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NEAT Comet

Comet C/2001 Q4, also known as NEAT, emits a blue-and-purple glow as it moves through the cosmos in May 2004. Its coma, or head, and a portion of its tail are visible in this shot, as are myriad stars. This image was taken by telescope from Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona.

Photograph courtesy T. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Z. Levay and L. Frattare (Space Telescope Science Institute), and National Optical Astronomy Observatory/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy/National Science Foundation