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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

🌌 NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

A Star Cluster Through Hale-Bopp's Tail Credit and Copyright:

Date: 1997-04-16

A Star Cluster Through Hale-Bopp's Tail 
Credit and Copyright:

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Explanation:

Comet Hale-Bopp continues to look impressive.
The photograph above
captured the comet on April 7th passing nearly in front
of M34,
a star cluster in the constellation of Perseus.
Many of the stars in this open cluster
can be seen through Comet Hale-Bopp's
white dust tail. The bright blue ion tail
now shows several streams. Now receding
from both the Sun and the Earth, Comet Hale-Bopp
should still remain an impressive sight
for weeks to come as it slowly fades.