Comet 1990 N1
This X-ray exposure of the comet C/1990 N1 (Tsuchiya-Kiuchi) was taken during the ROSAT all-sky survey in November 1990. The globe in the lower right corner illustrates the geometrical relationship during the observation as in the January picture. The nucleus of the comet is situated at the intersection of the two strokes in the image centre. The centroide of the X-ray emission is somewhat shifted to the right in the direction of the sun, a hint to its solar origin. The observed X-ray emission is created, according to a meanwhile widely accepted theory, during the charge exchange of multilple ionised heavy ions of the sun wind with electrons from the comet coma.
Curator:
HEASARC Guest Observer Facility
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