Astronomyandgalaxies - GalaxyBrain
More Posts from Astronomyandgalaxies and Others
2024 Solar Eclipse from the ISS.
(Credit: NASA Johnson)
Hubble Telescopes best images ever taken!
Planetary Nebula NGC 2440
Planetary nebula NGC 2440 is a relic of a star once like our Sun that has cast off its outer layers of gas, forming a colorful cocoon around the star's remaining core.
Approaching the Agena target vehicle, earth horizon in background, Gemini VIII.
Astronomy Picture of the Day
2025 January 28
Comet G3 ATLAS over Uruguay
A foreground grass field is shown below a distant field of stars. On the grass field are some trees. Dwarfing the trees, in the sky, is a comet with a long tail.
Image Credit & Copyright: Mauricio Salazar
Explanation: Comets can be huge. When far from the Sun, a comet's size usually refers to its hard nucleus of ice and rock, which typically spans a few kilometers -- smaller than even a small moon. When nearing the Sun, however, this nucleus can eject dust and gas and leave a thin tail that can spread to an enormous length -- even greater than the distance between the Earth and the Sun. Pictured, C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) sports a tail of sunlight-reflecting dust and glowing gas that spans several times the apparent size of a full moon, appearing even larger on long duration camera images than to the unaided eye. The featured image shows impressive Comet ATLAS over trees and a grass field in Sierras de Mahoma, San Jose, Uruguay about a week ago. After being prominent in the sunset skies of Earth's southern hemisphere, Comet G3 ATLAS is now fading as it moves away from the Sun, making its impressive tails increasingly hard to see.
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.
Swirls of Jupiter
Christmas Tree star cluster
Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) © Don Pettit
"Insertion of astronauts Walter M. Schirra Jr. (foreground) and Thomas P. Stafford into Gemini-6A spacecraft prior to launch."
Date: December 15, 1965
NASA ID: S65-66744
