That's comet ATLAS C, glowing an eerie green in the upper left corner of this image. It was discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System in late 2019, and will reach its closest approach to the sun on May 31.
In the lower right corner are two galaxies, M81 and M82, who have been engaged in gravitational warfare for the last billion years or so -- each pass takes them a hundred million years, so the battle is as slow-motion as you can get.
I especially love the colors in this image -- all those stars and galaxies and nebulae in red and blue and yellow and white, like a celestial Christmas tree. It's a beautiful spring morning in New York and I'd love to go look for birds, but the Governor has not-so-politely told us to stay out of the parks so I'll be a good citizen and stay in my neighborhood. At least I can hear them singing.
Image Credit and Copyright: Rolando Ligustri (CARA Project, CAST)
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