Comments on: The two tails of Comet Garradd

By: Matt B.

Matt B. — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 20:44:04 +0000

Neat. I was hoping we’d see a perspective shot like this since the last time BA talked about comets having two tails. And it didn’t take long.

By: Las colas opuestas del cometa Garradd | Imagen astronomía diaria - Observatorio

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:22:35 +0000

[...] en direcciones casi opuestas. El cometa Garradd muestra actualmente colas opuestas debido al ángulo de visión desde la Tierra. Esta imagen , captada la semana pasada, muestra la cola de polvo ligeramente [...]

By: K. Nilsson

K. Nilsson — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 06:22:56 +0000

Wow… you were referenced in Today’s APOD. Great Job.
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/
For 28 Feb 2012

Way to go Phil !!!

look under the intermediate viewing angle. link

By: Bob S.

Bob S. — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 02:24:41 +0000

“He’s intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two-dimensional thinking.”
-Spock

Sorry, couldn’t resist…

By: C-Rash

C-Rash — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:52:22 +0000

For Zerodash-

“Comet Garradd…at Tanagra, arms wide”

By: Diederick

Diederick — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 07:03:37 +0000

“Aha! Oh, I love a chance to lecture a bit. ”

I know. That’s why I visit this site every day.

By: Daniel Fischer

Daniel Fischer — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:18:22 +0000

When you look at better images of comet Garradd, e.g. those by Ronaldo Ligustri to which I’m often linking in my blog, you see that the dust tail is actually a wide fan as many finer particles *are* blown away by solar radiation pressure – the graphic here is misleading. That – regular – dust tail can be seen, in the better images, lying underneath the plasma tail. So technically Garradd has three tails: a gas tail, a dust tail and what’s called an anti-tail.

By: Jan from Denmark

Jan from Denmark — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:39:00 +0000

A really cool example of : “It’s a matter of perspective”. It took me about 2 seconds from seeing the image till I had the “3D image”.

Very good shot.

By: Chris A.

Chris A. — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:46:12 +0000

I was under the impression that both tails (gas and dust) get swept away from the sun, but to differing degrees (the gas tail, mostly by the solar wind; and the dust tail, mostly by photon pressure). The fact that dust particles are a lot heavier than gas molecules, and photon pressure is pretty wimpy, is why the gas tail tends to be straight (the force pushing it away from the nucleus overwhelms the sun’s gravity) and dust tails tend to be curved (the dust particles follow slightly altered solar orbits, with gravity still playing a large role in their trajectories).

By: Zerodash

Zerodash — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:44:35 +0000

Comet Garradd…at Tanagra.

By: Dawil

Dawil — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:34:52 +0000

Re http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2012/02/22/the-two-tails-of-comet-garradd/, in the second sentence, that should be “his posting.”

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:35:41 +0000

The image there looks almost stellar with the rays artefact. Remarkable.

Without the write-up, going by just the photo I’d have first guessed it was a binary star – one hot the other cooler – with either jets or surrounding nebulosity.

Just goes to show how first impressions can be misleading!

In astronomy, as well as life itself. And when you get a little perspective, why, sometimes things are even cooler than you first thought.

So absolutely right.

Also shows knowing something about what your seeing can make a huge difference in understanding and appreciation and spark sheer wonder of it.

That’s a comet not what I’d guessed?

That dot is a whole other world of methane ice & rock and nitrogen snow with a moon larger in its sky than ours and three other smaller moons and maybe faint rings too?

That misty spot is a whole other distant galaxy two million light years away and yet on course for a close encounter that will merge with our own in billions of years time?

That fuzzy spec that looks like a slightly blurred star is a cluster of hundreds of thousands of the most ancient metal-poor stars orbiting our galaxy and maybe with an intermediate black hole at its core?

Thatstar at the heart of all that nebulosity is a hypergiant five million time s as bright as our Sun which may explode one night soon, maybe tonight, maybe in thousand years time or more and shine even brighter than than it did when it breifly became the second brightest in our skies a few hundred years ago?

A little knowledge & the perspective it brings can create a lot of superluminous awe.

By: Robert

Robert — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:17:01 +0000

I am currently taking Astronomy 201, and during one of my classes the professor mentioned something about comets and how they have two tails. But since that wasn’t the subject of the lecture, he said he would explain why when we get to that chapter. I intended to look it up on my own, but had forgotten about it. Thank you for the information.

And like the previous poster, I too enjoy reading your lectures.

By: Larian LeQuella

Larian LeQuella — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:10:41 +0000

Oh, I love a chance to lecture a bit. Bear with me. This is cool.

Oh how I love to listen to (read) you lecture. I will always bear with you.

As a pilot, I have always come by 3D thinking naturally. All that aerobatic training maybe? I know Kirk would never have tricked me like he did Khan.

And yes, this is cool as usual!