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Credit & Copyright: Jose J. Chambo
(Cometografia)
Explanation:
Imaged on June 20 2022, comet
C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS)
shares this wide
telescopic field of view with open star cluster IC 4665 and bright star
Beta Ophiuchi, near a starry edge of the Milky Way.
On its maiden voyage to the inner Solar System
from the dim and
distant
Oort cloud,
this comet PanSTARRS was initially spotted over five years ago,
in May 2017.
Then it was the
most
distant active inbound comet
ever found,
discovered when it was some 2.4 billion kilometers from the Sun.
That put it between the
orbital
distances
of Uranus and Saturn.
Hubble Space Telescope
observations
indicated
the comet had a large nucleus less than 18 kilometers in diameter.
Now visible in
small
telescopes C/2017 K2
will make its closest approach
to planet Earth on July 14 and closest approach to the Sun this December.
Its extended coma and developing tail are
seen here at a distance of some 290 million kilometers, a mere
16 light-minutes away.
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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