December 9, 2013
In the time it took you to read this, the Earth moved another thousand miles through space. You are not standing still. You never have been.
Comet Lovejoy Over a Windmill
Birthday · December 9, 2013
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APOD published December 9, 2013. Credit: Jens Hackmann. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Lovejoy continues to be an impressive camera comet. Pictured above, Comet C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) was imaged above the windmill in Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire in southern France with a six-second exposure. In the foreground is a field of lavender. Comet Lovejoy should remain available for photo opportunities for northern observers during much of December and during much of the night, although it will be fading as the month progresses and highest in the sky before sunrise. In person, the comet will be best viewed with binoculars. A giant dirty snowball, Comet Lovejoy last visited the inner Solar System about 7,000 years ago, around the time that humans developed the wheel. Budget Universe: Free APOD 2014 Calendar in PDF format
Image credit: Jens Hackmann