The bright comet C/2024 E1 Wierzchos reaches us from the edge of the solar system, the Oort Cloud. It appears with two narrow gas tails and a faint, broad dust tail. But we can also see a second tail, the countertail, pointing downwards to the left here. This is an optical illusion. When the Earth crosses the comet’s orbital plane, we see the flat dust trail left behind by the comet from the side. Unfortunately, it can currently (Feb 2026) only be seen in the southern night sky.
One day later, the comet appears to fly past the galaxy NGC55.
Comet C/2024 E1 Wierzchos