Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

The Magnificent Tail of Comet McNaught

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 6, 2024 is “The Magnificent Tail of Comet McNaught,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Image Credit & Copyright: Robert H. McNaught). The original explanation runs about 156 words.

A starry sky is pictured just after sunset. The silhouette of plants and a distant landscape covers the bottom of the picture. Spanning most of the frame is a comet with an amazingly long and complex tail. Please see the explanation for mor
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Robert H. McNaught Copyrighted Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“Comet McNaught, the Great Comet of 2007, grew a spectacularly long and filamentary tail. The magnificent tail spread across the sky and was visible for several days to Southern Hemisphere observers just after sunset.”

— APOD editors, October 6, 2024

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
October 6, 2024
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Robert H. McNaught
Copyright
Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 156 words

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Topics in this entry

Comets

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: October 6 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.