Bad Astronomy

STEREO McNaught

This has to be seen to be believed– the STEREO spacecraft captured a series of images of Comet McNaught, and the animation is, well, it’s nothing short of spectacular. Stunning. Jaw-dropping. It’s like Star trek (and more on that later).

STEREO is actually two satellites on solar orbits. They look sunward, taking data and getting a 3D view of our nearest star. One of them happened to be able to see the comet, and the scientists back home produced that amazing animation.