Subj : Daily APOD Report
To   : All
From : Alan Ianson
Date : Mon Jan 10 2022 00:03:04

                        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.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
                             & Michigan Tech. U.
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