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.

                                2022 June 30
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                         Comet C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS)
      Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Jose J. Chambo ([5]Cometografia)

   Explanation: Imaged on June 20 2022, comet [6]C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS)
   shares this wide telescopic field of view with open star cluster IC
   4665 and bright star Beta Ophiuchi, near a starry edge of the Milky
   Way. On its maiden voyage to the inner Solar System from the dim and
   [7]distant Oort cloud, this comet PanSTARRS was initially spotted over
   five years ago, in May 2017. Then it was the [8]most distant active
   inbound comet ever found, discovered when it was some 2.4 billion
   kilometers from the Sun. That put it between the [9]orbital distances
   of Uranus and Saturn. Hubble Space Telescope [10]observations indicated
   the comet had a large nucleus less than 18 kilometers in diameter. Now
   visible in [11]small telescopes C/2017 K2 will make its closest
   approach to planet Earth on July 14 and closest approach to the Sun
   this December. Its extended coma and developing tail are seen here at a
   distance of some 290 million kilometers, a mere [12]16 light-minutes
   away.

                   Tomorrow's picture: solar system trails
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [24]Robert Nemiroff ([25]MTU) & [26]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([27]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [28]Specific rights apply.
              [29]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [30]ASD at [31]NASA / [32]GSFC
                           & [33]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2206/2017K2_2022-06-20_media.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. http://cometografia.es/acerca-de/contactar/
   5. http://cometografia.es/
   6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2017_K2_(PanSTARRS)
   7. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/oort-cloud/overview/
   8. https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2017/news-2017-40.html
   9. https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2017/40/4071-Image.html?news=true
  10. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017ApJ...847L..19J/abstract
  11. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/large-comet-c-2017-k2-panstarrs-summer-2022/
  12. https://theskylive.com/where-is-c2017k2
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220629.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  17. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  22. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220630
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220701.html
  24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  27. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  30. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  33. http://www.mtu.edu/