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.

                                2024 March 26
   [2]A large comet is shown with its head near the right and a light blue
   flowing ion tail flowing across into the rest of the image. Please see
               the explanation for more detailed information.

                         Comet Pons-Brooks' Ion Tail
                 Image Credit & [3]License: [4]James Peirce

   Explanation: Comet Pons-Brooks has quite a tail to tell. [5]First
   discovered in [6]1385, this erupting [7]dirty snowball loops back into
   our inner [8]Solar System every 71 years and, this time, is starting to
   [9]put on a show for deep camera exposures. In the [10]featured
   picture, the light blue stream is the [11]ion tail which consists of
   charged [12]molecules pushed away from the comet's nucleus by the solar
   wind. The ion tail, shaped by the [13]Sun's wind and the [14]comet's
   core's rotation, always points away from the Sun. [15]Comet
   12P/Pons–Brooks is now [16]visible with binoculars in the early evening
   sky toward the northwest, moving perceptibly from night to night. The
   frequently flaring comet is expected to continue to brighten, on the
   average, and [17]may even become visible with the unaided eye -- during
   the day -- to those in the [18]path of totality of the coming [19]solar
   eclipse on April 8.

                  Tomorrow's picture: thousands of galaxies
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    Authors & editors: [31]Robert Nemiroff ([32]MTU) & [33]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([34]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [35]Specific rights apply.
            [36]NASA Web Privacy, [37]Accessibility, [38]Notices;
                A service of: [39]ASD at [40]NASA / [41]GSFC,
                         [42]NASA Science Activation
                           & [43]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2403/CometPons_Peirce_5119.jpg
   3. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/
   4. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamespeirce/
   5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12P/Pons–Brooks#Observational_history
   6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1385
   7. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/facts/
   8. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/facts/
   9. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YXmt_QrqXUE/maxresdefault.jpg
  10. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamespeirce/53600572168/in/pool-apods/
  11. http://burro.astr.cwru.edu/Academics/Astr221/SolarSys/Comets/tails.html
  12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecule
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000318.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240318.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240216.html
  16. https://theskylive.com/where-is-12p
  17. https://theskylive.com/12p-info
  18. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5219/
  19. https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/where-when/
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240325.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  26. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  29. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240326
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240327.html
  31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  33. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  34. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  37. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  39. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  42. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  43. http://www.mtu.edu/