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                           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.   
      
                                 2021 December 20   
      
                            The Comet and the Fireball   
                       Image Credit & Copyright: Cory Poole   
      
      Explanation: This picture was supposed to feature a comet.   
      Specifically, a series of images of the brightest comet of 2021 were   
      being captured: Comet Leonard. But the universe had other plans. Within   
      a fraction of a second, a meteor so bright it could be called a   
      fireball streaked through just below the comet. And the meteor's flash   
      was even more green than the comet's coma. The cause of the meteor's   
      green was likely magnesium evaporating from the meteor's pebble-sized   
      core, while the cause of the comet's green was likely diatomic carbon   
      recently ejected from the comet's city-sized nucleus. The images were   
      taken 10 days ago over the Sacramento River and Mt. Lassen in   
      California, USA. The fireball was on the leading edge of this year's   
      Geminid Meteor Shower -- which peaked a few days later. Comet Leonard   
      is now fading after reaching naked-eye visibility last week -- but now   
      is moving into southern skies.   
      
                     Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator   
                       Tomorrow's picture: a solar milky way   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.   
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                         A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC   
                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
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