Comet
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A comet is an icy, small Solar System body or interstellar object that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitat
Comet Hale–Bopp after passing perihelion in April 1997
Structure of a comet
Nucleus of 103P/Hartley as imaged during a spacecraft flyby. The nucleus is about 2 km in length.
Comet 81P/Wild exhibits jets on light side and dark side, stark relief, and is dry.
Comet Hyakutake
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Comet Hyakutake is a comet discovered on 31 January 1996. It was dubbed the Great Comet of 1996; its passage to within 0.1 AU of the Earth on 25 March was one of the closest cometary approaches of the
Comet Hyakutake pictured during its closest approach to Earth on 25 March 1996
Comet Hyakutake photographed by Franz Haar in March 1996
X-ray emission from Hyakutake, as seen by the ROSAT satellite
Comet Hyakutake captured by the Hubble Space Telescope on 4 April 1996, with an infrared filter