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Credit & Copyright: Carlos
Caccia, (Intendente Alvear, Argentina) /
Right - Dan Burbank
(ISS Expedition 30, NASA)
Explanation:
On December 24,
Comet Lovejoy rose in dawn's twilight,
arcing above the eastern horizon, its tails
swept back
by the solar wind and sunlight.
Seen on the left
is the comet's
early
morning appearance
alongside the southern Milky Way from the town of Intendente Alvear,
La Pampa province, Argentina.
The short star trails include bright southern sky stars
Alpha and Beta Centauri near
the center of the frame, but the long bright streak that crosses the
comet tails is a little closer to home.
Waiting for
the proper moment to start his exposure,
the photographer has also caught the
International
Space Station still glinting
in the sunlight as
it orbits (top to bottom) above the local horizon.
The right panel
is the near horizon view of Comet Lovejoy
from the space station itself, captured only two days earlier.
In fact, Dan Burbank, Expedition 30 commander,
recorded Comet Lovejoy rising just before the Sun in a
spectacular video (linked here).
Even considering the
other vistas available from
low Earth orbit, Burbank describes the comet as
"the most amazing thing I have ever seen in space."
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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 April 17 Á Total Eclipse and Comets
- APOD: 2024 April 8 Á The Changing Ion Tail of Comet Pons Brooks
- Comet Pons-Brooks at Night
- APOD: 2024 March 18 Á Comet Pons Brooks Swirling Coma
- Comet 12P/Pons Brooks in Northern Spring
- Structure in the Tail of Comet 12P/Pons Brooks
- The Snows of Churyumov Gerasimenko