NASA News · August 8, 2026
APOD: 2026 August 8 – A Messier Moment for Tempel 2
Where it is in your sky
- Object
- M 30 · Globular cluster
- Constellation
- Capricornus
- Best seen
- Evenings from June to October; highest at midnight in August
- Climbs above 20°
- From the South Pole to 47° N
- Never rises
- North of 67° N
- What you need
- Binoculars
Tonight from your location
From the source
Which of these is not a comet? You guessed it – the one on the right is a globular star cluster. The diffuse greenish coma of periodic comet 10P/Tempel 2 is at left in the frame. In fact the globular star cluster is Messier 30, also known as M30, or the 30th entry in astronomer Charles Messier’s catalog of things which are not comets. The well-known 18th century astronomer kept a list of objects he observed, now his famous Messier Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters, which did not move from night to night against the background stars and so were not the comets he was hunting for. So the famous comet hunter would get the correct answer too, even though his telescope would show both 10P/Tempel 2 and distant star cluster as similar looking faint and fuzzy objects in his field of view. Recorded on July 29, this modern telescopic image captures periodic comet Tempel 2 as it briefly swept close on the sky to M30. While the periodic comet’s faint, narrow, orbital dust trail seems to pierce the globular star cluster, Tempel 2 was a mere 3.5 light-minutes away. Messier 30 is some 28,000 light-years distant.
Tomorrow’s picture: Contemplating the Sun
From NASA News.
