{"copyright":"Dan Bartlett","date":"2026-07-17","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 an d 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 come t 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 throug h the comet's orbital plane on July 20. Comet 10P\/Tempel 2 will reach a perihel ion on August 2, and make its closest approach to Earth on August 3.","hdurl":"h ttps:\/\/apod.nasa.gov\/apod\/image\/2607\/10P_Tempel2_20260711_DEBartlett2048.j pg","media_type":"image","service_version":"v1","title":"The Dust Trail of Comet Tempel 2","url":"https:\/\/apod.nasa.gov\/apod\/image\/2607\/10P_Tempel2_202607 11_DEBartlett1024.jpg"}
