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 18

                               Finding NEOWISE
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Tom Masterson

   Explanation: If you can see the stars of the Big Dipper, you can find
   comet NEOWISE in your evening sky tonight. After sunset look for the
   naked-eye comet below the bowl of the famous celestial kitchen utensil
   of the north and above your northwestern horizon. You're looking for a
   fuzzy 'star' with a tail, though probably not so long a tail as in this
   clear sky snapshot taken from Los Padres National Forest in California
   on the evening of July 16. Recent photographs of C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)
   often show this comet's broad dust tail and fainter but separate ion
   tail extending farther than the eye can follow. Skygazers around the
   world have been delighted to find NEOWISE, surprise visitor from the
   outer Solar System.

         Comet NEOWISE Images: July 17 | July 16 | July 15 | July 14
              | July 13 | July 12 | July 11 | July 10 & earlier
                    Tomorrow's picture: our rotating moon
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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