MSGID: 1:153/757.0 eb8257a9   
   TZUTC: -0800   
   CHRS: LATIN-1 2   
                           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.   
      
                                  2025 January 28   
       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. Please see the explanation for more detailed   
                                   information.   
      
                            Comet G3 ATLAS over Uruguay   
                    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.   
      
                             Gallery: Comet ATLAS (G3)   
                         Tomorrow's picture: star circles   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.   
                     NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;   
                         A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,   
                              NASA Science Activation   
                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
      
   --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7   
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)   
   SEEN-BY: 19/10 105/81 106/201 128/187 129/305 134/100 153/135 143   
   SEEN-BY: 153/148 151 757 6809 7083 7715 154/110 218/700 840 221/1   
   SEEN-BY: 221/6 360 226/30 227/114 229/110 114 206 307 317 400 426   
   SEEN-BY: 229/428 470 664 700 705 240/1120 266/512 291/111 301/1 113   
   SEEN-BY: 301/812 320/219 322/757 335/364 341/66 342/200 396/45 460/58   
   SEEN-BY: 460/256 1124 633/280 712/848 902/26 5020/400 1042 8912 5054/30   
   SEEN-BY: 5075/35   
   PATH: 153/757 221/6 301/1 460/58 229/426