                        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.

                              2025 November 17
   A starfield is shown above a mountain peak. Just above the mountain and
    extending up toward the upper right is a blue-tinted tail of a comet.
      The comet's head is just to the left of the peak. Please see the
                 explanation for more detailed information.

                        Comet Lemmon's Wandering Tail
                       Image Credit: Ignacio Fernández

   Explanation: What has happened to Comet Lemmon's tail? The answer is
   blowing in the wind — the wind from the Sun in this case. This
   continuous outflow of charged particles from the Sun has been quite
   variable of late, as the Sun emits bursts of energy, CMEs, that push
   out and deflect charged particles emitted by the comet itself. The
   result is a blue hued ion tail for Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) that is not
   only impressively intricate but takes some unusual turns. This
   long-duration composite image taken from Alfacar, Spain last month
   captured this inner Solar System ionic tumult. Comet Lemmon is now
   fading as it heads out away from the Earth and Sun and back into the
   outer Solar System.

                     Tomorrow's picture: radio milky way
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

