                        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 December 30

                      The Further Tail of Comet Leonard
                 Image Credit & Copyright: Daniele Gasparri

   Explanation: Comet Leonard, brightest comet of 2021, is at the lower
   left of these two panels captured on December 29 in dark Atacama desert
   skies. Heading for its perihelion on January 3 Comet Leonard's visible
   tail has grown. Stacked exposures with a wide angle lens (also
   displayed in a reversed B/W scheme for contrast), trace the complicated
   ion tail for an amazing 60 degrees, with bright Jupiter shining near
   the horizon at lower right. Material vaporizing from Comet Leonard's
   nucleus, a mass of dust, rock, and ices about 1 kilometer across, has
   produced the long tail of ionized gas fluorescing in the sunlight.
   Likely flares on the comet's nucleus and buffeting by magnetic fields
   and the solar wind in recent weeks have resulted in the tail's
   irregular pinched and twisted appearance. Still days from its closest
   approach to the Sun, Comet Leonard's activity should continue. The
   comet is south of the Solar System's ecliptic plane as it sweeps
   through the southern constellation Microscopium.

                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
                NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

