular as this in the spring of 1997.