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                        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 August 13
    [2]See Explanation. Moving the cursor over the image will bring up an
     annotated version. Clicking on the image will bring up the highest
                        resolution version available.

                     The Shifting Tails of Comet NEOWISE
                Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Ignacio Llorens

   Explanation: Keep your eye on the ion tail of Comet NEOWISE. A tale of
   this tail is the trail of [4]the Earth. As with all comets, the [5]blue
   ion tail always points away from [6]the Sun. But as [7]Comet C/2020 F3
   (NEOWISE) rounded our Sun, its ion tail pointed in slightly different
   directions. This is because between 2020 [8]July 17 and [9]July 25 when
   the featured images were taken, the Earth moved noticeably in its orbit
   around the Sun. But the [10]Earth's motion made the Sun appear to shift
   in the sky. So even though you can't see the Sun directly in the
   featured image(s), the directions of the ion tails [11]reveal this
   apparent solar shift. The [12]Sun's apparent motion is in the
   [13]ecliptic, the [14]common plane where all planets orbit. The
   featured five image composite was meticulously composed to accurately
   place each comet image -- and the five extrapolated solar positions --
   on a single foreground image of [15]Turó de l'Home Mountain, north of
   [16]Barcelona, [17]Spain Comet NEOWISE is no longer the [18]impressive
   [19]naked-eye [20]object it was last month, but it can [21]still be
   found with a small telescope as it heads back to the outer Solar
   System.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: [33]Robert Nemiroff ([34]MTU) & [35]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([36]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [37]Specific rights apply.
              [38]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [39]ASD at [40]NASA / [41]GSFC
                           & [42]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2008/NeowiseSequence_Llorens_3044_annotated.jpg
   3. mailto:%20ignaciollorens%20@at@%20gmail%20.dot.%20com
   4. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/earth/overview/
   5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200429.html
   6. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/overview/
   7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2020_F3_(NEOWISE)
   8. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.2777399215697613
   9. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.2800436196727248
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200121.html
  11. https://www.cuinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/bigstock-Young-Crazy-Surprised-Cat-Make-233591413.jpg
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap020729.html
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecliptic
  14. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/review/dr-marc-solar-system/ecliptic.gif
  15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e8GPt4oRCw
  16. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cHbqAIw4zc
  17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200722.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200714.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200720.html
  21. https://theskylive.com/c2020f3-info
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200811.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  31. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=200812
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200813.html
  33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  35. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  36. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  39. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  42. http://www.mtu.edu/