May 12, 2005
You share your birthday with the light of distant galaxies that has been traveling for millions of years just to arrive here, now, alongside...
Stars, Galaxies, and Comet Tempel 1
Birthday · May 12, 2005
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APOD published May 12, 2005. Credit: Johannes Schedler (Panther Observatory). A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Faint comet Tempel 1 sports a fuzzy blue-tinted tail, just right of center in this lovely field of stars. Recorded on May 3rd slowly sweeping through the constellation Virgo, periodic comet Tempel 1 orbits the Sun once every 5.5 years. Also caught in the skyview are two galaxies at the upper left - NGC 4762 and NGC 4754 - both members of the large Virgo Cluster of galaxies. Classified as a lenticular galaxy, NGC 4762 presents an edge-on disk as a narrow gash of light while NGC 4754 is a football-shaped elliptical galaxy. Similar in apparent size, the galaxies and comet make for an intriguing visual comparison, but Tempel 1 is only about 3 light-minutes from planet Earth. The two Virgo cluster galaxies are 50 million light-years away. NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft is scheduled to encounter Tempel 1 on July 4th, launching a probe to impact the comet's nucleus.
Image credit: Johannes Schedler (Panther Observatory)