Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Unusual Spires Found on Comet Wild 2

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for June 22, 2004 is “Unusual Spires Found on Comet Wild 2,” an image. It is credited to Credit: Stardust Team , JPL , NASA. The original explanation runs about 149 words.

Unusual Spires Found on Comet Wild 2
Credit: Stardust Team , JPL , NASA Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“How did unusual spires form on comet Wild 2 ? Close inspection of images taken of Comet Wild 2 by the passing Stardust spacecraft in January show numerous strange pinnacles as long as 100 meters long jutting off the surface.”

— APOD editors, June 22, 2004

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
June 22, 2004
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Stardust Team , JPL , NASA
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 149 words

All of June 2004 → · 2004 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Comets

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: June 22 in other years

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Source

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.