Discover the cosmosEach day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
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Explanation:This sight was worth getting out of bed early.
Just over four years ago, Comet C/2020 F3rose before dawn to thedelightof northern sky enthusiasts awake that early.
Up before sunrise on July 8th, the featured photographer was able to capture in dramatic fashion one of the few cometsvisibleto the unaided eye this century, an inner-Solar Systemintruder that has become known as the Great Cometof 2020.
Theresulting videodetailed Comet NEOWISE from Italyrising over the Adriatic Sea.
Thefeatured time-lapse videocombines over 240 images taken over 30 minutes.The cometwas seen rising through a foreground of bright and undulatingnoctilucent clouds, and before a background of distant stars.
Comet NEOWISEremained unexpectedly bright for over a month, with itsion and dusttailsfound to emanatefrom anucleusspanning about five kilometers across.
APOD’s main NASA site ismoving:Fromapod.nasa.govtoscience.nasa.gov/apod Tomorrow’s picture:open space