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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 March 18   
      A comet is pictured with a really long and wavy ion tail. The front of   
      the comet -- its coma -- appears to be a spiral. The coma is green, the   
         tail is faint blue, and part of the swirl is red. Please see the   
                    explanation for more detailed information.   
      
                         Comet Pons-Brooks' Swirling Coma   
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Jan Erik Vallestad   
      
      Explanation: A bright comet will be visible during next month's total   
      solar eclipse. This very unusual coincidence occurs because Comet   
      12P/Pons-Brooks's return to the inner Solar System places it by chance   
      only 25 degrees away from the Sun during Earth's April 8 total solar   
      eclipse. Currently the comet is just on the edge of visibility to the   
      unaided eye, best visible with binoculars in the early evening sky   
      toward the constellation of the Fish (Pisces). Comet Pons-Brooks,   
      though, is putting on quite a show for deep camera images even now. The   
      featured image is a composite of three very specific colors, showing   
      the comet's ever-changing ion tail in light blue, its outer coma in   
      green, and highlights some red-glowing gas around the coma in a spiral.   
      The spiral is thought to be caused by gas being expelled by the slowly   
      rotating nucleus of the giant iceberg comet. Although it is always   
      difficult to predict the future brightness of comets, Comet Pons-Brook   
      has been particularly prone to outbursts, making it even more difficult   
      to predict how bright it will actually be as the Moon moves in front of   
      the Sun on April 8.   
      
              Total Eclipse Info: 2024 Total Solar Eclipse from NASA   
                          Tomorrow's picture: sunset road   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.   
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                         A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,   
                              NASA Science Activation   
                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
      
   --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6   
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