Explanation:
Sweeping through planet Earth's night sky, last weekend
Comet Garradd
(C/2009 P1)
visited this lovely star field
along the Milky Way in the constellation Vulpecula.
Suggestively oriented, the colorful skyscape features stars in
the asterism known as
the Coat Hanger with the comet's tail
pointing toward the southeast.
Also known as Al Sufi's Cluster, the
Coat Hanger
itself is likely just a chance alignment and
not a cluster of related stars.
But compact open star cluster NGC 6802 does grace
the field of view just right of the Coat Hanger, near the edge of the
frame.
Below naked eye visibility but approaching 7th magnitude
in brightness,
Comet Garradd has been a good
target
for binoculars and small telescopes.
Still, bright moonlit skies this week will make the comet harder to spot.
