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.

                               2022 January 3
    [2]The picture shows a Comet Leonard sporting a very long ion tail as
   captured from the Canary Islands of Spain in late December. Please see
               the explanation for more detailed information.

                          Comet Leonard's Long Tail
                 Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Jan Hattenbach

   Explanation: You couldn't see Comet Leonard's [4]extremely long tail
   with a telescope -- it was just too long. You also couldn't see it with
   binoculars -- still too long. Or with your eyes -- it was too dim. Or
   from a city -- the [5]sky was too bright. But from a dark location with
   a low horizon -- [6]your camera could. And still might -- if [7]the
   comet survives today's closest encounter with the Sun, which occurs
   between the orbits of [8]Mercury and [9]Venus. The [10]featured picture
   was created from two deep and wide-angle camera images taken from
   [11]La Palma in the [12]Canary Islands of [13]Spain late last month.
   Afterwards, if it survives, what is left of [14]Comet Leonard's nucleus
   will head out of [15]our Solar System, never to return.

                   Tomorrow's picture: moons beyond rings
     __________________________________________________________________

      [16]< | [17]Archive | [18]Submissions | [19]Index | [20]Search |
   [21]Calendar | [22]RSS | [23]Education | [24]About APOD | [25]Discuss |
                                    [26]>
     __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: [27]Robert Nemiroff ([28]MTU) & [29]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([30]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [31]Specific rights apply.
              [32]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [33]ASD at [34]NASA / [35]GSFC
                           & [36]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2201/LeonardTail_Hattenbach_1600.jpg
   3. https://twitter.com/janhattenbach
   4. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211230.html
   5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200408.html
   6. https://delavanlakesvet.com/images/uploads/general_images/smiling-cat-for-web.jpg
   7. https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/comet-leonard-a-gift-at-christmastime/
   8. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/mercury/overview/
   9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus
  10. https://twitter.com/JanHattenbach/status/1476896626312679430/photo/1
  11. https://youtu.be/O0_YXaP-7yw
  12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Islands
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain
  14. https://theskylive.com/cometleonard-info
  15. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/our-solar-system/in-depth/
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220102.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  20. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  25. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220103
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220104.html
  27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  30. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  33. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  36. http://www.mtu.edu/