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Credit & Copyright: Gordon Garradd,
Loomberah NSW Australia
Explanation:
Brighter than ever
expected, comet LINEAR --
you know, the one designated
C/2001 A2 -- is a sight
to see
in southern skies.
This comet LINEAR first brightened
impressively in late March as its active nucleus began
to fragment, prompting some
speculation that the comet might soon
break up completely.
But still hanging together after its closest approach to
the Sun, C/2001 A2 suddenly brightened again and
was reported
last week to have reached nearly 3rd magnitude,
easily visible to the unaided eye.
This
delightful telescopic picture of the brighter
coma of comet LINEAR was recorded from Australia on June 20.
Stars seen through the tenuous coma
and filamentary tail appear as a series of short trails in
this three-color composite image registered
on the comet.
North is up and the scene covers about half the width of
the full Moon.
Now moving through the
constellation Cetus, comet LINEAR
will be
north of the celestial equator by July 4 as it
comes into view for eager northern sky-gazers.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: comet - Coma Cluster - C/2001 A2 - comet linear
Publications with words: comet - Coma Cluster - C/2001 A2 - comet linear
See also:
- APOD: 2024 December 16 Á A Kilometer High Cliff on Comet Churyumov Gerasimenko
- APOD: 2024 November 27 Á The Meteor and the Comet
- APOD: 2024 November 11 Á The Unusual Tails of Comet Tsuchinshan Atlas
- APOD: 2024 November 6 Á Comet Tsuchinshan Atlas over the Dolomites
- APOD: 2024 October 21 Á Comet Tsuchinshan ATLAS over California
- Comet Tsuchinshan ATLAS Flys Away
- Most of Comet Tsuchinshan ATLAS