The Comet, the Whale, and the Hockey Stick
Explanation:
Closest to the Sun on March 1, and
closest to planet Earth on April 23, this
Comet
ATLAS (C/2020 R4)
shows a faint greenish coma and short tail
in this pretty, telescopic field of view.
Captured at its
position on May 5,
the comet was within the boundaries of northern constellation Canes Venatici
(the Hunting Dogs),
and near the line-of-sight to intriguing background galaxies popularly
known as the
Whale and the Hockey Stick.
Cetacean in appearance but Milky Way sized, NGC 4631 is a spiral galaxy seen
edge-on at the top right, some 25 million light-years away.
NGC 4656/7 sports the bent-stick shape of
interacting
galaxies
below and left of NGC 4631.
In fact, the distortions and mingling trails of gas detected at other
wavelengths suggest the cosmic Whale and Hockey Stick have had
close encounters with each other in their distant past.
Outbound and
only about 7
light-minutes from Earth this Comet ATLAS should
revisit the inner solar system
in just under 1,000 years.
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.
