Astronomy picture of the day 22-08-2014 - Comet Jacques, Heart and Soul

Comet Jacques, Heart and Soul
Image Credit &Copyright: Dominique Dierick

Explanation: On July 13th, a good place to watchComet Jacques was from Venus. Then, the recently discovered visitor (C/2014 E2) to theinner solar systempassed within about 14.5 million kilometers of our sister planet. But the outbound comet will pass only 84 million kilometers from our fair planet on August 28 and isalready a fine target for telescopes and binoculars. Two days ago Jacques' greenish coma and straight and narrow ion tail were captured in this telescopic snapshot, a single 2 minute long exposure with a modified digital camera. The comet is flanked by IC 1805 and IC 1848, also known as Cassiopeia'sHeart and Soul Nebulae. If you're stuck on planet Earth this weekend you canhunt for Comet Jacquesin evening skies, or spot a Venus, Jupiter, crescent Moon trianglebefore the dawn.