Los científicos que usan el plan Webb para observar un cometa de "objetivo de oportunidad", uno que aún no se conoce pero se espera que se descubra en el primer año de la misión del telescopio. Si tienen suerte, tal vez podrían capturar un cometa interestelar, o tal vez capacitarán a Webb en un cometa similar a Hale-Bopp, que se muestra arriba en una foto terrestre poco después de pasar Perihelion en abril de 1997. Comet Hale-Bopp, que se cree que era de la nube de la anátiles, fue uno de los cometales más brillantes vistos durante muchas décadas. Visible a simple vista durante un récord de 18 meses, se podría ver incluso desde las principales ciudades con cielos con contabilidad ligera.
La imagen está disponible en Creative Commons johannes-kepler-observatory , Linz, Austria.
Kolmhofer (Observatorio Johannes-Kepler), Herbert Raab (Observatorio Johannes-Kepler)
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) |
| Object Description | Comet |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | Ground-based photograph |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
