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. 2020 July 16 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. The Long Tails of Comet NEOWISE Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Petr Horalek Explanation: This Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) now sweeps through [5]our fair planet's northern skies. Its [6]long tails stretch across this deep skyview from Suchy Vrch, Czech Republic. [7]Recorded on the night of July 13/14, the composite of untracked foreground and tracked and filtered sky exposures teases out details in the comet's tail not visible to the unaided eye. Faint structures extend to the top of the frame, over 20 degrees from the comet's bright coma. Pushed out by the pressure of sunlight itself, the broad curve of the comet's yellowish dust tail is easy to see by eye. But the fainter, more bluish tail is separate from the [8]reflective comet dust. The fainter tail is an ion tail, formed as ions from the cometary coma are dragged outward by magnetic fields in the solar wind and fluoresce in the sunlight. Outbound [9]NEOWISE is climbing higher in northern evening skies, coming closest to Earth on July 23rd. Notable Images of Comet NEOWISE Submitted to APOD: || [10]July 15 || [11]July 14 || [12]July 13 || [13]July 12 || [14]July 11 || [15]July 10 & earlier || Tomorrow's picture: tales in space __________________________________________________________________ [16]< | [17]Archive | [18]Submissions | [19]Index | [20]Search | [21]Calendar | [22]RSS | [23]Education | [24]About APOD | [25]Discuss | [26]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [27]Robert Nemiroff ([28]MTU) & [29]Jerry Bonnell ([30]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [31]Specific rights apply. [32]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [33]ASD at [34]NASA / [35]GSFC & [36]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2007/2020_07_14_NEOWISE_Suchy_Vrch_1500px.png 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. http://www.astronom.cz/horalek/?page_id=20 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200715.html 6. http://spaceguard.rm.iasf.cnr.it/NScience/neo/neo-what/com-tail.htm 7. https://www.astronom.cz/horalek/?p=6546 8. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/nasa-s-parker-solar-probe-spies-newly-discovered-comet-neowise/ 9. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/how-to-see-comet-neowise 10. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.2771109812993220 11. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.2768509129919955 12. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.2765647693539432 13. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.2762832093820992 14. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.2759891040781764 15. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.2741239435980258 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200715.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 20. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 25. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=200716 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200717.html 27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 30. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 32. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 33. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 34. https://www.nasa.gov/ 35. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 36. http://www.mtu.edu/