Subj : Daily APOD Report To : All From : Ben Ritchey Date : Sat Feb 09 2019 08:20:34 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. 2019 February 9 [2] Comet Iwamoto and the Sombrero Galaxy Image Credit & Copyright [3] : Ian Griffin [4] (Otago Museum) Explanation: Comet Iwamoto (C/2018 Y1) [5] , shows off a pretty, greenish coma at the upper left in this telescopic field of view. Taken on February 4 from the Mount John Observatory [6] , University of Canterbury, the 30 minute long total exposure time shows the comet sweeping quickly across a background of stars and distant galaxies in the constellation Virgo. The long exposure and Iwamoto's rapid motion [7] relative to the stars and galaxies results in the noticeable blurred streak tracing the the comet's bright inner coma. In fact, the streaked coma gives the comet a remarkably similar appearance to Messier 104 at lower right, popularly known as the Sombrero Galaxy. The comet, a visitor to the inner Solar System, is a mere 4 light-minutes away though, while majestic Messier 104 [8] , a spiral galaxy posing edge-on, is 30 million light-years distant. The first binocular comet [9] of 2019, Iwamoto will pass closest to Earth on February 12. This comet's highly elliptical orbit around the Sun stretches beyond the Kuiper belt [10] with an estimated 1,371 year orbital period. That should bring it back to the inner Solar System in 3390 AD. Tomorrow's picture: Venus Unveiled ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- < [11] | Archive [12] | Submissions [13] | Index [14] | Search [15] | Calendar [16] | RSS [17] | Education [18] | About APOD [19] | Discuss [20] | > [21] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [22] (MTU [23] ) & Jerry Bonnell [24] (UMCP [25] ) NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [26] . NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [27] A service of: ASD [28] at NASA [29] / GSFC [30] & Michigan Tech. U. [31] ---------- Site notes: [1] archivepix.html [2] image/1902/Iwamoto-104-2019griffin.jpg [3] lib/about_apod.html#srapply [4] https://twitter.com/iangriffin [5] https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/ c-2018-y1-iwamoto-jan-feb-2019 [6] https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/science/ field-and-research-stations/mount-john-observatory/ [7] https://twitter.com/iangriffin/status/1092297967925514240 [8] http://heritage.stsci.edu/2003/28/caption.html [9] https://www.universetoday.com/141385/ comet-y1-iwamoto-tops-out-in-february/ [10] ap190129.html [11] ap190208.html [12] archivepix.html [13] lib/apsubmit2015.html [14] lib/aptree.html [15] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search [16] calendar/allyears.html [17] /apod.rss [18] lib/edlinks.html [19] lib/about_apod.html [20] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=190209 [21] ap190210.html [22] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html [23] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ [24] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html [25] http://www.astro.umd.edu/ [26] lib/about_apod.html#srapply [27] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html [28] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ [29] https://www.nasa.gov/ [30] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ [31] http://www.mtu.edu/ --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A43 (Windows/32) * Origin: FIDONet - The Positronium Repository (1:393/68) .