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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.   
      
                                 2024 February 16   
      
                  Structure in the Tail of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks   
                      Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett`   
      
      Explanation: Heading for its next perihelion passage on April 21, Comet   
      12P/Pons-Brooks is growing brighter. The greenish coma of this periodic   
      Halley-type comet has become relatively easy to observe in small   
      telescopes. But the bluish ion tail now streaming from the active   
      comet's coma and buffeted by the solar wind, is faint and difficult to   
      follow. Still, in this image stacked exposures made on the night of   
      February 11 reveal the fainter tail's detailed structures. The frame   
      spans over two degrees across a background of faint stars and   
      background galaxies toward the northern constellation Lacerta. Of   
      course Comet 12P's April 21 perihelion passage will be only two weeks   
      after the April 8 total solar eclipse, putting the comet in planet   
      Earth's sky along with a totally eclipsed Sun.   
      
                         Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend   
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          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
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