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Astronomy Picture of the Day 2-24-03
NASA ^
| 2-24-03
| Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell
Posted on 02/23/2003 9:55:52 PM PST by petuniasevan
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.
2003 February 24
Comet Neat Passes an Erupting Sun
Credit: SOHO Consortium, LASCO, ESA, NASA
Explanation: As Comet NEAT flared last week, the Sun roared. Just as the comet swooped inside the orbit of Mercury and developed a long and flowing tail of gas and dust, the Sun emitted a huge Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). Neither the fortuitous hot ball of solar gas nor the intense glare of sunlight appeared to disrupt the comet's nucleus. The action was too close to the Sun to be easily visible by humans, but the orbiting Sun-pointing SOHO satellite had a clear view of the celestial daredevil show. The above image was taken on February 18 when the comet was so bright it created an artificial horizontal streak on the camera image. During the encounter, Comet NEAT, official designation (C/2002 V1), brightened to second magnitude. An opaque disk blocked the Sun's image. The now-outbound comet remains bright but will surely fade as it moves away from the Sun. Nevertheless, Comet NEAT will likely be visible with binoculars to southern hemisphere observers for the next month.
TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: astronomy; camera; comet; image; lasco; nasa; neat; orbiter; photography; soho; solar
Did all of you see the comet in the SOHO LASCO images in real time last week?
If not, go to this site and see a still or movie of the encounter:
Hot Shots from SOHO - NEAT!
To: MozartLover; Joan912; NovemberCharlie; snowfox; Dawgsquat; viligantcitizen; theDentist; ...
2
posted on
02/23/2003 9:56:54 PM PST
by
petuniasevan
(Wonders of the Universe)
To: petuniasevan
Thanks, tunia! Those pics and movies are awesome!
3
posted on
02/23/2003 10:20:14 PM PST
by
WSGilcrest
(R)
To: petuniasevan
Bumpity bumpity bumpity ! ...
4
posted on
02/24/2003 2:43:05 AM PST
by
MeekOneGOP
(Bu-bye SADdam. You're soon to meet your buddy Stalin in Hades.)
To: petuniasevan
Woah! Great pic!
5
posted on
02/24/2003 4:46:33 AM PST
by
GodBlessRonaldReagan
(where is Scotty Moore when we need him most?)
To: petuniasevan
Thanks so much!
6
posted on
02/24/2003 6:36:51 AM PST
by
Joan912
(couldn't think of a witty line...)
To: petuniasevan
bump
To: petuniasevan
Very interesting. Thanks!
8
posted on
02/24/2003 5:31:27 PM PST
by
sistergoldenhair
(Don't be a sheep. People hate sheep. They eat sheep.)
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