                        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 December 8
     See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                       Vega and Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

   Explanation: On December 4, periodic Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks shared this
   telescopic field of view with Vega, alpha star of the northern
   constellation Lyra. Fifth brightest star in planet Earth's night, Vega
   is some 25 light-years distant while the much fainter comet was about
   21 light-minutes away. In recent months, outbursts have caused dramatic
   increases in brightness for Pons-Brooks though. Nicknamed the Devil
   Comet for its hornlike appearance, fans of interstellar spaceflight
   have also suggested the distorted shape of this large comet's central
   coma looks like the Millenium Falcon. A Halley-type comet,
   12P/Pons-Brooks last visited the inner Solar System in 1954. Its next
   perihelion passage or closest approach to the Sun will be April 21,
   2024. That's just two weeks after the April 8 total solar eclipse path
   crosses North America. But, highly inclined to the Solar System's
   ecliptic plane, the orbit of periodic Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks will never
   cross the orbit of planet Earth.

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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