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.

                               2024 October 6
   [2]A starry sky is pictured just after sunset. The silhouette of plants
   and a distant landscape covers the bottom of the picture. Spanning most
   of the frame is a comet with an amazingly long and complex tail. Please
             see the explanation for more detailed information.

                   The Magnificent Tail of Comet McNaught
               Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Robert H. McNaught

   Explanation: Comet McNaught, the Great Comet of 2007, grew a
   spectacularly long and filamentary tail. The magnificent [4]tail spread
   across the sky and was visible for several days to Southern Hemisphere
   observers just after sunset. The [5]amazing ion tail showed its
   greatest extent on long-duration, wide-angle camera exposures. During
   some times, [6]just the tail itself [7]was visible just above the
   horizon for many northern observers as well. [8]Comet C/2006 P1
   (McNaught), estimated to have attained a [9]peak brightness of
   [10]magnitude -5 (minus five), was caught by the [11]comet's discoverer
   in the featured image just after sunset in January 2007 from [12]Siding
   Spring Observatory in [13]Australia. Comet McNaught, the brightest
   [14]comet in decades, then [15]faded as it moved further into southern
   skies and away from the [16]Sun and [17]Earth. Over the next month,
   [18]Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS, a candidate for the Great Comet of 2024,
   should display its most [19]spectacular tails visible from the
   [20]Earth.

                    Tomorrow's picture: eclipsed sunrise
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [32]Robert Nemiroff ([33]MTU) & [34]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([35]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [36]Specific rights apply.
            [37]NASA Web Privacy, [38]Accessibility, [39]Notices;
                A service of: [40]ASD at [41]NASA / [42]GSFC,
                         [43]NASA Science Activation
                           & [44]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2410/comet_mcnaught_960.jpg
   3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._McNaught
   4. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/comets/en/anatomy-of-a-comet.en.jpg
   5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070117.html
   6. https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https://preview.redd.it/why-does-my-chair-have-a-tail-v0-qb21j8tqqm9d1.jpeg?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=4939c7f7cdca268e0d7ee51860e129ca09b27648
   7. http://spaceweather.com/comets/gallery_mcnaught_page11.htm
   8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_McNaught
   9. https://web.archive.org/web/20111228014918/http://www.icq.eps.harvard.edu/brightest.html
  10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apparent_magnitude
  11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._McNaught
  12. https://youtu.be/A-85ZRf6z3U
  13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia
  14. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/facts/
  15. http://www.icq.eps.harvard.edu/C2006P1_eph.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230222.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060927.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240925.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210308.html
  20. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241005.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  27. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  30. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=241006
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241007.html
  32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  34. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  35. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  37. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  39. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  40. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/
  42. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  43. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  44. http://www.mtu.edu/