Hale-Bopp Above the Cinqui Torri Mountains
Credit and Copyright: G. Menardi
(Col Druscie Obs.,
ACC)
Hale-Bopp may be the
most photographed
comet in history.
Above, our photogenic giant flying snowball appeared last month as a backdrop to the
"Cinque Torri" Mountains near
Contina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
Although the comet
is still fairly bright, it is fading as it recedes from the
Sun, and is now
more easily visible from
Earth's southern hemisphere.
Having shed a few meters of ice and rock from its surface,
Comet Hale-Bopp will coast to the outer
Solar System, and return again in another
2400 years.