彗星庞斯-布鲁克斯长出相反的尾巴
(原标题: Comet Pons-Brooks Develops Opposing Tails)
2024-06-04
浏览次数: 11
为什么庞斯-布鲁克斯彗星的尾巴指向相反的方向？最壮观的尾巴是蓝色发光的离子尾巴，在图像中可见。离子尾巴被太阳风直接从太阳推出。右上方是12P/ Pons-Brooks彗星的中心彗发。从彗发向外扇形散开的是彗尾，大部分在彗尾的左边。在阳光的压力下，尘埃尾巴会沿着彗星的轨道尾随彗星，从某些角度来看，它可能会与离子尾巴相反。在这张上周从纳米比亚拍摄的特色照片的底部，可以看到遥远明亮的恒星阿尔法狼。两天前，这颗彗星经过了离地球最近的地方，现在从南方的天空可以看到它的最佳位置，因为它变暗并滑向外太阳系。
查看原文解释
Why does Comet Pons-Brooks now have tails pointing in opposite directions? The most spectacular tail is the blue-glowing ion tail that is visible flowing down the image. The ion tail is pushed directly out from the Sun by the solar wind. On the upper right is the glowing central coma of Comet 12P/Pons–Brooks. Fanning out from the coma, mostly to the left, is the comet's dust tail. Pushed out and slowed down by the pressure of sunlight, the dust tail tends to trail the comet along its orbit and, from some viewing angles, can appear opposite to the ion tail. The distant, bright star Alpha Leporis is seen at the bottom of the featured image captured last week from Namibia. Two days ago, the comet passed its closest to the Earth and is now best visible from southern skies as it dims and glides back to the outer Solar System.
© Rolando Ligustri & Lukas Demetz