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Credit & Copyright: Petr Horölek /
Institute of Physics in Opava
Explanation:
A visitor to the inner solar system every 70 years or so
Comet 13P/Olbers
reached its most recent perihelion,
or closest approach to the Sun, on June 30 2024.
Now on a
return
voyage to the
distant Oort cloud
the Halley-type comet is recorded here sweeping through
northern summer night skies
over historic
Kunetice
Castle,
Czech Republic.
Along with a broad dust tail, and brighter coma, this
comet's long ion tail
buffeted by storms and winds from the Sun,
is revealed in the
composite of tracked exposures for comet and sky, and fixed
exposures for foreground landscape recorded on July 28.
The comet is
about 16 light-minutes beyond the castle
and seen against faint background stars
below the northern constellation Ursa Major.
The hilltop castle dates to the 15th century, while
Heinrich Olbers discovered the comet in 1815.
Captured here low in northwestern skies just after sunset
Comet Olbers, for now, offers skywatchers on planet Earth
rewarding telescopic and binocular views.
Comet 13P/Olbers
next perihelion passage will be in 2094.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day