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. 2023 September 11 [2]A scenic and hilly landscape is shown just before sunrise. On the left is Comet Nishimura near the horizon with a long tail fading off toward the top of the frame. On the right is a bright spot that is Venus. The sunrise sky is dark blue at the top but morphs into tan at the horizon, while the foreground hills are green. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Beautiful Comet Nishimura Credit & Copyright: [3]Petr Horálek / [4]Institute of Physics in Opava Explanation: This scene would be beautiful even without the comet. By itself, the [5]sunrise sky is an elegant deep blue on high, with faint white stars peeking through, while near the horizon is a [6]pleasing tan. By itself, the foreground hills of eastern [7]Slovakia are appealingly green, with the Zadňa hura and Veľká hora hills in the distance, and with the lights of small towns along the way. [8]Venus, by itself on the right, appears [9]unusually exquisite, surrounded by a colorful atmospheric corona. But what attracts the eye most is the [10]comet. On the left, in [11]this composite image taken just before dawn yesterday morning, is [12]Comet Nishimura. On recent mornings around the globe, its [13]bright [14]coma and long ion [15]tail make many a morning panoramic photo unusually beautiful. Tomorrow, [16]C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) will pass its nearest to the Earth for about the next 434 years. Tomorrow's picture: galaxies galore __________________________________________________________________ [17]< | [18]Archive | [19]Submissions | [20]Index | [21]Search | [22]Calendar | [23]RSS | [24]Education | [25]About APOD | [26]Discuss | [27]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [28]Robert Nemiroff ([29]MTU) & [30]Jerry Bonnell ([31]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [32]Specific rights apply. [33]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [34]ASD at [35]NASA / [36]GSFC, [37]NASA Science Activation & [38]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2309/BeautNishimura_Horalek_1500.jpg 3. https://www.petrhoralek.com/#about-1 4. https://www.slu.cz/phys/en/ 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220924.html 6. https://imgflip.com/s/meme/Smiling-Cat.jpg 7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovakia 8. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/venus/overview/ 9. https://i.etsystatic.com/9751869/r/il/699fcc/2114310287/il_1140xN.2114310287_9si9.jpg 10. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/comets/ 11. https://www.petrhoralek.com/?p=23774 12. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=C/2023 P1 13. https://theskylive.com/comets 14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coma_(comet) 15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_tail 16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2023_P1_(Nishimura) 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230910.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 21. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 26. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230911 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230912.html 28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 29. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 31. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 33. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 34. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 35. https://www.nasa.gov/ 36. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 37. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 38. http://www.mtu.edu/