Astronomy Picture of the Day
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
professional astronomer.
2018 October 21
[2]
Meteor, Comet, and Seagull (Nebula)
Image Credit & Copyright: Takao Sambommatsu [3]
Explanation: A meteor, a comet, and a photogenic nebula have all been captured
in this single image. The closest and most fleeting is the streaking meteor on
the upper right -- it was visible for less than a second. The meteor, which
disintegrated in Earth's atmosphere, was likely a small bit of debris [4]
from the nucleus [5] of Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner [6] , coincidentally the
comet captured in the same image. Comet 21P, pictured across the inner Solar
System [7] from Earth, is distinctive for its long dust tail spread
horizontally across the image center. This comet [8] has been visible with
binoculars for the past few months but is now fading [9] as it heads back out
to the orbit of Jupiter. Farthest out at 3,500 light years distant is the IC
2177, the Seagull Nebula [10] , visible on the left. The comparatively vast
Seagull Nebula [11] , with a wingspan on order 250 light-years [12] , will
likely remain visible for hundreds of thousands of years. Long exposures,
taken about two weeks ago from Iwaki-City [13] in Japan [14] , were combined
to capture the image's faintest elements. You, too, could see a meteor like
this -- and perhaps sooner [15] than you might think: tonight is the peak of
the Orionids [16] meteor shower [17] .
Tomorrow's picture: lunar shake down
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [29] (MTU [30] ) & Jerry Bonnell [31]
(UMCP [32] )
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [33] .
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [34]
A service of: ASD [35] at NASA [36] / GSFC [37]
& Michigan Tech. U. [38]
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Site notes:
[1] archivepix.html
[2] image/1810/CometMeteorNebula_TSam_5310.jpg
[3] mailto: bluemolecularcloud gmail .dot. com
[4] ap111019.html
[5] ap160202.html
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21P/Giacobini%E...
[7] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/our...
[8] ap180918.html
[9] http://195.209.248.207/en/observation/listObs...
[10] ap180316.html
[11] ap161215.html
[12] https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/
[13] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48-bMQPkxiY
[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan
[15]
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/animaljam...
revision/latest?cb=20150603175417
[16]
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/small-bodies/met...
in-depth/
[17] https://www.space.com/34373-orionid-meteor-sh...
[18] ap181020.html
[19] archivepix.html
[20] lib/apsubmit2015.html
[21] lib/aptree.html
[22] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apo...
[23] calendar/allyears.html
[24] /apod.rss
[25] lib/edlinks.html
[26] lib/about_apod.html
[27] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?dat...
[28] ap181022.html
[29] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
[30] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
[31] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnel...
[32] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
[33] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
[34] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Priv...
[35] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
[36] https://www.nasa.gov/
[37] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
[38] http://www.mtu.edu/
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