Astronomy Picture of the Day · March 29, 1996

The Colors of Comet Hyakutake

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for March 29, 1996 is “The Colors of Comet Hyakutake,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Credit: Colour Photograph from UK Schmidt plates by David Malin Copyright: Anglo-Australian Observatory). The original explanation runs about 189 words.

From the explanation

“The colors of Comet Hyakutake are caused by the action of sunlight on the dust and gas produced by the warming nucleus . The microscopic dust particles reflect sunlight while the sun’s ultraviolet radiation excites and ionizes the gas molecules causing them to glow or fluoresce in a range of visible colors.”

— APOD editors, March 29, 1996

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date: March 29, 1996
Type: Image
Credit: Credit: Colour Photograph from UK Schmidt plates by David Malin Copyright: Anglo-Australian Observatory
Copyright: Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length: About 189 words

All of March 1996 → · 1996 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Comets

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: March 29 in other years

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Source

Astronomy Picture of the Day, March 29, 1996 — science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-1996-march-29-the-colors-of-comet-hyakutake

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.