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 __________________________________________________________________ [8]< | [9]Archive | [10]Submissions | [11]Index | [12]Search | [13]Calendar | [14]RSS | [15]Education | [16]About APOD | [17]Discuss | [18]> __________________________________________________________________ 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/