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Credit & Copyright: Rogelio Bernal
Andreo (Deep Sky Colors)
Explanation:
Sweeping north
in planet Earth's sky, Comet Lovejoy's greenish coma
and blue tinted ion tail stretched across this
field of stars in
the constellation Taurus on January 13.
The inset at the upper left shows the 1/2 degree angular size of
the full moon for scale.
So Lovejoy's coma appears only a little smaller (but much fainter)
than a full moon on the sky, and its tail is visible
for over 4 degrees across the frame.
That corresponds to over 5 million kilometers
at the comet's estimated distance of 75 million kilometers
from Earth.
Blown by the solar wind, the comet's tenuous, structured
ion tail streams
away from the Sun, growing as
this Comet Lovejoy
heads toward perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun, on January 30.
While diatomic carbon
(C2) gas fluorescing in sunlight
produces the coma's green color, the fainter bluish tail is tinted by
emission from ionized carbon monoxide (CO+).
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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 - comet tail
Publications with words: comet - comet tail
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 26 Á Comet Pons Brooks Ion Tail
- 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