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Credit & Copyright: Jose Mtanous
Explanation:
This pretty field of view spans over 2 degrees
or 4 full moons on the sky,
filled with stars toward the constellation Taurus, the Bull.
Above and right of center in the frame you can spot the faint fuzzy reddish
appearance of Messier 1 (M1),
also
known as the Crab Nebula.
M1 is the first object in 18th century comet hunter
Charles Messier's famous catalog of things which are
definitely not comets.
Made from image data captured this October 11,
there is a comet in the picture though.
Below center and left lies the faint greenish coma and dusty
tail of periodic comet
67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko,
also known as Rosetta's comet.
In the 21st century, it became the
final resting place of
robots from
planet Earth.
Rosetta's comet is
now returning to the inner solar system, sweeping
toward its next perihelion or closest approach to the Sun, on November 2.
Too faint to be seen
by eye alone, the comet's next perigee or closest
approach to Earth will be November 12.
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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 - Crab Nebula - M 1
Publications with words: comet - Crab Nebula - M 1
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