                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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

                 The Comet, the Whale, and the Hockey Stick
    Image Credit & Copyright: Grand Mesa Observatory, Terry Hancock / Tom
                                  Masterson

   Explanation: Closest to the Sun on March 1, and closest to planet Earth
   on April 23, this Comet ATLAS (C/2020 R4) shows a faint greenish coma
   and short tail in this pretty, telescopic field of view. 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
   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
   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. Outbound and only about 7
   light-minutes from Earth this Comet ATLAS should revisit the inner
   solar system in just under 1,000 years.

                       Tomorrow's picture: and the Hat
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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