APOD: 2024 September 23 Б Comet Tsuchinshan ATLAS Approaches
22.09.2024

What will happen as this already bright comet approaches? Optimistic predictions have Comet C/2023 A3 (TsuchinshanБATLAS) briefly becoming easily visible to the unaided eye -- although the future brightness of comets are notoriously hard to predict, and this comet may even break up in warming sunlight.

APOD: 2024 September 25 Б Comet A3 Through an Australian Sunrise
24.09.2024

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is now visible in the early morning sky. Diving into the inner Solar System at an odd angle, this large dirty iceberg will pass its closest to the Sun -- between the orbits of Mercury and Venus -- in just two days.

APOD: 2023 February 13 Б Comet ZTF and Mars
12.02.2023

No, Comet ZTF is not going to hit Mars. Nicknamed the Green Comet for its bright green coma, C/2022 E3 (ZTF) did, however, pass almost in front of the much-more distant planet a few days ago, very near in time to when the featured picture was taken.

Stardust and Comet Tails
19.08.2022

Heading for its closest approach to the Sun, or perihelion, on December 19 comet C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) remains a sight for telescopic observers as it sweeps through planet Earth's skies in the constellation Scorpius.

ZTF meets ATLAS
9.02.2023

Fading as it races across planet Earth's northern skies comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) shares this telescopic frame with comet C/2022 U2 (ATLAS). Captured on the night of February 6 from a garden observatory in Germany's Bavarian Forest, the starry field of view toward the constellation Auriga spans about 2.5 degrees.

APOD: 2007 February 23- Dust and the Helix Nebula
22.02.2007

Dust makes this cosmic eye look red. The eerie Spitzer Space Telescope image shows infrared radiation from the well-studied Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) a mere 700 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius.

Comet Leonard and the Whale Galaxy
2.12.2021

Sweeping through northern predawn skies, on November 24 Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) was caught between two galaxies in this composite telescopic image. Sporting a greenish coma the comet's dusty tail seems to harpoon the heart of NGC 4631 (top) also known as the Whale Galaxy.

Three Planets and a Comet
22.12.2021

Are you still looking for that perfect holiday gift for an astronomer? If your night sky is dark and horizon clear enough, the Solar System may have done your shopping for you. Send them outside after sunset to see three planets and a comet.

Outbound Comet ZTF
23.03.2023

Former darling of the northern sky Comet C/2022E3 (ZTF) has faded. During its closest approach to our fair planet in early February Comet ZTF was a mere 2.3 light-minutes distant. Then known as the green comet, this visitor from the remote Oort Cloud is now nearly 13.3 light-minutes away.

Comet ATLAS and Orion s Belt
11.11.2020

With its closest approach to planet Earth scheduled for November 14, this Comet ATLAS (C/2020 M3) was discovered just this summer, another comet found by the NASA funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System.