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Credit & Copyright: Jarek Oszywa
Explanation:
Would you brave wild animals to photograph this sky?
One astrophotographer did -- and we all get to reap the rewards.
First, thousands of stars were visible with many of the brightest impressively blue.
Next, several red-glowing nebulae were discernible, including the
California Nebula on the far right, and, above it, the
Heart and Soul nebulae.
But the real reason to brave the local wildlife was
Comet NEOWISE, visible on the left.
In the
featured long-duration composite taken last week,
Comet NEOWISE's blue-glowing
ion tail points straight up, away from the rising
Sun,
while the Sun-reflecting
dust tail
trails off toward the right.
The picture combines three exposures taken consecutively
over 10 minutes from the same location near
Miedzygö¨rze,
Poland.
A moonlit dirt road shows the path ahead, while the
ånieznik Mountains is visible on the horizon.
Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)
passes its closest to the Earth next week, after which the 5-km wide, evaporating,
icy dirtball will fade as it
glides back to the outer Solar System.
Notable Images of Comet NEOWISE Submitted to APOD: July
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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