APOD: 2021 November 27

Discover the universe! Each day a different image or photograph of our universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by an astronomer.

November 27th, 2021.
See the explanation. Clicking on the picture will bring you to the download page.
The highest resolution version is available.

Messier 101.
The image is from NASA, NOAO.
Acknowledgement - K.Kuntz, F.Bresolin, J.Trauger, J.Mould, Y.-H.Chu, and the rest.

One of the last entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog is the big, beautiful spiral galaxy M101. The size of the galaxy is twice that of our own. Lord Rosse's large 19th century telescope, the Leviathan of Parsontown, observed the original spiral nebulae M101. This mosaic is made up of 51 exposures from the Hubble Space Telescope in the 20th and 21st centuries and additional data from ground based telescopes. The image shows a disk of stars and dust along with a background of galaxies. M101 is located within the boundaries of the northern constellation Ursa Major, which is 25 million light-years away.

Tomorrow's picture is Churovyum-Gerasimenko.

Robert Nemiroff is an author and Jerry Bonnell is an editor.
Phillip Newman has specific rights.
NASA has a privacy policy on the internet.
There is a service at NASA.
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Discover the universe! Each day a different image or photograph of our universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by an astronomer.

November 28, 2021.
The cliff is a kilometer high.
That happens on the comet Churov-Gerasimenko.
In the year of 2014, the European Space Agency's (ESA's) Rosetta spacecraft.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

A high cliff on a comet.
The image is licensed by the European Space Agency, the NAVCAM, and Stuart Atkinson.

This high cliff is not on a planet, but on a comet. It was part of the dark nucleus of Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which was discovered by the robotic craft that rendezvoused with the comet. The ragged cliff was imaged by Rosetta. The low surface gravity of the comet would make it an accessible climb and even a jump from the cliff survivable. There are boulders as large as 20 meters across at the foot of the cliff. Data from the European Space Agency shows that the ice in the comet is likely different from the water in the oceans. The mission ended with a controlled impact. The comet is visible through a small telescope after completing another close approach to Earth.

Tomorrow's picture is stellar pinwheel.

Robert Nemiroff is an author and Jerry Bonnell is an editor.
Phillip Newman has specific rights.
NASA has a privacy policy on the internet.
There is a service at NASA.
& Michigan Tech. U.