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Credit & Copyright: Damian Peach
Explanation:
While anxiously
waiting for Comet ISON
to brighten further as it falls toward the Sun,
northern skygazers can also find three other bright comets
in the east before dawn.
In fact,
Comet Lovejoy C/2013 R1 is currently the
morning sky's brightest.
Only discovered in September and not a sungrazing comet,
this
Comet Lovejoy is nearing the edge of naked-eye visibility
and might be spotted from very dark sky sites.
Sporting a greenish coma
and tail in this telescopic view taken on November 7,
Comet Lovejoy is about
0.5 AU
from our fair planet and 1.2 AU from the Sun.
The comet is having a photogenic Messier moment, sweeping past
well known
star cluster M44,
the Beehive in Cancer.
Yellowish bright star Delta Cancri is near the bottom of the frame.
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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: 2025 February 5 Á Comet G3 ATLAS Setting over a Chilean Hill
- APOD: 2025 February 2 Á Comet G3 ATLAS Disintegrates
- APOD: 2025 January 28 Á Comet G3 ATLAS over Uruguay
- APOD: 2025 January 26 Á The Many Tails of Comet G3 ATLAS
- Comet G3 ATLAS: a Tail and a Telescope
- APOD: 2025 January 21 Á Comet ATLAS over Brasilia
- APOD: 2025 January 20 Á Comet ATLAS Rounds the Sun