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Credit & Copyright: Damian Peach
Explanation:
A rival to
vanquished
Comet ISON in 2013,
Comet Lovejoy (C/2013 R1) still
sweeps through early morning skies, captured in this
starry scene on New Year's day.
The frame stretches some 3.5 degrees across a background
of faint stars in the constellation Hercules.
Only just visible to the naked eye from dark sites before dawn,
Lovejoy
remains
a good target for the northern hemisphere's binocular equipped skygazers.
But this deep exposure shows off Lovejoy's beautiful tails
and tantalizing greenish
coma better than binocular views.
Not a sungrazer, this
Comet Lovejoy made its closest approach to
the Sun around December 22,
looping
high above the ecliptic plane.
Now headed for the outer Solar System,
Lovejoy began the new year about 6.7 light-minutes from
planet Earth.
Free lecture:
APOD editor to speak in NYC Tonight
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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