Subj : Daily APOD Report To : All From : Ben Ritchey Date : Sun Dec 16 2018 08:46:35 Astronomy Picture of the Day Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2018 December 16 [2] Comet Wirtanen Passes by the Earth Image Credit & Copyright: Ruslan Merzlyakov [3] (RMS Photography [4] ) Explanation: Today Comet Wirtanen passes by the Earth. The kilometer-sized dirty snowball orbits the Sun every 5.4 years, ranging as far out as Jupiter [5] and as close in as the Earth [6] . Today Comet 46P/Wirtanen [7] passes within only 31 lunar distances to the Earth, the closest approach in 70 years. If you know where to look [8] (Taurus), you can see the comet [9] through binoculars as an unusual blue smudge [10] . Pictured [11] a week ago, Comet Wirtanen was photographed in the sky beyond an old abandoned church in Skagen [12] , Denmark [13] . The image composite also captures the astrophotographer. After today [14] , the comet will begin to fade as it [15] recedes from the Earth and the Sun. Free Download: 2019 APOD Calendar (v5) [16] Tomorrow's picture: the galaxy next door ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- < [17] | Archive [18] | Submissions [19] | Index [20] | Search [21] | Calendar [22] | RSS [23] | Education [24] | About APOD [25] | Discuss [26] | > [27] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [28] (MTU [29] ) & Jerry Bonnell [30] (UMCP [31] ) NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [32] . NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [33] A service of: ASD [34] at NASA [35] / GSFC [36] & Michigan Tech. U. [37] ---------- Site notes: [1] archivepix.html [2] image/1812/CometWirtanen_Merzlyakov_714.jpg [3] https://www.facebook.com/rmerzlyakov [4] https://www.facebook.com/rmsphotography95/ [5] ap181214.html [6] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/earth/overview/ [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/46P/Wirtanen [8] https://theskylive.com/46p-info [9] https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/comets/46p-wirtanen-2018.html [10] ap181115.html [11] https://www.facebook.com/rmsphotography95/photos/a.386953088074201/ 1535643489871816/?type=3&theater [12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skagen [13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark [14] https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/night/ [15] ap181215.html [16] https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1812/ApodCalendar2019v4_Dave.pdf [17] ap181215.html [18] archivepix.html [19] lib/apsubmit2015.html [20] lib/aptree.html [21] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search [22] calendar/allyears.html [23] /apod.rss [24] lib/edlinks.html [25] lib/about_apod.html [26] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=181216 [27] ap181217.html [28] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html [29] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ [30] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html [31] http://www.astro.umd.edu/ [32] lib/about_apod.html#srapply [33] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html [34] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ [35] https://www.nasa.gov/ [36] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ [37] http://www.mtu.edu/ --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A40 (Windows/32) * Origin: FIDONet - The Positronium Repository (1:393/68) .