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Credit & Copyright: Damian Peach
Explanation:
Comet Lovejoy was captured last week passing well in front of spiral galaxy M63.
Discovered only three months ago and currently near its maximum
brightness,
Comet Lovejoy can be seen near the
Big Dipper from dark northerly locations
before dawn with the unaided eye.
An unexpected rival to
Comet ISON,
C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy),
pictured above, is currently sporting a large green coma and a beautifully textured
ion tail.
Comet
Lovejoy is now headed back to the outer
Solar System but should remain a
good site in
binoculars
for another few weeks.
Conversely, spiral galaxy
M63, lies far in the distance and is
expected to
remain stationary
on the sky and hold its relative
brightness for at least the next few million years.
Late News:
The continuing saga of Comet ISON
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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: spiral galaxy - M 63 - comet
Publications with words: spiral galaxy - M 63 - comet
See also:
- APOD: 2024 December 16 Á A Kilometer High Cliff on Comet Churyumov Gerasimenko
- APOD: 2024 December 2 Á NGC 300: A Galaxy of Stars
- APOD: 2024 November 27 Á The Meteor and the Comet
- Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1365 from Webb
- APOD: 2024 November 11 Á The Unusual Tails of Comet Tsuchinshan Atlas
- APOD: 2024 November 6 Á Comet Tsuchinshan Atlas over the Dolomites
- Spiral Galaxy NGC 6744