                        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.

                               2023 January 27

                      Comet ZTF: Orbital Plane Crossing
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

   Explanation: The current darling of the northern night, Comet C/2022 E3
   ZTF is captured in this telescopic image from a dark sky location at
   June Lake, California. Of course Comet ZTF has been growing brighter in
   recent days, headed for its closest approach to Earth on February 1.
   But this view was recorded on January 23, very close to the time planet
   Earth crossed the orbital plane of long-period Comet ZTF. The comet's
   broad, whitish dust tail is still curved and fanned out away from the
   Sun as Comet ZTF sweeps along its orbit. Due to perspective near the
   orbital plane crossing, components of the fanned out dust tail appear
   on both sides of the comet's green tinted coma though, to lend Comet
   ZTF a visually striking (left) anti-tail. Buffeted by solar activity
   the comet's narrower ion tail also streams away from the coma
   diagonally to the right, across the nearly three degree wide field of
   view.

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