Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]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 September 10
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                           Rosetta's Comet in View
       Image Credit & [3]Copyright: Rolando Ligustri ([4]CARA Project,
                                  [5]CAST)

   Explanation: [6]Faint comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) sweeps past
   background stars in the constellation Taurus and even fainter distant
   galaxies in this telescopic frame from September 7. [7]About 5 years
   ago, this comet's 4 kilometer spanning, double-lobed nucleus became the
   final resting place of [8]robots from planet Earth, following the
   completion of the historic Rosetta mission to the comet. After
   wandering out beyond the orbit of Jupiter, Churyumov-Gerasimenko is now
   returning along its 6.4 year periodic orbit toward its next
   [9]perihelion or closest approach to the Sun, on November 2. On
   November 12, the comet's perigee, its closest approach to Earth, will
   bring it within about 0.42 astronomical units. [10]Telescopes should
   still be required to view it even at its brightest, predicted to be in
   late November and December. On September 7 [11]Rosetta's comet was
   about 0.65 astronomical units away or about 5.4 light-minutes [12]from
   our fair planet.

                      Tomorrow's picture: cloudy night
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    Authors & editors: [24]Robert Nemiroff ([25]MTU) & [26]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([27]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [28]Specific rights apply.
              [29]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [30]ASD at [31]NASA / [32]GSFC
                           & [33]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2109/67P_210907.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. http://cara.uai.it/
   5. http://www.castfvg.it/
   6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap161001.html
   8. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/rosetta-philae/in-depth/
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150815.html
  10. https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/comet-watch-2021/
  11. https://www.planetary.org/articles/rosettas-ancient-comet
  12. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/1060/beyond-earth-a-chronicle-of-deep-space-exploration/
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210909.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  17. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  22. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=210910
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210911.html
  24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  27. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  30. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  33. http://www.mtu.edu/