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Credit & Copyright: Rolando Ligustri
Explanation:
Former darling
of the northern sky Comet C/2022E3 (ZTF) has
faded.
During its closest approach to our fair planet in
early February
Comet ZTF was a mere 2.3 light-minutes distant.
Then known as the green comet,
this visitor from the
remote Oort
Cloud
is now nearly 13.3 light-minutes away.
In this deep image, composed of exposures
captured
on March 21,
the comet still sports a broad, whitish dust tail and
greenish tinted coma though.
Not far on the sky
from Orion's bright star Rigel,
Comet ZTF shares the field of view
with faint, dusty nebulae and distant background galaxies.
The telephoto frame is
crowded with Milky Way stars toward the constellation Eridanus.
The influence of Jupiter's gravity on the comet's orbit as ZTF
headed for the inner solar system, may have
set the comet on an outbound journey,
never
to return.
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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