Comet Lovejoy over the Great Wall
Fading now as it returns to the outer solar system Comet Lovejoy (C/2013 R1) still graces planet Earth's sky, a delicate apparition in binoculars or small telescopes . The comet, a relic of the solar system's formative years, is seen here rising in the morning twilight on January 12 among the stars of Ophiuchus , the Serpent Bearer. Posing near the comet is bright star Alpha Ophiuchi, also known as Rasalhague , from Arabic “the head of the serpent collector”. Of course, the serpentine shape below is the ancient Great Wall of China , along the Panlongshan section northeast of Beijing. Panlongshan is translated as “a coiled dragon”. A moving and fortuitous scene, it was captured with a digital camera and telephoto lens in two consecutive exposures. The exposures were merged to show a natural looking foreground and twilight sky.