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Credit & Copyright: Ruslan Merzlyakov
(RMS Photography)
Explanation:
Today Comet Wirtanen passes by the Earth.
The kilometer-sized dirty snowball orbits the Sun every 5.4 years,
ranging as far out as
Jupiter and as close in as the
Earth.
Today
Comet 46P/Wirtanen passes within only
31 lunar distances to the Earth, the closest approach in 70 years.
If you know
where to look (Taurus),
you can see
the comet through binoculars as an unusual
blue smudge.
Pictured
a week ago,
Comet Wirtanen was photographed in the sky beyond an old abandoned church in
Skagen,
Denmark.
The image composite also captures the astrophotographer.
After
today, the comet will begin to fade as
it recedes from the Earth and the Sun.
Free Download:
2019 APOD Calendar (v5)
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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: 2024 April 17 Á Total Eclipse and Comets
- APOD: 2024 April 8 Á The Changing Ion Tail of Comet Pons Brooks
- Comet Pons-Brooks at Night
- APOD: 2024 March 18 Á Comet Pons Brooks Swirling Coma
- Comet 12P/Pons Brooks in Northern Spring
- Structure in the Tail of Comet 12P/Pons Brooks
- The Snows of Churyumov Gerasimenko