                        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.

                                2021 July 31

                             Remembering NEOWISE
   Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horalek / Institute of Physics in Opava

   Explanation: It was just last July. If you could see the stars of the
   Big Dipper, you could find Comet NEOWISE in your evening sky. After
   sunset denizens of the north could look for the naked-eye comet below
   the bowl of that famous celestial kitchen utensil and above the
   northwestern horizon. The comet looked like a fuzzy 'star' with a tail,
   though probably not so long a tail as in this memorable skyview
   recorded from the Czech Republic on July 23th, 2020, near the comet's
   closest approach to planet Earth. Photographs of C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)
   often did show the comet's broad dust tail and fainter but separate
   bluish ion tail extending farther than the eye could follow. Skygazers
   around the world were delighted to witness Comet NEOWISE, surprise
   visitor from the outer Solar System.

    Notable Comet NEOWISE Images 2020: July 31 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24
                    Tomorrow's picture: better than Pluto
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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