Bright Comet SOHO
Credit and Copyright:
Michael Horn
Discovered this month with an orbiting solar observatory,
bright Comet SOHO
has now emerged from the Sun's glare.
This telephoto
picture of the new naked-eye comet was taken by
astrophotographer Michael Horn
after sunset in the western twilight above
Lake Samsonvale, Brisbane, Australia on May 18.
The comet
is seen in the
constellation Orion.
Its long lovely tail
stretches nearly 5 degrees to the bright star
Bellatrix, near the top of the image.
For Southern Hemisphere comet watchers,
views of Comet SOHO (1998J1) will improve as
this month draws to a close and
the comet climbs to the south and east
on its
journey outward bound.
In February 1999, NASA plans to launch
the Stardust mission to fly
close to a comet and return samples of
dust from a comet's tail.