August 6, 1997
The same forces that sculpt nebulae and spin galaxies into existence were at work the day you were born.
Hale-Bopp from Indian Cove
Birthday · August 6, 1997
A little universe, just for you
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APOD published August 6, 1997. Credit: W. Pacholka. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Good cameras were able to obtain impressive photographs of Comet Hale-Bopp when at its brightest earlier this year. In the above photograph taken April 5th, Comet Hale-Bopp was imaged from the Indian Cove Campground in the Joshua Tree National Forest in California, USA. A flashlight was used to momentarily illuminate foreground rocks in this 30 second exposure. Comet Hale-Bopp is still visible to the unaided eye in Earth's Southern Hemisphere, with observers there reporting it to be about 4th magnitude. The comet is now passing nearly in front of the star Sirius, and shows only a slight dust tail.
Image credit: W. Pacholka