Copyright:Dan Bartlett
中文翻譯:
在夜空中，有一顆非常漂亮的彗星，叫做 Comet 10P/Tempel 2。它繞著太陽轉一圈需要 5.4 年，現在在卡爾比學座的方向可以用雙筒望遠鏡或小型望遠鏡看到哦！在這幅 7 月 11 日拍攝的清晰天文照片中，我們可以看到彗星明亮的核心和美麗的綠色彗髮。令人驚訝的是，彗星的周圍還有一條細細的塵埃軌跡，不同於一般的彗尾，向東和向西延伸著。通常，彗尾會朝著遠離太陽的方向擴展，但這條塵埃軌跡是這顆古老的周期彗星在過去的多次軌道中留下的塵埃。事實上，當地球在 7 月 20 日穿過彗星的軌道平面時，Tempel 2 的塵埃軌跡可能會變得稍微更窄、更明亮。彗星將在 8 月 2 日達到近日點，並於 8 月 3 日最接近地球。
原文:
Comet 10P/Tempel 2 orbits the Sun once every 5.4 years. Currently visible in binoculars or small telescopes toward the constellation Capricornus, the periodic comet is captured in this sharp telescopic image from July 11 sporting a bright nuclear region and pretty greenish coma. Remarkably, a thin dust trail, not a typical dust tail, is also seen extending both east and west of the Tempel 2 nucleus. Unlike a comet dust tail, which tends to temporarily fan out in a direction away from the Sun, this dust trail is due to the residual dust shed during many past orbits along this ancient periodic comet’s orbital plane. In fact, Tempel 2’s dust trail may get a little narrower and brighter from our perspective as Earth crosses through the comet’s orbital plane on July 20. Comet 10P/Tempel 2 will reach a perihelion on August 2, and make its closest approach to Earth on August 3.
來源:NASA每日圖片
