Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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 March 15

                     The Snows of Churyumov-Gerasimenko
                  Images Credit: ESA, Rosetta, MPS, OSIRIS;
                     UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA;
                        Animation: Jacint Roger Perez

   Explanation: You couldn't really be caught in this blizzard while
   standing by a cliff on Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Orbiting the comet --
   frequently abbreviated as 67P or CG -- in June of 2016, the Rosetta
   spacecraft's narrow angle camera did record streaks of dust and ice
   particles -- similar to snow -- as they drifted across the field of
   view near the camera and above the comet's surface. Some of the bright
   specks in the scene, however, are likely due to a rain of energetic
   charged particles or cosmic rays hitting the camera, and the dense
   background of stars in the direction of the constellation of the Big
   Dog (Canis Major). In the featured video, these background stars are
   easy to spot trailing from top to bottom. The stunning movie was
   constructed from 33 consecutive images taken over 25 minutes while
   Rosetta cruised some 13 kilometers from the comet's nucleus.

                      Tomorrow's picture: almost saturn
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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