Discover the universe! Each day a different image or photograph of our universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by an astronomer.
January 12
The featured image shows Leonard as he appeared.
On January 2, 2022, from Siding Spring, Australia. The comet has a coma and tail.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.
A picture of a comet from Australia.
The image is copyrighted by the author.
What does comet Leonard look like? We can't go there, but we can use a small telescope to look at the comet's coma and inner tails. The ion tail is made of ionized gas that is pushed outward by the solar wind. The solar wind is sculpted by the Sun's magnetic field. The tail's complex structure is due to the variable solar wind and different gas jets in the comet's nucleus. The structure in Leonard's tail can be seen moving outward from the Sun over time. The blue color of the ion tail is dominated by recombining carbon monoxide molecule, while the green color of the coma surrounding the head of the comet is created mostly by a small amount of diatomic carbon molecule. The green glow of diatomic carbon does not make it far into the ion tail because it is destroyed by sunlight in about 50 hours. The image was taken in Australia. Leonard, best viewed from the Southern Hemisphere, is now headed out of the Solar System.
The picture is of open space.
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.
Page 2
Discover the universe! Each day a different image or photograph of our universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by an astronomer.
January 13 is in the future.
See the explanation. Clicking on the picture will bring you to the download page.
The highest resolution version is available.
The Supernova Remnant Simeis is a Remnant.
The image is copyrighted by Jason Dain.
It's easy to get lost following the intricate, looping, twisting filaments in this detailed image of supernova remnant Simeis 147. The Spaghetti Nebula is also known as Sharpless 2-240. It is seen toward the boundary of the constellations and covers 6 full moons on the sky. The stellar debris cloud's estimated distance is 3000 light-years. The red emission from ionized hydrogen atoms and doubly ionized oxygen atoms in faint blue-green colors trace the shocked, glowing gas in the image data taken through narrow-band filters. Light from the massive stellar explosion first reached Earth 40,000 years ago, and the supernova remnant has an estimated age of about 40,000 years. The expanding remnant is not the only thing that happened. The original star's core was left behind as a result of the catastrophe.
The picture is in space.
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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