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Credit & Copyright: Stefan
Seip and Steffen Bruckner
Explanation:
As dawn approached on May 8, astronomer Stefan Seip carefully
watched Fragment C of
broken comet
73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 approach
M57 -
the Ring Nebula, and faint spiral galaxy
IC 1296.
Of course, even though the trio seemed to come close together
in a truly cosmic photo opportunity,
the comet is
in the inner part of our solar system, a mere 0.5
light-minutes
or so from Seip's telescope located near Stuttgart, Germany,
planet Earth.
The Ring Nebula (upper right) is more like 2,000 light-years distant,
well within our own Milky Way Galaxy.
At a distance of 200 million light-years, IC 1296 (between comet
and ring) is beyond even the Milky Way's boundaries.
Because the comet is so close, it appears to move relatively rapidly
against the distant stars.
This dramatic telescopic view was composited from two
sets of images;
one compensating for the comet's apparent
motion and one recording the background stars
and nebulae.
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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
Publications with words: comet
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