Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]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.

                               2024 December 6
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                        Xuyi Station and the Fireball
         Image Credit & [3]Copyright: Hao Liu (Stanford University)

   Explanation: Colorful and bright, this streaking fireball meteor was
   captured in a single exposure taken at [4]Purple Mountain (Tsuchinshan)
   Observatory’s Xuyi Station in 2020, during planet Earth's annual
   Perseid meteor shower. The dome in the foreground houses the China Near
   Earth Object Survey Telescope (CNEOST), the largest multi-purpose
   Schmidt telescope in China. Located in Xuyi County, Jiangsu Province,
   the station began its operation as an extension of China's Purple
   Mountain Observatory in 2006. [5]Darling of planet Earth's night skies
   in 2024, the bright comet designated [6]Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3)
   was discovered in images taken there on 2023 January 9. The discovery
   is jointly credited to NASA's [7]ATLAS robotic survey telescope at
   Sutherland Observatory, South Africa. Other comet discoveries
   associated with the historic Purple Mountain Observatory and bearing
   the observatory's transliterated Mandarin name include periodic comets
   60/P Tsuchinshan and 62/P Tsuchinshan.

                      Tomorrow's picture: warm and cozy
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    Authors & editors: [19]Robert Nemiroff ([20]MTU) & [21]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([22]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [23]Specific rights apply.
              [24]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [25]ASD at [26]NASA / [27]GSFC,
                         [28]NASA Science Activation
                           & [29]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2412/PurpleMountainObservatoryXuYiStationFireball.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Mountain_Observatory
   5. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.516503464411569
   6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2023_A3_(Tsuchinshan–ATLAS)
   7. https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/nasa-asteroid-tracking-system-now-capable-of-full-sky-search/
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241205.html
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  12. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  17. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=241206
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241207.html
  19. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  20. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  21. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  22. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  24. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  25. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  26. https://www.nasa.gov/
  27. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  28. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  29. http://www.mtu.edu/