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. 2025 January 28 [2]A foreground grass field is shown below a distant field of stars. On the grass field are some trees. Dwarfing the trees, in the sky, is a comet with a long tail. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Comet G3 ATLAS over Uruguay Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Mauricio Salazar Explanation: Comets can be huge. When far from the Sun, a comet's size usually refers to its [4]hard nucleus of ice and rock, which typically spans a few kilometers -- smaller than even a [5]small moon. When [6]nearing the Sun, however, this [7]nucleus can [8]eject dust and gas and leave a thin tail that can spread to an [9]enormous length -- even greater than the distance between the [10]Earth and the [11]Sun. Pictured, C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) sports a [12]tail of sunlight-reflecting dust and glowing gas that spans several times the apparent size of a full [13]moon, appearing [14]even larger on [15]long duration camera images than to the unaided eye. The [16]featured image shows impressive Comet ATLAS over trees and a grass field in [17]Sierras de Mahoma, [18]San Jose, [19]Uruguay about a week ago. After being [20]prominent in the sunset skies of Earth's southern hemisphere, [21]Comet G3 ATLAS is [22]now fading as it moves away from the Sun, making its impressive tails increasingly hard to see. Gallery: [23]Comet ATLAS (G3) Tomorrow's picture: star circles __________________________________________________________________ [24]< | [25]Archive | [26]Submissions | [27]Index | [28]Search | [29]Calendar | [30]RSS | [31]Education | [32]About APOD | [33]Discuss | [34]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [35]Robert Nemiroff ([36]MTU) & [37]Jerry Bonnell ([38]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [39]Specific rights apply. [40]NASA Web Privacy, [41]Accessibility, [42]Notices; A service of: [43]ASD at [44]NASA / [45]GSFC, [46]NASA Science Activation & [47]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2501/AtlasFields_Salazar_3214.jpg 3. https://www.instagram.com/astropolo_/ 4. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160202.html 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240907.html 6. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Sungrazer_comets 7. https://www.cometcampaign.org/files/images/comets_spacecraft.jpg 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap151118.html 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241006.html 10. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ 11. https://science.nasa.gov/sun/ 12. https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/*/Cometary+Dust+Tail 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120205.html 14. https://www.reddit.com/r/photoshopbattles/comments/4hase2/psbattle_shocked_cat/ 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240131.html 16. https://www.instagram.com/p/DFMBN5sgk3K/ 17. https://youtu.be/3j-2hr1WC_k 18. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Q3gIT1i1n3E 19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250124.html 21. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2024_G3_(ATLAS) 22. https://theskylive.com/c2024g3-info 23. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.600449002683681&type=3 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250127.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 30. https://apod.com/feed.rss 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 33. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250128 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250129.html 35. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 36. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 37. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 38. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 39. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 40. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 41. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 42. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 43. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 44. https://www.nasa.gov/ 45. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 46. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 47. http://www.mtu.edu/