Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня Комета Ивамото перед спиральной галактикой NGC 2903 http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1458557/eng |
Credit & Copyright: Norbert Span
Explanation:
It isn't every night that a comet passes a galaxy.
Last Thursday, though, binocular comet
C/2018 Y1 (Iwamoto) moved nearly in front of a
spiral galaxy of approximately the same brightness:
NGC 2903.
Comet Iwamoto was discovered late last year and orbits
the Sun in a long
ellipse.
It last visited the inner Solar System during the
Middle Ages,
around the year 648.
The comet reached its closest point to the Sun -- between Earth and Mars --
on February 6, and its closest point to
Earth
a few days ago, on February 13.
The
featured time-lapse video condenses almost
three hours into about ten seconds, and was captured last week from
Switzerland.
At that time
Comet Iwamoto, sporting a
green coma, was about 10 light minutes distant,
while spiral galaxy
NGC 2903
remained about 30 million
light years away.
Two satellites zip diagonally through the field about a third of the way through
the video.
Typically,
a few comets each year become as bright as
Comet
Iwamoto.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.