                        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 September 13

                 Comet NEOWISE Rising over the Adriatic Sea
                   Video Credit & Copyright: Paolo Girotti

   Explanation: This sight was worth getting out of bed early. Just over
   four years ago, Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) rose before dawn to the
   delight of northern sky enthusiasts awake that early. Up before sunrise
   on July 8th, the featured photographer was able to capture in dramatic
   fashion one of the few comets visible to the unaided eye this century,
   an inner-Solar System intruder that has become known as the Great Comet
   of 2020. The resulting video detailed Comet NEOWISE from Italy rising
   over the Adriatic Sea. The featured time-lapse video combines over 240
   images taken over 30 minutes. The comet was seen rising through a
   foreground of bright and undulating noctilucent clouds, and before a
   background of distant stars. Comet NEOWISE remained unexpectedly bright
   for over a month, with its ion and dust tails found to emanate from a
   nucleus spanning about five kilometers across.

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