The Astronomy Picture of the Day features an image of comet Tempel 2, a comet that was discovered in 1873 and has been observed by astronomers many times since. The comet is one of the few that is visible to the naked eye and has a highly elliptical orbit that takes it close to the sun. The image captures a moment in the comet's orbit around the sun.

Source: https://science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod/apod-2026-august-8-a-messier-moment-for-tempel-2/