Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Vega and Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 8, 2023 is “Vega and Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett). The original explanation runs about 153 words.

Vega and Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett Copyrighted Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“On December 4, periodic Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks shared this telescopic field of view with Vega, alpha star of the northern constellation Lyra. Fifth brightest star in planet Earth’s night, Vega is some 25 light-years distant while the much fainter comet was about 21 light-minutes away.”

— APOD editors, December 8, 2023

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
December 8, 2023
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett
Copyright
Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 153 words

All of December 2023 → · 2023 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Comets

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: December 8 in other years

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Source

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.