                        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 February 13
      A deep starfield features an orange planet Mars on the left and a
    green-headed Comet ZTF on the right. In the foreground is a landscape
     that includes the top of a famous mountain known as the Matterhorn.
          Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

                             Comet ZTF and Mars
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Donato Lioce

   Explanation: No, Comet ZTF is not going to hit Mars. Nicknamed the
   Green Comet for its bright green coma, C/2022 E3 (ZTF) did, however,
   pass almost in front of the much-more distant planet a few days ago,
   very near in time to when the featured picture was taken. The two sky
   icons were here captured behind a famous Earth icon -- the Matterhorn,
   a mountain in the Italian Alps with a picturesque peak. Both the
   foreground and background images were taken on the same evening by the
   same camera and from the same location. The comet's white dust tail is
   visible to the right of the green coma, while the light blue ion tail
   trails towards the top of the image. Orange Mars is well in front of
   the numerous background stars as well as the dark nebula Barnard 22 to
   its lower right. Although Mars remains visible in the evening sky for
   the next few months, Comet ZTF has already begun to fade as it returns
   to the outer Solar System.

               Comet ZTF Gallery: Notable Submissions to APOD
                     Tomorrow's picture: heart and soul
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

