                         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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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1810/CometMeteorNebula_TSam_5310.jpg
  [3] mailto: bluemolecularcloud @at@ gmail .dot. com
  [4] ap111019.html
  [5] ap160202.html
  [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21P/Giacobini%E2%80%93Zinner
  [7] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/our-solar-system/in-depth/
  [8] ap180918.html
  [9] http://195.209.248.207/en/observation/listObserv/257
  [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/images/e/e1/Surprised_cat.png/
revision/latest?cb=20150603175417
  [16]
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/small-bodies/meteors-and-meteorites/orionids/
in-depth/
  [17] https://www.space.com/34373-orionid-meteor-shower-guide.html
  [18] ap181020.html
  [19] archivepix.html
  [20] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [21] lib/aptree.html
  [22] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [23] calendar/allyears.html
  [24] /apod.rss
  [25] lib/edlinks.html
  [26] lib/about_apod.html
  [27] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=181021
  [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/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  [32] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [33] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
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  [35] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
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