Hale Bopp Comet Gallery

Artwork of comet Hale-Bopp over a tree landscape

Comet Hale-Bopp. Artist's impression of comet Hale-Bopp passing over a silhouetted rural land- scape of trees. The Milky Way galaxy seen in the background runs diagonally from upper centre to lower right. A comet is a ball of ice and dust that orbits our Sun. As it passes near the Sun its surface evaporates releasing a tail of dust and vapour that can reach millions of kilometres in length. The tail always extends in the opposite direction to the Sun, whatever direction the comet is travelling in. Comet Hale-Bopp was discovered on 23 July 1995. It is predicted to be a bright object in the night sky over Earth in March 1997

© CHRIS BUTLER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY