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Credit & Copyright: Sheldon Faworski and Sean Walker
(MASIL
Astro-Imaging Team)
Explanation:
Moving rapidly through planet Earth's night sky, Fragment C of
crumbling comet
73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3
passed almost directly in front of
M57 -
the Ring Nebula, and faint spiral galaxy
IC 1296
on May 8.
In fact, in this gorgeous view,
the bright head of Fragment C is separated by only about 0.1 degrees
from M57, with the tail apparently engulfing nebula and galaxy.
Recorded from Elizabeth, Illinois, USA, this picture
corresponds to the cosmic scene only 30 minutes after
yesterday's picture
of the approaching alignment.
The relative
motion
of the comet against the background stars
and nebulae is easy to see when comparing the two images.
This comet's fragments
will be near their closest approach in the coming days,
about 10 million kilometers away, and
none pose any danger
to our fair planet.
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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