Credit & Copyright: Lorand Fenyes
Explanation:
The Big Dipper
is an easy to recognize, well-known asterism in
northern skies, though many see the
Plough
or Wagon.
Famous bright nebulae of the north can also be found along
its familiar lines, highlighted in this carefully
composed scene with telescopic insets framed in the wider-field
skyview.
All from
Messier's
catalog,
M101 and
M51 are cosmic pinwheel and
whirlpool on the left, spiral galaxies far beyond the Milky Way.
To the right, M108,
a distant edge-on spiral galaxy is seen
close to our galaxy's own
owl-faced planetary nebula M97.
Taken
on January 16, the wider-field view seems to include
an extra star along the Dipper's handle, though.
That's Comet Catalina
(C/2013
US10) now sweeping through
northern nights.
January February March April May June July August September October November December |
|
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 - M 101 - M 51 - M 97
Publications with words: comet - M 101 - M 51 - M 97
See also:
- APOD: 2024 December 16 Á A Kilometer High Cliff on Comet Churyumov Gerasimenko
- M51: Tidal Streams and H-alpha Ciffs
- 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