Backup Blog for KaiYves

2026 July 17

The Dust Trail of Comet Tempel 2 Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

Explanation: Comet 10P/Tempel 2 orbits the Sun once every 5.4 years. Currently visible in binoculars or small telescopes toward the constellation Capricornus, the periodic comet is captured in this sharp telescopic image from July 11 sporting a bright nuclear region and pretty greenish coma. Remarkably, a thin dust trail, not a typical dust tail, is also seen extending both east and west of the Tempel 2 nucleus. Unlike a comet dust tail, which tends to temporarily fan out in a direction away from the Sun, this dust trail is due to the residual dust shed during many past orbits along this ancient periodic comet’s orbital plane. In fact, Tempel 2’s dust trail may get a little narrower and brighter from our perspective as Earth crosses through the comet’s orbital plane on July 20. Comet 10P/Tempel 2 will reach a perihelion on August 2, and make its closest approach to Earth on August 3.

6-19-23 - Disney California adventure

July 16th, 1969 - Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, & Michael Collins set off for the moon, arriving there 3 days later. Over 1 million people watched the launch in Florida. A total of about 400,000 people worked to make this mission a success.

The Courtyard That Never Made the Postcard

Lisbon, Portugal

Date: July 16, 1969

NASA ID: GPN-2000-000627

Lapis lazuli eagle, possibly for an Imperial standard, Roman, 4th-5th century AD

July 16th, 1969 - Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, & Michael Collins set off for the moon, arriving there 3 days later. Over 1 million people watched the launch in Florida. A total of about 400,000 people worked to make this mission a success.