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. 2021 May 13 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. The Comet, the Whale, and the Hockey Stick Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Grand Mesa Observatory, [5]Terry Hancock / [6]Tom Masterson Explanation: Closest to the Sun on March 1, and closest to planet Earth on April 23, this [7]Comet ATLAS (C/2020 R4) shows a faint greenish coma and short tail in this pretty, telescopic field of view. [8]Captured at its position on May 5, the comet was within the boundaries of northern constellation Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs), and near the line-of-sight to intriguing background galaxies popularly known as the [9]Whale and the Hockey Stick. Cetacean in appearance but Milky Way sized, NGC 4631 is a spiral galaxy seen edge-on at the top right, some 25 million light-years away. NGC 4656/7 sports the bent-stick shape of [10]interacting galaxies below and left of NGC 4631. In fact, the distortions and mingling trails of gas detected at other wavelengths suggest the cosmic Whale and Hockey Stick have had close encounters with each other in their distant past. [11]Outbound and only about 7 light-minutes from Earth this Comet ATLAS should [12]revisit the inner solar system in just under 1,000 years. Tomorrow's picture: and the Hat __________________________________________________________________ [13]< | [14]Archive | [15]Submissions | [16]Index | [17]Search | [18]Calendar | [19]RSS | [20]Education | [21]About APOD | [22]Discuss | [23]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [24]Robert Nemiroff ([25]MTU) & [26]Jerry Bonnell ([27]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [28]Specific rights apply. [29]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [30]ASD at [31]NASA / [32]GSFC & [33]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2105/ATLASHockeyStickWhaleGalaxiesGrandMesa.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.grandmesaobservatory/ 5. https://www.downunderobservatory.com/ 6. https://www.transientastronomer.com/ 7. https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/make-the-most-of-comet-atlas/ 8. https://www.flickr.com/photos/transientastro/51171548295/ 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090821.html 10. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017ApJ...842..127T/abstract 11. https://theskylive.com/c2020r4-info 12. https://www.nasa.gov/comets 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210512.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 17. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 22. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=210513 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210514.html 24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 27. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 29. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 30. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 31. https://www.nasa.gov/ 32. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 33. http://www.mtu.edu/