                        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 October 26

                             Orionids in Taurus
                   Image Credit & Copyright: David Cortner

   Explanation: History's first known periodic comet, Comet Halley
   (1P/Halley), returns to the inner Solar System every 76 years or so.
   The famous comet made its last appearance to the naked-eye in 1986. But
   dusty debris from Comet Halley can be seen raining through planet
   Earth's skies twice a year during two annual meteor showers, the Eta
   Aquarids in May and the Orionids in October. In fact, an unhurried
   series of exposures captured these two bright meteors, vaporizing bits
   of Halley dust, during the early morning hours of October 23 against a
   starry background along the Taurus molecular cloud. Impacting the
   atmosphere at about 66 kilometers per second their greenish streaks
   point back to the shower's radiant just north of Orion's bright star
   Betelgeuse off the lower left side of the frame. The familiar Pleiades
   star cluster anchors the dusty celestial scene at the right.

                        Tomorrow's picture: 2P/Encke
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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