Astronomy Picture of the Day · December 20, 2021

The Comet and the Fireball

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 20, 2021 is “The Comet and the Fireball,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Image Credit & Copyright: Cory Poole). The original explanation runs about 163 words.

The featured image shows Comet Leonard in the backround with a bright green fireball meteor in the foreground. The image was taken from northern California, USA. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. — Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Cory Poole Copyrighted Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“This picture was supposed to feature a comet. Specifically, a series of images of the brightest comet of 2021 were being captured: Comet Leonard .”

— APOD editors, December 20, 2021

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date: December 20, 2021
Type: Image
Credit: Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Cory Poole
Copyright: Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length: About 163 words

All of December 2021 → · 2021 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Comets Meteors

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: December 20 in other years

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Source

Astronomy Picture of the Day, December 20, 2021 — science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2021-december-20-the-comet-and-the-fireball

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.