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Comet G3 ATLAS Setting over a Chilean Hill

By |2025-02-05T08:09:10-05:00February 5th, 2025|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day Where is Comet ATLAS going? In the featured time-lapse video, the comet is not itself moving very much, but the Earth's rotation makes it appear to be setting over a hill. The Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) sequence was captured with an ordinary camera on January 22 from the Araucanía Region [...]

Anticrepuscular Rays: A Rainbow Fan over Spain

By |2025-02-04T08:09:06-05:00February 4th, 2025|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day Yes, but can your rainbow do this? Late in the day, the Sun set as usual toward the west. However, on this day, the more interesting display was 180 degrees around -- toward the east. There, not only was a rainbow visible, but an impressive display of anticrepuscular rays from [...]

Wolf-Rayet Star 124: Stellar Wind Machine

By |2025-02-03T08:09:11-05:00February 3rd, 2025|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day Some stars explode in slow motion. Rare, massive Wolf-Rayet stars are so tumultuous and hot that they are slowly disintegrating right before our telescopes. Glowing gas globs each typically over 30 times more massive than the Earth are being expelled by violent stellar winds. Wolf-Rayet star WR 124, visible near [...]

Dust Shells around WR 140 from Webb

By |2025-01-29T08:09:06-05:00January 29th, 2025|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , |

Photo of the Day What are those strange rings? Rich in dust, the rings are likely 3D shells -- but how they were created remains a topic of research. Where they were created is well known: in a binary star system that lies about 6,000 light years away toward the constellation of the Swan [...]

Comet G3 ATLAS over Uruguay

By |2025-01-28T08:09:07-05:00January 28th, 2025|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day Comets can be huge. When far from the Sun, a comet's size usually refers to its hard nucleus of ice and rock, which typically spans a few kilometers -- smaller than even a small moon. When nearing the Sun, however, this nucleus can eject dust and gas and leave a [...]

The Many Tails of Comet G3 ATLAS

By |2025-01-26T08:09:08-05:00January 26th, 2025|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day Why does this comet have so many tails? C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) has developed several long and intricate tails visible from Earth's southern hemisphere over the past two weeks. Many observers reported seeing the impressive comet without any optical aid above the western horizon just after sunset. At least six different [...]

Stardust in the Perseus Molecular Cloud

By |2025-01-25T08:09:06-05:00January 25th, 2025|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day Clouds of stardust drift through this deep skyscape, across the Perseus molecular cloud some 850 light-years away. Dusty nebulae reflecting light from embedded young stars stand out in the nearly 4 degree wide field of view. With a characteristic bluish color reflection nebula NGC 1333 is prominent near center. Hints [...]

Comet G3 ATLAS: a Tail and a Telescope

By |2025-01-24T08:09:07-05:00January 24th, 2025|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day Comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS has made a dramatic appearance in planet Earth's skies. A visitor from the distant Oort Cloud, the comet reached its perihelion on January 13. On January 19, the bright comet was captured here from ESO Paranal Observatory in the Atacama desert in Chile. Sporting spectacular sweeping [...]

Comet ATLAS over Brasília

By |2025-01-21T08:09:12-05:00January 21st, 2025|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day What's that in the sky? Above the city, above most clouds, far in the distance: it's a comet. Pictured, the impressive tail of Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) was imaged from Brasília, Brazil four days ago. Last week the evolving comet rounded the Sun well inside the orbit of planet Mercury, [...]

Comet ATLAS Rounds the Sun

By |2025-01-20T08:09:12-05:00January 20th, 2025|Categories: NASA News, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |

Photo of the Day Why does Comet ATLAS have such colorful tails? Last week Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) passed its closest to the Sun -- well inside the orbit of Mercury -- and brightened dramatically. Unfortunately, the comet was then so angularly near the Sun that it was very hard for humans to see. [...]

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