Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Comet Encke's Tail Ripped Off

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 3, 2007 is “Comet Encke's Tail Ripped Off,” an image. It is credited to Credit: Angelos Vourlidas (NRL) et al. , SECCHI / STEREO , NASA. The original explanation runs about 158 words.

Comet Encke's Tail Ripped Off
Credit: Angelos Vourlidas (NRL) et al. , SECCHI / STEREO , NASA Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“Swinging inside the orbit of Mercury, on April 20th periodic comet Encke encountered a blast from the Sun in the form of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). When CMEs, enormous clouds of energetic particles ejected from the Sun, slam into Earth’s magnetosphere, they often trigger auroral displays .”

— APOD editors, October 3, 2007

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
October 3, 2007
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Angelos Vourlidas (NRL) et al. , SECCHI / STEREO , NASA
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 158 words

All of October 2007 → · 2007 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

The SunComets

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: October 3 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.