Comet 12P Between Rosette and Cone Nebulas

Sandro Botticelli, Dante and Beatrice, n.d., The University of Texas, Austin

Light I beheld which as a river flowed,

Fulgid with splendour; and on either shore

The colours of a wondrous springtime showed.

And from the stream arose a glittering store

Of living sparks which, winging mid the blooms,

To rubies set in gold resemblance bore.

Dante, The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto XXX

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