Comet Tempel 2’s dust trail


Wide-field view of deep space showing a bright teal comet near the center with a small, sharp core surrounded by a soft, round green glow. A thin, faint horizontal line crosses directly through the comet. A bright blue star with crisp four-pointed spikes shines above and to the left, set against a dense background of tiny white and reddish stars scattered over mottled brownish-grey dust clouds.

Chris Schur, taken from Payson, Arizona

In 1983, NASA’s pioneering Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) imaged the sky and found dust trails littered throughout the solar system. The cause turned out to be comets, which leave trails of dust that build up in their orbit. The dust trail of 10P/Tempel (also known as Comet Tempel 2) was one of the first identified in IRAS imagery. In this image, taken June 19, the astrophotographer has captured Tempel 2’s dust trail as it approaches perihelion in August, as well as an as-of-yet unexplained feature appearing at the lower right of the nucleus.