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 October 17
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                          The Clipper and the Comet
     Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Ben Cooper ([5]Launch Photography)

   Explanation: [6]NASA's Europa Clipper is now headed toward an ocean
   world beyond Earth. The large spacecraft is tucked into the payload
   fairing atop the Falcon Heavy rocket in this [7]photo, taken at Kennedy
   Space Center the day before the mission's successful October 14 launch.
   Europa Clipper's interplanetary voyage will first take it to Mars, then
   back to Earth, and then on to Jupiter on [8]gravity assist trajectories
   that will allow it to enter orbit around Jupiter in April 2030. Once
   orbiting Jupiter, the spacecraft will fly past Europa 49 times,
   [9]exploring a Jovian moon with a global subsurface ocean that may have
   conditions to support life. Posing in the background next to the
   floodlit rocket is Comet Tsuchinsan-ATLAS, about a day after the
   comet's closest approach to Earth. A current darling of evening skies,
   the naked-eye comet is a [10]vistor from the distant Oort cloud

            Growing Gallery: [11]Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in 2024
                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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    Authors & editors: [23]Robert Nemiroff ([24]MTU) & [25]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([26]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [27]Specific rights apply.
              [28]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [29]ASD at [30]NASA / [31]GSFC,
                         [32]NASA Science Activation
                           & [33]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2410/EuropaComet_cooper3.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. http://www.launchphotography.com/Photographer.html
   5. http://www.launchphotography.com/
   6. https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/liftoff-nasas-europa-clipper-sails-toward-ocean-moon-of-jupiter/
   7. https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-20241013-PH-SPX03_0007
   8. https://science.nasa.gov/learn/basics-of-space-flight/primer/
   9. https://europa.nasa.gov/why-europa/overview/
  10. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/153444/comet-tsuchinshan-atlas-arrives-from-afar
  11. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=APOD.Sky&set=a.516503464411569
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241016.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  16. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  21. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=241017
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241018.html
  23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  26. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  28. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  29. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  32. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  33. http://www.mtu.edu/