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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.   
      
                                  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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