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Credit & Copyright: Rolando Ligustri
(CARA Project,
CAST)
Explanation:
Buffeted by the solar wind, Comet Lovejoy's crooked
ion tail stretches
over 3 degrees across this telescopic field of view,
recorded on February 20.
The starry background includes awesome bluish star
Phi Persei
below, and pretty planetary nebula M76 just above Lovejoy's long tail.
Also known as the
Little Dumbbell Nebula,
after its brighter cousin M27 the Dumbbell Nebula, M76 is only
a Full Moon's width away from the comet's greenish coma.
Still shining in northern hemisphere skies, this Comet Lovejoy
(C/2014 Q2) is outbound from the inner solar system
some 10 light-minutes or 190 million kilometers from Earth.
But the Little Dumbbell actually lies 3 to 5 thousand light-years away.
Now sweeping steadily north
toward the constellation Cassiopeia
Comet Lovejoy is fading more slowly than predicted and is
still a good target for small telescopes.
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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 - M 76
Publications with words: comet - M 76
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