                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                 2026 May 12
   The bright blue Comet R3 PanSTARRS streaks across the right side of the
    image with the red cloud of the Orion Nebula in the background on the
                                    left.

         The Conjunction of Comet R3 PanSTARRS and the Orion Nebula
          Image Credit & Copyright: Julien De Winter, Sascha Ebeler
         Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

   Explanation: Today’s composite image features something old, something
   new, something borrowed, and something blue! Comet R3 PanSTARRS,
   streaking across the right of the image, likely originated from the
   Oort Cloud, meaning it is an old Solar System relic from billions of
   years ago. It’s bright extended ion tail glows blue as the gas escaping
   the comet’s core is ionized by sunlight. Astronomers are fascinated by
   comets for all sorts of reasons: comet compositions are untouched time
   capsules containing the building blocks of Solar System planets; comets
   may have delivered water to the young Earth; the behavior of cometary
   tails shed light on solar wind and radiation interactions. The
   background mosaic, featuring the Orion Nebula (M42), was taken over two
   nights of observation with the comet captured on the third night. The
   Orion Nebula is our nearest stellar nursery and, at about 2 million
   years old, is our something (relatively) new! Now at around 127.5
   million kilometers from Earth, we wave goodbye to the borrowed Comet R3
   PanSTARRS as it leaves the Solar System.

                      Growing Gallery: Comet R3 in 2026
                   Tomorrow's picture: a cluster of stars
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

