Starship Asterisk*

Comet Iwamoto Before Spiral Galaxy NGC 2903

Explanation: It isn't every night that a comet passes a galaxy. Last Thursday, though, binocular comet C/2018 Y1 (Iwamoto) moved nearly in front of a spiral galaxy of approximately the same brightness: NGC 2903. Comet Iwamoto was discovered late last year and orbits the Sun in a long ellipse. It last visited the inner Solar System during the Middle Ages, around the year 648. The comet reached its closest point to the Sun -- between Earth and Mars -- on February 6, and its closest point to Earth a few days ago, on February 13. The featured time-lapse video condenses almost three hours into about ten seconds, and was captured last week from Switzerland. At that time Comet Iwamoto, sporting a green coma, was about 10 light minutes distant, while spiral galaxy NGC 2903 remained about 30 million light years away. Two satellites zip diagonally through the field about a third of the way through the video. Typically, a few comets each year become as bright as Comet Iwamoto.

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At right is the galaxy that Comet Iwamoto almost knocked down from its cosmic perch.

Ann

So cool...

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A very nice video, congratulations!

This is one of the most relaxing APODs I have seen.

I didn't even look for Iwamoto As I'm alergic to the cold! I am usually very interested in comets!

What is the time-frame for the video? How long did it actually take to move the apparent distance in the frame?

Sherwood wrote: ↑Tue Feb 19, 2019 1:50 pm What is the time-frame for the video? How long did it actually take to move the apparent distance in the frame?

Per the caption, three hours.