MSGID: 1:153/757.0 93704d7f   
   TZUTC: -0800   
   CHARSET: LATIN-1   
                           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.   
      
                                  2022 January 10   
      
                             Comet Leonard's Tail Wag   
            Image Credit: NASA, NRL, STEREO-A; Processing: B. Gallagher   
      
      Explanation: Why does Comet Leonard's tail wag? The featured time-lapse   
      video shows the ion tail of Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) as it changed   
      over ten days early last month. The video was taken by NASA's Solar   
      Terrestrial Relations Observatory-Ahead (STEREO-A) spacecraft that   
      co-orbits the Sun at roughly the same distance as the Earth. Each image   
      in this 29-degree field was subtracted from following image to create   
      frames that highlight differences. The video clearly shows Comet   
      Leonard's long ion tail extending, wagging, and otherwise being blown   
      around by the solar wind -- a stream of fast-moving ions that stream   
      out from the Sun. Since the video was taken, Comet Leonard continued   
      plunging toward the Sun, reached its closest approach to the Sun   
      between the orbits of Mercury and Venus, survived this closest approach   
      without breaking apart, and is now fading as heads out of our Solar   
      System.   
      
      Tuesday over Zoom: APOD editor to present the Best APOD Space Images of   
                                       2021   
                         Tomorrow's picture: around orion   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.   
                   NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices   
                         A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC   
                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
   --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5   
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)   
   SEEN-BY: 1/123 14/0 15/0 90/1 103/705 105/81 106/201 120/340 123/131   
   SEEN-BY: 129/305 134/100 153/105 135 757 6809 7715 218/700 840 221/1   
   SEEN-BY: 221/6 226/30 227/114 229/110 424 426 428 664 700 240/1120   
   SEEN-BY: 240/5832 249/206 317 400 266/512 282/1038 301/1 113 812 317/3   
   SEEN-BY: 320/219 322/757 335/364 341/66 342/200 396/45 460/58 633/280   
   SEEN-BY: 712/848 920/1 4500/1 5020/1042 5058/104   
   PATH: 153/757 221/6 301/1 229/426