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Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett
Explanation:
The current darling
of the
northern night,
Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF
is captured in this telescopic image from a dark sky location
at June Lake, California.
Of
course Comet ZTF
has been
growing
brighter
in recent days,
headed for its closest approach to Earth on February 1.
But this view was recorded on January 23, very close to the time
planet Earth crossed the orbital plane of
long-period
Comet ZTF.
The comet's broad, whitish dust tail is still curved and
fanned out
away from the Sun as Comet ZTF sweeps along its orbit.
Due to perspective near the
orbital plane
crossing, components of the fanned out dust tail appear
on both sides of the comet's green tinted coma though, to lend
Comet ZTF a visually striking (left)
anti-tail.
Buffeted
by solar activity
the comet's narrower ion tail also streams away
from the coma diagonally to the right,
across the nearly three degree wide field of view.
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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