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31%  
Woo hoo!! And we're now over 31%!! Thank you all very much!! God bless.

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  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - Comet Pons-Brooks' Ion Tail

    03/26/2024 12:47:45 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 6 replies
    NASA ^ | 26 Mar, 2024 | Image Credit & License: James Peirce
    Explanation: Comet Pons-Brooks has quite a tail to tell. First discovered in 1385, this erupting dirty snowball loops back into our inner Solar System every 71 years and, this time, is starting to put on a show for deep camera exposures. In the featured picture, the light blue stream is the ion tail which consists of charged molecules pushed away from the comet's nucleus by the solar wind. The ion tail, shaped by the Sun's wind and the comet's core's rotation, always points away from the Sun. Comet 12P/Pons–Brooks is now visible with binoculars in the early evening sky toward...