Caption: Second place in the 2021 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Comets. Comets have a very interesting structure comprising of four main parts: the nucleus, composed of rock, dust and frozen gases, typically spanning a few kilometres, although bigger ones have been observed; a small atmosphere of gas surrounding the nucleus (only present when the comet approaches its closest point to the Sun), called coma; and the two distinctive cometary tails (there is at times third tail). The green colour of the coma is due to carbon and nitrogen present in the coma reacting with the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation. The tail that we are mostly used to observing – dust tail and is composed of micron sized dust particles, the second tail composed of charged particles – ion or gas tail. The tails are released only when the comet approaches the Sun at a distance where the heat and radiation emanating from our star is intense enough to vaporize the frozen gases. The dust tail is curved, while the gas tail is straight and always points away from the Sun as this is carried by the solar wind - flow of charged particles emitted by the Sun. As comets are formed by leftover material, they carry with them important information about the early stages of the Solar System’s formation. This beautiful image shows the comet C/2020 F3 (Neowise), as seen from Germany in July 2020, with three of the four structures clearly visible – coma, gas, and dust tail.
Credit: Dietmar Gutermuth/IAU OAE

Caption: Third place in the 2021 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Comets. This beautiful and poetic image taken from Slovakia in July 2020 captures the comet C/2020 F3 (Neowise). The direction of the tails of the comet provides a clue as to the position of the Sun. In the past, the appearance of a comet in the skies could be accompanied by apprehension and even fear from those who did not know what these objects really are. Through careful observations and the applications of knowledge from physics, chemistry and geology, we now understand that comets are objects left over from the earliest days when the Solar System formed. The most distinctive features of a comet are the bluish ion (gas) tail, and whitish dust tail, which can extend for tens of millions of kilometres. These distinctive features, easily observable with the unaided eye together with an understanding of the science, are no longer cause for fear, rather they help us understand the history of our Solar System, and bring awe, joy and contemplation, as portrayed in this image.
Credit: Robert Barsa/IAU OAE

Caption: 彗星 C/1995 O1（海爾-波譜）的圖像，拍攝於 1997 年 4 月 4 日，曝光時間為 10 分鐘。顯示的視場約為 6.5°x6.5°。明亮的彗尾上延伸出兩條尾巴：一條白黃色的塵埃尾巴和一條始終指向遠離太陽的方向藍色的氣體尾巴。
Credit: E.Kolmhofer, H. Raab; Johannes Kepler Observatory, Linz, Austria credit link