[ASTRONOMIA] ¨ the Shifting Tails of Comet NEOWISE

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/200...orens_3044.jpg

image credit & copyright: Ignacio Llorens




keep your eye on the ion tail of Comet NEOWISE

a tale of this tail is the trail of the Earth

as with all comets, the blue ion tail always points away from the Sun

but as Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) rounded our Sun, its ion tail pointed in slightly different directions

this is because between 2020 july 17 and july 25 when the featured images were taken, the Earth moved noticeably in its orbit around the Sun

but the Earth's motion made the Sun appear to shift in the sky

so even though you can't see the Sun directly in the featured image(s), the directions of the ion tails reveal this apparent solar shift

the Sun's apparent motion is in the ecliptic, the common plane where all planets orbit

the featured five image composite was meticulously composed to accurately place each comet image -- and the five extrapolated solar positions -- on a single foreground image of Turó de l'Home Mountain, north of Barcelona, Spain


annotated photo: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/200..._annotated.jpg


















































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