Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2020 July 16
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                       The Long Tails of Comet NEOWISE
                Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Petr Horalek

   Explanation: This Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) now sweeps through [5]our
   fair planet's northern skies. Its [6]long tails stretch across this
   deep skyview from Suchy Vrch, Czech Republic. [7]Recorded on the night
   of July 13/14, the composite of untracked foreground and tracked and
   filtered sky exposures teases out details in the comet's tail not
   visible to the unaided eye. Faint structures extend to the top of the
   frame, over 20 degrees from the comet's bright coma. Pushed out by the
   pressure of sunlight itself, the broad curve of the comet's yellowish
   dust tail is easy to see by eye. But the fainter, more bluish tail is
   separate from the [8]reflective comet dust. The fainter tail is an ion
   tail, formed as ions from the cometary coma are dragged outward by
   magnetic fields in the solar wind and fluoresce in the sunlight.
   Outbound [9]NEOWISE is climbing higher in northern evening skies,
   coming closest to Earth on July 23rd.

    Notable Images of Comet NEOWISE Submitted to APOD: || [10]July 15 ||
   [11]July 14 || [12]July 13 || [13]July 12 || [14]July 11 || [15]July 10
                                & earlier ||
                     Tomorrow's picture: tales in space
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    Authors & editors: [27]Robert Nemiroff ([28]MTU) & [29]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([30]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [31]Specific rights apply.
              [32]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [33]ASD at [34]NASA / [35]GSFC
                           & [36]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2007/2020_07_14_NEOWISE_Suchy_Vrch_1500px.png
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. http://www.astronom.cz/horalek/?page_id=20
   5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200715.html
   6. http://spaceguard.rm.iasf.cnr.it/NScience/neo/neo-what/com-tail.htm
   7. https://www.astronom.cz/horalek/?p=6546
   8. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/nasa-s-parker-solar-probe-spies-newly-discovered-comet-neowise/
   9. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/how-to-see-comet-neowise
  10. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.2771109812993220
  11. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.2768509129919955
  12. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.2765647693539432
  13. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.2762832093820992
  14. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.2759891040781764
  15. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.2741239435980258
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200715.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  20. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  25. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=200716
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200717.html
  27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  30. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  33. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  36. http://www.mtu.edu/