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 July 13

                 Comet NEOWISE Rising over the Adriatic Sea
                   Video Credit & Copyright: Paolo Girotti

   Explanation: This sight was worth getting out of bed early. Comet
   C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) has been rising before dawn during the past week to
   the delight of northern sky enthusiasts awake that early. Up before
   sunrise, the featured photographer was able to capture in dramatic
   fashion one of the few comets visible to the unaided eye this century,
   an inner-Solar System intruder that might become known as the Great
   Comet of 2020. The resulting video details Comet NEOWISE from Italy
   rising over the Adriatic Sea. The time-lapse video combines over 240
   images taken over 30 minutes. The comet is seen rising through a
   foreground of bright and undulating noctilucent clouds, and before a
   background of distant stars. Comet NEOWISE has remained unexpectedly
   bright, so far, with its ion and dust tails found to emanate from a
   nucleus spanning about five kilometers across. Fortunately, starting
   tonight, northern observers with a clear and dark northwestern horizon
   should be able to see the sun-reflecting interplanetary snowball just
   after sunset.

    Notable Images of Comet NEOWISE Submitted to APOD: || July 12 || July
                         11 || July 10 & earlier ||
                    Tomorrow's picture: cosmic butterfly
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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