Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 November 20

Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka
Image Credit & Copyright: Aygen Erkaslan

Explanation: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka are the bright bluish stars
from east to west (upper right to lower left) along the diagonal in
this cosmic vista. Otherwise known as the Belt of Orion, these three
blue supergiant stars are hotter and much more massive than the Sun.
They lie from 700 to 2,000 light-years away, born of Orion's
well-studied interstellar clouds. In fact, clouds of gas and dust
adrift in this region have some surprisingly familiar shapes, including
the dark Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula near Alnitak at the upper
right. The famous Orion Nebula itself is off the right edge of this
colorful starfield. The telescopic frame spans almost 4 degrees on the
sky.

Tomorrow's picture: interstellar
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 November 21

3I/ATLAS: A View from Planet Earth
Image Credit & Copyright: Rolando Ligustri

Explanation: Now outbound after its perihelion or closest approach to
the Sun on October 29, Comet 3I/ATLAS is only the third known
interstellar object to pass through our fair Solar System. Its greenish
coma and faint tails are seen against a background of stars in the
constellation Virgo in this view from planet Earth, recorded with a
small telescope on November 14. But this interstellar interloper is the
subject of an on-going, unprecedented Solar System-wide observing
campaign involving spacecraft and space telescopes from Earth orbit to
the surface of Mars and beyond. And while the comet from another
star-system has recently grown brighter, you'll still need a telescope
if you want to see 3I/ATLAS from planet Earth. It's now above the
horizon in November morning skies and will make its closest approach to
Earth, a comfortable 270 million kilometers distant, around December
19.

Tomorrow's picture: Dione and Rhea Ring Transit
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 November 22

Dione and Rhea Ring Transit
Image Credit & Copyright: Christopher Go

Explanation: Seen to the left of Saturn's banded planetary disk, small
icy moons Dione and Rhea are caught passing in front of the gas giant's
extensive ring system in this sharp telescopic snapshot. The remarkable
image was recorded on November 20, when Saturn's rings were nearly
edge-on when viewed from planet Earth. In fact, every 13 to 16 years
the view from planet Earth aligns with Saturn's ring plane to produce a
series of ring plane crossings. During a ring plane crossing, the
interplanetary edge-on perspective makes the thin but otherwise bright
rings seem to disappear. By November 23rd Saturn's rings will have
reached a minimum angle for now, at their narrowest for viewing from
planet Earth, but then start to widen again. Of course, Dione and Rhea
orbit Saturn near the ring plane once every 2.7 and 4.5 days
respectively, while the next series of Saturn ring plane crossings as
seen from Earth will begin again in 2038.

Tomorrow's picture: everything, everywhere, all at once
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 November 23
A diagram is shown depicting various parts of the universe that are
observable. In the middle are the parts closest to Earth, and around
the far edges are parts furthest from Earth. Planets, galaxies, and the
CMB are illustrated. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

The Observable Universe
Illustration Credit & Licence: Wikipedia, Pablo Carlos Budassi

Explanation: How far can you see? Everything you can see, and
everything you could possibly see, right now, assuming your eyes could
detect all types of radiations around you -- is the observable
universe. In light, the farthest we can see comes from the cosmic
microwave background, a time 13.8 billion years ago when the universe
was opaque like thick fog. Some neutrinos and gravitational waves that
surround us come from even farther out, but humanity does not yet have
the technology to detect them. The featured image illustrates the
observable universe on an increasingly compact scale, with the Earth
and Sun at the center surrounded by our Solar System, nearby stars,
nearby galaxies, distant galaxies, filaments of early matter, and the
cosmic microwave background. Cosmologists typically assume that our
observable universe is just the nearby part of a greater entity known
as "the universe" where the same physics applies. However, there are
several lines of popular but speculative reasoning that assert that
even our universe is part of a greater multiverse where either
different physical constants occur, different physical laws apply,
higher dimensions operate, or slightly different-by-chance versions of
our standard universe exist.

Explore the Observable Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: stellar shell game
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 November 24
A starfield has a large and unusual red and orange nebula in the
middle. The nebula seems to contain not only swirls but also nearly
transparent shells. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Apep: Unusual Dust Shells from Webb
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, JWST; Science: Y. Han (Caltech),
R. White (Macquarie U.); Image Processing: A. Pagan (STScI)

Explanation: What created this unusual space sculpture? Stars. This
unusual system of swirls and shells, known as Apep, was observed in
unprecedented detail by NASACÇÖs James Webb Space Telescope in infrared
light in 2024. Observations indicate that the unusual shape originates
from two massive Wolf-Rayet stars orbiting each other every 190 years
with each close passes causing a new shell of dust and gas to be
expelled. Holes in these shells are thought to be caused by a third
orbiting star. This stellar dust dance will likely continue for
hundreds of thousands of years, possibly ending only when one of the
massive stars runs out of internal nuclear fuel and explodes in a
supernova punctuated by a burst of gamma-rays.

Build your own star system: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
Tomorrow's picture: picturesque comet
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 November 25
A night skyscape is shown over snowcapped mountains. On the left is the
band of the Milky Way Galaxy, while on the right is a bright comet with
two tails -- a white tail going up and trailing to the right and a
longer blue tail going up and trailing off to the left. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

Comet Lemmon and the Milky Way
Image Credit & Copyright: Lin Zixuan (Tsinghua U.)

Explanation: What did Comet Lemmon look like when it was at its best?
One example is pictured here, featuring three celestial spectacles all
at different distances. The closest spectacle is the snowcapped Meili
Mountains, part of the Himalayas in China. The middle marvel is Comet
Lemmon near its picturesque best early this month, showing not only a
white dust tail trailing off to the right but its blue solar
wind-distorted ion tail trailing off to the left. Far in the distance
on the left is the magnificent central plane of our Milky Way Galaxy,
featuring dark dust, red nebula, and including billions of Sun-like
stars. Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) is already fading as it heads back into
the outer Solar System, while the Himalayan mountains will gradually
erode over the next billion years. The Milky Way Galaxy, though, will
live on -- forming new mountains and comets -- for many billions of
years into the future.

Tomorrow's picture: huge ball of stars
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 November 26
A starfield is shown with thin wisps of gray and red running through
it. In the center is an usual ball -- which is a globular cluster of
stars upon closer inspection. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

Globular Cluster M15 Deep Field
Image Credit & Copyright: Alvaro Ibanez Perez

Explanation: Stars, like bees, swarm around the center of bright
globular cluster M15. The central ball of over 100,000 stars is a relic
from the early years of our Galaxy, and continues to orbit the Milky
Way's center. M15, one of about 150 globular clusters remaining, is
noted for being easily visible with only binoculars, having at its
center one of the densest concentrations of stars known, and containing
a high abundance of variable stars and pulsars. The featured image of
M15 was taken by combining very long exposures -- 122 hours in all --
and so brings up faint wisps of gas and dust in front of the giant ball
of stars. M15 lies about 35,000 light years away toward the
constellation of the Winged Horse (Pegasus).

Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 November 27

Portrait of NGC 1055
Image Credit & Copyright: John Hayes

Explanation: Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 1055 is a dominant member
of a small galaxy group a mere 60 million light-years away toward the
aquatically intimidating constellation Cetus. Seen edge-on, the island
universe spans over 100,000 light-years, a little larger than our own
Milky Way galaxy. The colorful, spiky stars decorating this cosmic
portrait of NGC 1055 are in the foreground, well within the Milky Way.
But telltale pinkish star forming regions and young blue star clusters
are scattered through winding dust lanes along the distant galaxy's
thin disk. With a smattering of even more distant background galaxies,
the deep image also reveals a boxy halo that extends far above and
below the central bulge and disk of NGC 1055. The halo itself is laced
with faint, narrow structures, and could represent the mixed and spread
out debris from a satellite galaxy disrupted by the larger spiral some
10 billion years ago.

Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 November 28

NGC 6888: The Crescent Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Greg Bass

Explanation: NGC 6888, also known as the Crescent Nebula, is a about 25
light-years across, a cosmic bubble blown by winds from its central,
massive star. This deep telescopic image includes narrowband image
data, to isolate light from hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The oxygen atoms
produce the blue-green hue that seems to enshroud the nebula's detailed
folds and filaments. Visible within the nebula, NGC 6888's central star
is classified as a Wolf-Rayet star (WR 136). The star is shedding its
outer envelope in a strong stellar wind, ejecting the equivalent of the
Sun's mass every 10,000 years. In fact, the Crescent Nebula's complex
structures are likely the result of this strong wind interacting with
material ejected in an earlier phase. Burning fuel at a prodigious rate
and near the end of its stellar life, this star should ultimately go
out with a bang in a spectacular supernova explosion. Found in the
nebula rich constellation Cygnus, NGC 6888 is about 5,000 light-years
away.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 November 29

Moon Games
Image Credit & Copyright: Giorgia Hofer

Explanation: This is not a screen from a video game. Nestled below the
tree-line, the small mountain church does look like it might be hiding
from Moon though. In the well-composed telephoto snapshot, taken on
November 23, the church walls are partly reflecting light from
terrestrial flood lights. Of course, the Moon is reflecting light from
the Sun. At any given time the Sun illuminates fully half of the Moon's
surface, also known as the lunar dayside, but on that night only a
sliver of its sunlit surface was visible. About three days after New
Moon, the Moon was in a waxing crescent phase. The single exposure was
captured shortly after sunset in skies near Danta di Cadore, northern
Italy, planet Earth.

Tomorrow's picture: most distant landing
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 November 30
A strange orange landscape is shown. What appears to be light and dark
orange rocks are strewn about. The landscape appears roughly flat all
the way out to the orange sky and horizon. Please see the explanation
for more detailed information.

The Surface of Titan from Huygens
Image Credit: ESA, NASA, JPL, U. Arizona, Huygens Lander

Explanation: If you could stand on Titan -- what would you see? The
featured color view from Titan gazes across an unfamiliar and distant
landscape on Saturn's largest moon. The scene was recorded by ESA's
Huygens probe in 2005 after a 2.5-hour descent through a thick
atmosphere of nitrogen laced with methane. Bathed in an eerie orange
light at ground level, rocks strewn about the scene could well be
composed of water and hydrocarbons frozen solid at an inhospitable
temperature of negative 179 degrees C. The large light-toned rock below
and left of center is only about 15 centimeters across and lies 85
centimeters away. The saucer-shaped spacecraft is believed to have
penetrated about 15 centimeters into a place on Titan's surface that
had the consistency of wet sand or clay. Huygen's batteries enabled the
probe to take and transmit data for more than 90 minutes after landing.
Titan's bizarre chemical environment may bear similarities to planet
Earth's before life evolved.

Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 December 1
A starfield is shown around a comet. The green coma of the comet is on
the lower left. A meandering blue-tinted tail goes off to the upper
right. A slight anti-tail is seen from the coma toward the lower left.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

3I ATLAS: Tails of an Interstellar Comet
Image Credit & Copyright: Victor Sabet & Julien De Winter

Explanation: How typical is our Solar System? Studying 3I/ATLAS, a
comet just passing through, is providing clues. Confirmed previous
interstellar visitors include an asteroid, a comet, a meteor, and a gas
wind dominated by hydrogen and helium. Comet 3I/ATLAS appears
relatively normal when compared to Solar System comets, therefore
providing more evidence that our Solar System is a somewhat typical
star system. For example, Comet 3I/ATLAS has a broadly similar chemical
composition and ejected dust. The featured image was captured last week
from Texas and shows a green coma, a wandering blue-tinted ion tail
likely deflected by our Sun's wind, and a slight anti-tail, all typical
cometary attributes. The comet, visible with a telescope, passed its
closest to the Sun in late October and will pass its closest to the
Earth in mid-December, after which it will return to interstellar space
and never return.

Explore the Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: active galaxy
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 December 2
A big beautiful sprawling spiral galaxy is shown. The galaxy has well
defined spiral arms with bright blue star clusters and dark red dust.
The center is a bright white. Please see the explanation for more
detailed information.

M77: Spiral Galaxy with an Active Center
Image Credit: Hubble, NASA, ESA, L. C. Ho, D. Thilker

Explanation: What's happening in the center of nearby spiral galaxy
M77? The face-on galaxy lies a mere 47 million light-years away toward
the constellation of the Sea Monster (Cetus). At that estimated
distance, this gorgeous island universe is about 100 thousand
light-years across. Also known as NGC 1068, its compact and very bright
core is well studied by astronomers exploring the mysteries of
supermassive black holes in active Seyfert galaxies. M77's active core
glows bright at x-ray, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and radio
wavelengths. The featured sharp image of M77 was taken by the Hubble
Space Telescope. The image shows details of the spiral's winding spiral
arms as traced by obscuring red dust clouds and blue star clusters, all
circling the galaxy's bright white luminous center.

Free APOD Lecture in Phoenix: Wednesday, December 10 at 7 pm
Tomorrow's picture: black hole trip
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 December 3
The illustration shows a structured orange band stretching horizontally
across the imager. Connected in the middle is the Milky Way Galaxy
curving up to the top of the frame. A second image of the orange band
runs like a sine wave across the lower half of the frame, while a
second image of the Milky Way galaxy appears just above it. Please see
the explanation for more detailed information.

Visualization: Near a Black Hole and Disk
Illustration Credit: NASA's GSFC, J. Schnittman & B. Powell; Text:
Francis Reddy (U. Maryland, NASA's GSFC)

Explanation: What would it look like to plunge into a monster black
hole? This image from a supercomputer visualization shows the entire
sky as seen from a simulated camera plunging toward a
4-million-solar-mass black hole, similar to the one at the center of
our galaxy. The camera lies about 16 million kilometers from the black
holeCÇÖs event horizon and is moving inward at 62% the speed of light.
Thanks to gravityCÇÖs funhouse effects, the starry band of the Milky Way
appears both as a compact loop at the top of this view and as a
secondary image stretching across the bottom. Move the cursor over the
image for additional explanations. Visualizations like this allow
astronomers to explore black holes in ways not otherwise possible.

Tomorrow's picture: galaxy in the furnace
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 December 4

Galaxies in the Furnace
Image Credit & Copyright: Simone Curzi and the ShaRA Team

Explanation: An example of violence on a cosmic scale, enormous
elliptical galaxy NGC 1316 lies about 75 million light-years away
toward Fornax, the southern constellation of the Furnace. Investigating
the startling sight, astronomers suspect the giant galaxy of colliding
with smaller neighbor NGC 1317 seen just right of the large galaxy's
center, producing far flung star streams in loops and shells. Light
from their close encounter would have reached Earth some 100 million
years ago. In the sharp telescopic image, the central regions of NGC
1316 and NGC 1317 appear separated by over 100,000 light-years. Complex
dust lanes visible within also indicate that NGC 1316 is itself the
result of a merger of galaxies in the distant past. Found on the
outskirts of the Fornax galaxy cluster, NGC 1316 is known as Fornax A.
One of the visually brightest of the Fornax cluster galaxies it is one
of the strongest and largest celestial radio sources with radio
emission extending well beyond this one degree wide field-of-view.

Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 December 5

The Bipolar Jets of KX Andromedae
Image Credit & Copyright: Tim Schaeffer and the Deep Sky Collective

Explanation: Blasting outward from variable star KX Andromedae, these
stunning bipolar jets are 19 light-years long. Recently discovered,
they are revealed in unprecedented detail in this deep telescopic image
centered on KX And and composed from over 692 hours of combined image
data. In fact, KX And is spectroscopically found to be an interacting
binary star system consisting of a bright, hot B-type star with a
swollen cool giant star as its co-orbiting, close companion. The
stellar material from the cool giant star is likely being transferred
to the hot B-type star through an accretion disk, with spectacular
symmetric jets driven outward perpendicular to the disk itself. The
known distance to KX And of 2,500 light-years, angular size of the
jets, and estimated inclination of the accretion disk lead to the size
estimate for each jet of an astonishing 19 light-years.

Free APOD Lecture in Phoenix: Wednesday, December 10 at 7 pm
Tomorrow's picture: remember where you parked
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 December 6

Apollo 17 at Shorty Crater
Apollo 17 Crew, NASA

Explanation: Fifty three years ago, in December of 1972, Apollo 17
astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent about 75 hours on
the Moon exploring the Taurus-Littrow valley, while colleague Ronald
Evans orbited overhead. This snapshot from another world was taken by
Cernan as he and Schmitt roamed the lunar valley's floor. The image
shows Schmitt next to the lunar rover parked at the southeast rim of
Shorty Crater. That location is near the spot where geologist Schmitt
discovered orange lunar soil. The Apollo 17 crew returned with 110
kilograms of rock and soil samples, more than was returned from any of
the other lunar landing sites. And for now, Cernan and Schmitt are the
last to walk on the Moon.

Tomorrow's picture: the spectrum of the Sun
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 December 9
A starfield is shown with a brown and gold tinted dust structures in
front of a glowing blue gas background. Please see the explanation for
more detailed information.

The Heart of the Soul Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Nicola Bugin

Explanation: This cosmic close-up looks deep inside the Soul Nebula.
The dark and brooding dust clouds outlined by bright ridges of glowing
gas are cataloged as IC 1871. About 25 light-years across, the
telescopic field of view spans only a small part of the much larger
Heart and Soul nebulae. At an estimated distance of 6,500 light-years,
the star-forming complex lies within the Perseus spiral arm of the
Milky Way, seen in planet Earth's skies toward the constellation of the
Queen of Aethiopia (Cassiopeia). An example of triggered star
formation, the dense star-forming clouds of IC 1871 are themselves
sculpted by the intense winds and radiation of the region's massive
young stars. This color image adopts a palette made popular in Hubble
images of star-forming regions.

Tomorrow's picture: open space
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2025 December 10

The Horsehead Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: George Chatzifrantzis

Explanation: Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, this dusty
interstellar molecular cloud has by chance has assumed an immediately
recognizable shape. Fittingly known as The Horsehead Nebula, it lies
some 1,500 light-years distant, embedded in the vast Orion cloud
complex. About five light-years "tall," the dark cloud is cataloged as
Barnard 33, first identified on a photographic plate taken in the late
19th century. B33 is visible primarily because its obscuring dust is
silhouetted against the glow of emission nebula IC 434. Hubble space
telescope images from the early 21st century find young stars forming
within B33. Of course, the magnificent interstellar cloud will slowly
shift its apparent shape over the next few million years. But for now
the Horsehead Nebula is a rewarding though difficult object to view
with small telescopes from planet Earth.

Tomorrow's picture: the spectrum of the Sun
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2025 December 11

Galaxies in the River
Image Credit & Copyright: Vikas Chander

Explanation: Large galaxies grow by eating small ones. Even our own
galaxy engages in a sort of galactic cannibalism, absorbing small
galaxies that are too close and are captured by the Milky Way's
gravity. In fact, the practice is common in the universe and
illustrated by this striking pair of interacting galaxies from the
banks of the southern constellation Eridanus, The River. Located over
50 million light years away, the large, distorted spiral NGC 1532 is
seen locked in a gravitational struggle with dwarf galaxy NGC 1531, a
struggle the smaller galaxy will eventually lose. Seen nearly edge-on,
in this sharp image spiral NGC 1532 spans about 100,000 light-years.
The NGC 1532/1531 pair is thought to be similar to the well-studied
system of face-on spiral and small companion known as M51.

Tomorrow's picture: fox fires
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2025 December 12

Northern Fox Fires
Image Credit & Copyright: Dennis Lehtonen

Explanation: In a Finnish myth, when an arctic fox runs so fast that
its bushy tail brushes the mountains, flaming sparks are cast into the
heavens creating the northern lights. In fact the Finnish word
"revontulet", a name for the aurora borealis or northern lights, can be
translated as fire fox. So that evocative myth took on a special
significance for the photographer of this northern night skyscape from
Finnish Lapland near Kilpisjarvi Lake. The snowy scene is illuminated
by moonlight. Saana, an iconic fell or mountain of Lapland, rises at
the right in the background. But as the beautiful nothern lights danced
overhead, the wild fire fox in the foreground enthusiastically ran
around the photographer and his equipment, making it difficult to
capture in this lucky single shot.

Tomorrow's picture: ocean of storms
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2025 December 13

Orion and the Ocean of Storms
Image Credit: NASA, Artemis 1

Explanation: On December 5, 2022, a camera on board the uncrewed Orion
spacecraft captured this view as Orion approached its return powered
flyby of the Moon. Beyond one of Orion's extended solar arrays lies
dark, smooth, terrain along the western edge of the Oceanus
Procellarum. Prominent on the lunar nearside Oceanus Procellarum, the
Ocean of Storms, is the largest of the Moon's lava-flooded maria. The
lunar terminator, the shadow line between lunar night and day, runs
along the left of this frame. The 41 kilometer diameter crater Marius
is top center, with ray crater Kepler peeking in at the edge, just
right of the solar array wing. Kepler's bright rays extend to the north
and west, reaching the dark-floored Marius. By December 11, 2022 the
Orion spacecraft had returned to its home world. The historic Artemis 1
mission ended with Orion's successful splashdown in planet Earth's
water-flooded Pacific Ocean.

Watch: The Geminid Meteor Shower
Tomorrow's picture: flyby Ganymede and Jupiter
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2025 December 14

Juno Flyby of Ganymede and Jupiter
Video Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SWRI, MSSS;
Animation: Koji Kuramura, Gerald Eichst+ñdt, Mike Stetson; Music:
Vangelis

Explanation: What would it be like to fly over the largest moon in the
Solar System? In 2021, the robotic Juno spacecraft flew past Jupiter's
huge moon Ganymede and took images that have been digitally constructed
into a detailed flyby. As the featured video begins, Juno swoops over
the two-toned surface of the 2,000-km wide moon, revealing an icy alien
landscape filled with grooves and craters. The grooves are likely
caused by shifting surface plates, while the craters are caused by
violent impacts. Continuing on in its orbit, Juno then performed its
34th close pass over Jupiter's clouds. The digitally-constructed video
shows numerous swirling clouds in the north, colorful planet-circling
zones and bands across the middle -- featuring several white-oval
clouds from the String of Pearls, and finally more swirling clouds in
the south.

Tomorrow's picture: andromeda sprite
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2025 December 15
A picturesque winter landscape is seen before a dark but busy sky. A
stream and a house are visible in the foreground, while snow-capped
mountains are seen on the far horizon. In the sky are many stars and
many streaks caused by meteors. Also some red gaseous nebulas are
visible in the sky. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Gemini Meteors over Snow Capped Mountains
Image Credit & Copyright: Tom+í+í Slovinsk+'

Explanation: Where are all of these meteors coming from? In terms of
direction on the sky, the pointed answer is the constellation of
Gemini. That is why the major meteor shower in December is known as the
Geminids -- because shower meteors all appear to come from a radiant
toward Gemini. Three dimensionally, however, sand-sized debris expelled
from the unusual asteroid 3200 Phaethon follows a well-defined orbit
about our Sun, and the part of the orbit that approaches Earth is
superposed in front of the constellation of Gemini. Therefore, when
Earth crosses this orbit, the radiant point of falling debris appears
in Gemini. Featured here is a composite of many images taken over the
past few days through dark skies from Slovakia and capturing the
snow-covered peaks of the Belianske Tatra mountains Numerous bright
meteor streaks from the Geminids meteor shower are visible. Orion is
visible above the horizon, while the bright star nearest the radiant is
Castor.

APOD Review: RJN's Night Sky Network Lecture
Tomorrow's picture: tree sprites
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2025 December 16
A dark landscape is back lit by a thunderstorm in the distance. A lone
tree is visible near the center. Above the tree are two sky icons: the
Andromeda Galaxy on the left and bright red sprites on the right.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Andromeda and Sprites over Australia
Image Credit & Copyright: JJ Rao

Explanation: WhatCÇÖs happening over that tree? Two very different
things. On the left is the Andromeda galaxy, an object that is older
than humanity and will last billions of years into the future.
Andromeda (M31) is similar in size and shape to our own Milky Way
Galaxy. On the right is a red sprite, a type of lightning that lasts a
fraction of a second and occurs above violent thunderstorms. Red
sprites were verified as real atmospheric phenomena only about 35 years
ago. The tree in the center is a boab, which may live for as long as a
thousand years. Boab trees grow naturally in Australia and Africa and
are known for being able to store large amounts of water: up to 100,000
liters. The featured image was captured last month near Derby in
Western Australia.

Tomorrow's picture: Soul Queen
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2025 December 17
A starfield surrounds the edges of a large nebula. The nebula, itself
full of stars, has a blue glowing interior and an orange periphery
dotted with dust pillars. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

W5: The Soul Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Jeffrey Horne

Explanation: Stars are forming in the Soul of the Queen of Aethopia.
More specifically, a large star forming region called the Soul Nebula
can be found in the direction of the constellation Cassiopeia, whom
Greek mythology credits as the vain wife of a King who long ago ruled
lands surrounding the upper Nile river. Also known as Westerhout 5
(W5), the Soul Nebula houses several open clusters of stars, ridges and
pillars darkened by cosmic dust, and huge evacuated bubbles formed by
the winds of young massive stars. Located about 6,500 light years away,
the Soul Nebula spans about 100 light years and is usually imaged next
to its celestial neighbor the Heart Nebula (IC 1805). The featured
image, taken from near Nashville, Tennessee, USA, is a composite of 234
hours of exposures made in different colors: red as emitted by hydrogen
gas, yellow as emitted by sulfur, and blue as emitted by oxygen.

Explore the Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: Jupiter and the Geminids
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2025 December 18

Jupiter and the Meteors from Gemini
Image Credit & Copyright: David Cruz

Explanation: Jupiter, the Solar System's ruling gas giant, is the
brightest celestial beacon at the center of this composite night
skyscape. The scene was constructed by selecting the 40 exposures
containing meteors from about 500 exposures made on the nights of
December 13 and 14, near peak activity for this year's annual Geminid
meteor shower. With each selected exposure registered in the night sky
above Alentejo, Portugal, planet Earth, it does look like the meteors
are streaming away from Jupiter. But the apparent radiant of the
Geminid meteors is actually closer to bright star Castor, in the
shower's eponymous constellation Gemini. In this frame that's just a
little above and left of the Solar System's most massive planet. Still,
the parent body of Geminid meteors is known to be rocky, near-Earth
asteroid 3200 Phaethon. And the orbit of Phaethon itself is influenced
by the gravitational attraction exerted by massive Jupiter, in concert
with planets of the inner Solar System.

Tomorrow's picture: cathedrals on the moon
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2025 December 19

Long Shadows of the Montes Caucasus
Image Credit & Copyright: Guy Bardon

Explanation: When the Moon is at its first quarter phase, the Sun rises
along the Montes Caucasus as seen from the lunar surface. The lunar
mountain range casts the magnificent, spire-like shadows in this
telescopic view from planet Earth, looking along the lunar terminator
or the boundary between lunar night and day. Named for Earth's own
Caucasus Mountains, the rugged lunar Montes Caucasus peaks, up to 6
kilometers high, are located between the smooth Mare Imbrium to the
west and Mare Serenitatis to the east. Still mostly in shadow in this
first quarter lunarscape, at the left (west) impact craters reflect the
light of the rising Sun along their outer, eastern crater walls.

Tomorrow's picture: the Sun's tattoo
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2025 December 20

A Solstice Sun Tattoo
Image Credit & Copyright: Marcella Pace

Explanation: The word solstice is from the Latin for Sun and to pause
or stand still. And in the days surrounding a solstice the Sun's annual
north-south drift in planet Earth's sky does slow down, pause, and then
reverse direction. So near the solstice the daily path of the Sun
through the sky really doesn't change much. In fact, near the December
solstice, the Sun's consistent, low arc through northern hemisphere
skies, along with low surface temperatures, has left a noticeable
imprint on this path to the mountain town of Peaio in northern Italy.
The morning frost on the road has melted away only where the sunlight
was able to reach the ground. But it remains in the areas persistently
shadowed by the fence, tattooing in frost an image of the fence on the
asphalt surface.

Tomorrow's picture: solstice on a tilted planet
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2025 December 21

Solstice on a Spinning Earth
Image Credit: Meteosat 9, NASA, Earth Observatory, Robert Simmon

Explanation: Can you tell that today is a solstice by the tilt of the
Earth? Yes. At a solstice, the Earth's terminator -- the dividing line
between night and day -- is tilted the most. The featured time-lapse
video demonstrates this by displaying an entire year on planet Earth in
twelve seconds. From geosynchronous orbit, the Meteosat 9 satellite
recorded infrared images of the Earth every day at the same local time.
The video started at the September 2010 equinox with the terminator
line being vertical: an equinox. As the Earth revolved around the Sun,
the terminator was seen to tilt in a way that provides less daily
sunlight to the northern hemisphere, causing winter in the north. At
the most tilt, winter solstice occurred in the north, and summer
solstice in the south. As the year progressed, the March 2011 equinox
arrived halfway through the video, followed by the terminator tilting
the other way, causing winter in the southern hemisphere -- and summer
in the north. The captured year ends again with the September equinox,
concluding another of the billions of trips the Earth has taken -- and
will take -- around the Sun.

APOD Review: RJN's Night Sky Network Lecture
Tomorrow's picture: strange lightning
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2025 December 22
The sun is setting across a field in a clear sky. In the field are the
famous stones of Stonehenge. The Sun peaks out from the center of the
stone array. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Sunset Solstice over Stonehenge
Image Credit & Copyright: English Heritage, Josh Dury

Explanation: Yesterday the Sun reached its southernmost point in planet
Earth's sky. Called a solstice, many cultures mark yesterday's date as
a change of seasons -- from autumn to winter in Earth's Northern
Hemisphere and from spring to summer in Earth's Southern Hemisphere.
The featured image was taken just before the longest night of the 2025
northern year at Stonehenge in United Kingdom. There, through stones
precisely placed 4,500 years ago, a 4.5 billion year old large glowing
orb is seen setting. Even given the precession of the Earth's
rotational axis over the millennia, the Sun continues to set over
Stonehenge in an astronomically significant way.

Tomorrow's picture: strange lightning
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2025 December 23
Trees on a hilltop are seen in a starry sky but with clouds on the far
horizon. A strange red circular band of light is seen in the sky. Near
this band's center, some bright jellyfish like structures are visible.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Red Sprites and Circular Elves Lightning over Italy
Image Credit & Copyright: Valter Binotto

Explanation: What's happening in the sky? Lightning. The most commonly
seen type of lightning involves flashes of bright white light between
clouds. Over the past 50 years, though, other types of
upper-atmospheric lightning have been confirmed, including tentacled
red sprites and ringed ELVES. Although both last only a small fraction
of a second, sprites are brighter and easier to photograph than their
more common electrical-discharge cousins. ELVES are rapidly expanding
rings that are thought to be created when an electromagnetic pulse
shoots upward from charged clouds and impacts the ionosphere, causing
nitrogen molecules to glow. Capturing either form of lightning takes
patience and experience -- capturing them both together, since they
usually occur separately, is rare. The featured image is a frame from a
video recorded from Possagno, Italy late last month above a distant
thunderstorm over the Adriatic Sea.

Tomorrow's picture: mystery dots
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2025 December 24
A panel of six images shows a red dot in the center of each image. The
instrument that took the image is listed on each image, along with a z
number that is the cosmological redshift. Please see the explanation
for more detailed information.

Mystery: Little Red Dots in the Early Universe
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, JWST; Dale Kocevski (Colby
College)

Explanation: What are these little red dots (LRDs)? Nobody knows.
Discovered only last year, hundreds of LRDs have now been found by the
James Webb Space Telescope in the early universe. Although extremely
faint, LRDs are now frequently identified in deep observations made for
other purposes. A wide-ranging debate is raging about what LRDs may be
and what importance they may have. Possible origin hypotheses include
accreting supermassive black holes inside clouds of gas and dust,
bursts of star formation in young dust-reddened galaxies, and dark
matter powered gas clouds. The highlighted images show six nearly
featureless LRDs listed under the JWST program that found them, and z,
a distance indicator called cosmological redshift. Additionally,
searches are underway in our nearby universe to try to find whatever
previous LRDs might have become today.

Tomorrow's picture: Fox Fur, Unicorn, and Christmas Tree
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2025 December 25

Unicorn, Fox Fur and Christmas Tree
Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Kalika

Explanation: A star forming region cataloged as NGC 2264, this
beautiful but complex arrangement of interstellar gas and dust is about
2,700 light-years distant in the faint but fanciful constellation
Monoceros, the Unicorn. Seen toward the celestial equator and near the
plane of our Milky Way galaxy, the seasonal skyscape mixes reddish
emission nebulae excited by energetic light from newborn stars with
dark interstellar dust clouds. Where the otherwise obscuring dust
clouds lie close to the hot, young stars, they also reflect starlight,
forming blue reflection nebulae. In fact, bright variable star S
Monocerotis is immersed in a blue-tinted haze near center. Arrayed with
a simple triangular outline above S Monocerotis, the stars of NGC 2264
are popularly known as the Christmas Tree star cluster. Carved by
energetic starlight, the Cone Nebula sits upside down at the apex of
this cosmic Christmas tree while the dusty, convoluted pelt of glowing
gas and dust under the tree is called the Fox Fur Nebula. This rich
telescopic frame spans about 1.5 degrees or 3 full moons on the sky top
to bottom, covering nearly 80 light-years at the distance of NGC 2264.

Tomorrow's picture: extrasolar flyby
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 December 26

3I/ATLAS Flyby
Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

Explanation: Attention grabbing interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS made its
not-so-close flyby of our fair planet on December 19 at a distance of
1.8 astronomical units. That's about 900 light-seconds. Still, this
deep exposure captures the comet from another star system as it gently
swept across a faint background of stars in the constellation Leo about
4 days earlier, on the night of December 15. Though faint, colors
emphasized in the image data, show off the comet's yellowish dust tail
and bluish ion tail along with a greenish tinged coma. And even while
scrutinized by arrays of telescopes and spacecraft from planet Earth,
3I ATLAS is headed out of the Solar System. It's presently moving
outward along a hyperbolic trajectory at about 64 kilometers per second
relative to the Sun, too fast to be bound the Sun's gravity.

Tomorrow's picture: Apollo's Moonship
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 December 27

Apollo 17's Moonship
Image Credit: Apollo 17, NASA, (Image Reprocessing: Andy Saunders)

Explanation: Awkward and angular looking, Apollo 17's lunar module
Challenger was designed for flight in the near vacuum of space.
Digitally enhanced and reprocessed, this picture taken from Apollo 17's
command module America shows Challenger's ascent stage in lunar orbit.
Small reaction control thrusters are at the sides of the moonship with
the bell of the ascent rocket engine underneath. The hatch that allowed
access to the lunar surface is seen at the front, with a round radar
antenna at the top. Mission commander Gene Cernan is clearly visible
through the triangular window. This spaceship performed gracefully,
landing on the Moon and returning the Apollo astronauts to the orbiting
command module in December of 1972. So where is Challenger now? While
its descent stage remains at the Apollo 17 landing site in the
Taurus-Littrow valley, the ascent stage pictured was intentionally
crashed nearby after being jettisoned from the command module prior to
the astronauts' return to planet Earth.

Tomorrow's picture: It's full of stars!
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 December 28
The ball of colorful stars is shown where the center is so dense with
stars it is hard to identify individual stars. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

NGC 1898: Globular Cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Explanation: Jewels don't shine this bright -- only stars do. And
almost every spot in this jewel-box of an image from the Hubble Space
Telescope is a star. Now, some stars are more red than our Sun, and
some more blue -- but all of them are much farther away. Although it
takes light about 8 minutes to reach Earth from the Sun, NGC 1898 is so
far away that it takes light about 160,000 years to get here. This huge
ball of stars, NGC 1898, is called a globular cluster and resides in
the central bar of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) -- a satellite
galaxy of our Milky Way Galaxy. The featured multi-colored image
includes light from the infrared to the ultraviolet and was taken to
help determine if the stars of NGC 1898 all formed at the same time or
at different times. There are increasing indications that most globular
clusters formed stars in stages, and that, in particular, stars from
NGC 1898 formed shortly after ancient encounters with the Small
Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and our Milky Way Galaxy.

Space Telescopes Live: Where are Hubble and Webb looking right now?
Tomorrow's picture: boom star
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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written by a professional astronomer.

2025 December 29
A dark starfield surrounds a colorful nebula filled with tangled
filaments. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

M1: The Crab Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Alan Chen

Explanation: This is the mess that is left when a star explodes. The
Crab Nebula, the result of a supernova seen in 1054 AD, is filled with
mysterious filaments. The filaments are not only tremendously complex
but appear to have less mass than expelled in the original supernova
and a higher speed than expected from a free explosion. The featured
image was taken by an amateur astronomer in Leesburg, Florida, USA over
three nights last month. It was captured in three primary colors but
with extra detail provided by specific emission by hydrogen gas. The
Crab Nebula spans about 10 light years. In the Nebula's very center
lies a pulsar: a neutron star as massive as the Sun but with only the
size of a small town. The Crab Pulsar rotates about 30 times each
second.

Explore the Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: artificial comet
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 December 30
A star filled sky shows bands of green and purple sky glow. In the
foreground is a grassy field with clouds on the horizon. Most
remarkably, a series of short streaks appear like a comet's tail up
from the horizon toward the upper left. Please see the explanation for
more detailed information.

An Artificial Comet
Image Credit & Copyright: Wang Chao

Explanation: Yes, but can your comet tail do this? No, and what you are
seeing is not the tail of a comet. The picture features a cleverly
overlayed time-lapse sequence of a group of satellites orbiting Earth
together in June. Specifically, these are Starlink communications
satellites in low Earth orbit reflecting back sunlight before sunrise
to Inner Mongolia, China. Although the satellites appear to the human
eye as points, the 20-second-long camera exposures caused them to
appear as short streaks. Currently there are over 9000 Starlinks in
orbit, with more being launched nearly every week. Other satellite
constellations are also being planned.

Explore the Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: celestial waterfall
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2025 December 31
A starfield filled with a diffuse red glow has an unusual nebula on the
lower left. The nebula has bright red filaments that curve down and
appear to be reminiscent of a waterfall on Earth. Please see the
explanation for more detailed information.

HH-222: The Waterfall Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby

Explanation: What created the Waterfall Nebula? The origin is still
being researched. The structure, officially designated Herbig-Haro 222,
appears in the region of NGC 1999 in the Great Orion Molecular Cloud
complex. The elongated gaseous stream stretches about ten light years
but appears similar to a long waterfall on Earth. Recent observations
indicate that HH-222 is likely a gigantic gaseous bow shock, similar to
a wave of water caused by a fast-moving ship. The origin of this shock
wave is thought to be a jet outflow from the multiple star system V380
Orionis off the lower left of the frame. Therefore, gas does not flow
along the waterfall, but rather the entire structure moves toward the
upper right. The Waterfall Nebula lies about 1,500 light years away
toward the constellation of Orion. The featured image was captured
earlier this month from El Sauce Observatory in Chile.

Jigsaw Nebula: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
Tomorrow's picture: open space
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 January 1

Auroral Corona
Image Credit & Copyright: Roi Levi

Explanation: Cycle 25 solar maximum made 2025 a great year for aurora
borealis (or aurora australis) on planet Earth. And the high level of
solar activity should extend into 2026. So, while you're celebrating
the arrival of the new year, check out this spectacular auroral display
that erupted in starry night skies over Kirkjufell, Iceland. The
awesome auroral corona, energetic curtains of light streaming from
directly overhead, was witnessed during a strong geomagnetic storm
triggered by intense solar activity near the March 2025 equinox. This
northland and skyscape captures the evocative display in a 21 frame
panoramic mosaic.

Tomorrow's picture: solar sailing
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 January 2

NanoSail-D2
Image Credit & Copyright: Ralf Vandebergh

Explanation: In 2011, on January 20, NASA's NanoSail-D2 unfurled a very
thin and very reflective 10 square meter sail becoming the first solar
sail spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Often considered the stuff of
science fiction, sailing through space was suggested 400 years ago by
astronomer Johannes Kepler, who had observed comet tails blown by the
solar wind. But modern solar sail spacecraft designs, like NanoSail-D2,
Japan's interplanetary spacecraft IKAROS, or the Planetary Society's
Lightsail A, rely on the small but continuous pressure from sunlight
itself for thrust. Glinting in the sunlight as it circled planet Earth,
NanoSail-D2's solar sail was periodically bright and visible to the
eye. These remarkably detailed images were captured by manually
tracking the orbiting solar sail spacecraft with a small telescope.

Tomorrow's picture: moon lighting
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 January 3

Full Moonlight
Image Credit & Copyright: Zhengjie Wu and Jeff Dai (TWAN)

Explanation: The Full Moon is the brightest lunar phase, and tonight
you can stand in the light of the first Full Moon of 2026. In fact, the
Moon's full phase occurs on January 3 at 10:03 UTC, while only about 7
hours later planet Earth reaches its 2026 perihelion, the closest point
in its elliptical orbit around the Sun, at 17:16 UTC. January's Full
Moon was also not far from its own perigee, or closest approach to
planet Earth. For this lunation the Moon's perigee was on January 1 at
21:44 UTC. You can also spot planet Jupiter, near its brightest for
2026 and close on the sky to the Full Moon tonight. But while you're
out skygazing don't forget to look for rare, bright fireballs from the
Quadrantid meteor shower.

Tomorrow's picture: quasar x 4
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 January 5
A dark field surrounds a red nebula. The shape of the nebula appears
like the letter

The Red Rectangle Nebula from Hubble
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & License: Judy Schmidt

Explanation: How was the unusual Red Rectangle nebula created? At the
nebula's center is an aging binary star system that surely powers the
nebula but does not, as yet, explain its colors. The unusual shape of
the Red Rectangle is likely due to a thick dust torus which pinches the
otherwise spherical outflow into tip-touching cone shapes. Because we
view the torus edge-on, the boundary edges of the cone shapes seem to
form an X. The distinct rungs suggest the outflow occurs in fits and
starts. The unusual colors of the nebula are less well understood,
however, and speculation holds that they are partly provided by
hydrocarbon molecules that may actually be building blocks for organic
life. The Red Rectangle nebula lies about 2,300 light years away
towards the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros). The nebula is
shown here in great detail as a reprocessed image from Hubble Space
Telescope. In a few million years, as one of the central stars becomes
further depleted of nuclear fuel, the Red Rectangle nebula will likely
bloom into a planetary nebula.

Tomorrow's picture: jupiter-sized mess
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 January 6
The planet Jupiter is shown from an unusual angle. Most prominent are a
miasma of jumbled and swirling clouds including many oval storms.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Jupiter's Clouds in High Definition from Juno
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Processing & License: Thomas
Thomopoulos

Explanation: How complex is Jupiter? NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter is
finding the Jovian giant to be more complicated than expected.
Jupiter's magnetic field has been discovered to be much different from
our Earth's simple dipole field, showing several poles embedded in a
complicated network more convoluted in the north than the south.
Further, Juno's radio measurements show that Jupiter's atmosphere shows
structure well below the upper cloud deck -- even hundreds of
kilometers deep. Jupiter's newfound complexity is evident also in
southern clouds, as shown in the texture and color enhanced featured
image taken last month. There, planet-circling zones and belts that
dominate near the equator decay into a complex miasma of
continent-sized storm swirls. Juno continues in its looping elliptical
orbit, swooping near the huge planet every month and exploring a
slightly different sector each time around.

Tomorrow's picture: noodle space
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
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2026 January 7
A starfield surrounds a giant red nebula. The nebula has so many
winding filaments that it has been dubbed the Spaghetti Nebula. Please
see the explanation for more detailed information.

Simeis 147: The Spaghetti Nebula Supernova Remnant
Image Credit & Copyright: Saverio Ferretti

Explanation: Its popular nickname is the Spaghetti Nebula. Officially
cataloged as Simeis 147 and Sharpless 2-240, it is easy to get lost
following the looping and twisting filaments of this intricate
supernova remnant. Seen toward the boundary of the constellations of
the Bull (Taurus) and the Charioteer (Auriga), the impressive gas
structure covers nearly 3 degrees on the sky, equivalent to 6 full
moons. That's about 150 light-years at the stellar debris cloud's
estimated distance of 3,000 light-years. The supernova remnant has an
estimated age of about 40,000 years, meaning light from this powerful
stellar explosion first reached the Earth when woolly mammoths roamed
free. Besides the expanding remnant, this cosmic catastrophe left
behind a pulsar, a fast-spinning neutron star that is the remnant of
the original star's core. The featured image was captured last month
from Forca Canapine, Italy.

Portal Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow's picture: hidden galaxy in the giraffe
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 January 8

IC 342: Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis
Image Credit & Copyright: Gaetan Maxant

Explanation: Similar in size to large, bright spiral galaxies in our
neighborhood, IC 342 is a mere 10 million light-years distant toward
the long-necked, northern constellation Camelopardalis. A sprawling
island universe, IC 342 would otherwise be a prominent galaxy in our
night sky, but it is hidden from clear view and only glimpsed through
the veil of stars, gas and dust clouds along the plane of our own Milky
Way galaxy. Even though IC 342's light is dimmed and reddened by
intervening cosmic clouds, this sharp telescopic image traces the
galaxy's own obscuring dust, young star clusters, and glowing star
forming regions along spiral arms that wind far from the galaxy's core.
IC 342 has undergone a recent burst of star formation activity and is
close enough to have influenced the evolution of the local group of
galaxies and the Milky Way.

Tomorrow's picture: Sun dog vs. Earth dog
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 January 9

Ice Halos by Moonlight and Sunlight
Image Credit & Copyright: Antonella Cicala

Explanation: Both Moon and Sun create beautiful ice halos in planet
Earth's sky. In fact, the two brightest celestial beacons are each
surrounded by a complex of ice halos in these photos of the sky above
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc in France. The panels were recorded one night
(left) and the following day at the end of December 2025. Similar ice
halos appear in moonlight and sunlight because they are all formed
through the geometry of flat, hexagonal ice crystals. The ice crystals
reflect and refract light as they flutter in the cold atmosphere above
the mountain resort. In the pictures both Moon and Sun are surrounded
by a more commonly seen 22 degree circular halo. Bright and sometimes
colorful patches at the intersections of the 22 degree circular halos
with the indicated parselenic and parhelic arcs are also known as Moon
dogs and Sun dogs.

Tomorrow's picture: opposite the Sun
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
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2026 January 10

Jupiter with the Great Red Spot
Image Credit & Copyright: Christopher Go

Explanation: Jupiter reaches its 2026 opposition today, January 10.
That puts our Solar System's most massive planet opposite the Sun and
near its closest and brightest for viewing from planet Earth. In fact,
captured only 3 days ago this sharp telescopic snapshot reveals
excellent details of the ruling gas giant's swirling cloudtops, in
light zones and dark belts girdling the rapidly rotating outer planet.
Jupiter's famous, persistent anticyclonic vortex, known as the Great
Red Spot, is south of the equator at the lower right. But two smaller
red spots are also visible, one near the top in the northernmost zone,
and one close to Jupiter's south pole. And while Jupiter's Great Red
Spot is known to be shrinking, it's still about the size of the Earth
itself.

Tomorrow's picture: the broad brimmed galaxy
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
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2026 January 11
A red-tinged ring of dust is seen nearly on edge. In the ring's center
and extending around the frame, blue gas and stars are shown. Please
see the explanation for more detailed information.

M104: The Sombrero Galaxy in Infrared
Image Credit: NASA, JPL, Caltech, SSC, R. Kennicutt (Steward Obs.) et
al.,

Explanation: This floating ring is the size of a galaxy. In fact, it is
a galaxy -- or at least part of one: the photogenic Sombrero Galaxy,
one of the largest galaxies in the nearby Virgo Cluster of Galaxies.
The dark band of dust that obscures the mid-section of the Sombrero
Galaxy in visible light actually glows brightly in infrared light. The
featured image, digitally sharpened, shows the infrared glow, recently
recorded by the orbiting Spitzer Space Telescope, superposed in
false-color on an existing image taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope
in visible light. The Sombrero Galaxy, also known as M104, spans about
50,000 light years and lies 28 million light years away. M104 can be
seen with a small telescope in the direction of the constellation
Virgo.

Jigsaw Galaxy: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
Tomorrow's picture: meteor drift
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 January 12
A view of mountains over clouds shows a starfield with a purple glow.
Prominent on the right is the trail of a bright meteor. To the left of
the meteor and connecting to the meteor is something unusual: a light
brown triangular puff. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Meteor Dust
Image Credit & Copyright: Xu Chen

Explanation: What's happening to this meteor? It is shedding its outer
layers as it passes through the Earth's atmosphere and heats up. The
sudden high temperatures not only cause the bright glow along the
dramatic streak but also melt and vaporize the meteor's component rock
and ice, creating dust. Wind in the atmosphere typically blows this
dust away over the next few seconds, leaving no visible trace after
only a few minutes. Much of this dust will eventually settle down to
the Earth. The featured image was captured in mid-December, coincident
with the Geminids meteor shower. On the upper left is Sirius, the
brightest star in the night sky, while in the foreground is
fog-engulfed Huangshan, the Yellow Mountains of eastern China.

Tomorrow's picture: launched from the Sun
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 January 13

A Solar Eruption from SDO
Video Credit: NASA, SDO, AIA, Helioviewer; Processing & Text: Ogetay
Kayali (MTU)

Explanation: What just leapt from the Sun? A towering structure of
solar plasma suddenly rose from the Sun's surface and unfurled into
space -- a structure so large that many Earths would easily fit within
it-- marking the onset of a dramatic Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). The
event was captured in striking detail in late 2024 by NASA's Solar
Dynamics Observatory (SDO), whose continuous monitoring improves space
weather forecasts and helps humanity better understand how solar
activity affects satellites, GPS, radio communications, and power grids
on Earth. The featured video blends three extreme-ultraviolet views
from SDOCÇÖs Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), revealing how plasma at
different temperatures surged upward as the eruption unfolded. Here,
red highlights cooler, denser material lifted from the SunCÇÖs lower
atmosphere, while yellow traces hotter, million-degree coronal loops
stretching outward as magnetic fields open. After the main outburst,
the SunCÇÖs magnetic fields quickly reorganize.

Tomorrow's picture: pool of whirl
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2026 January 14
A big spiral galaxy fills the frame, complete with blue spiral arms
dotted with red dust and nebulas. Above the spiral galaxy is another
more diffuse galaxy that has faint wisps extending in many directions.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy
Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Sleeman

Explanation: The Whirlpool Galaxy is a classic spiral galaxy. At only
30 million light years distant and fully 60 thousand light years
across, M51, also known as NGC 5194, is one of the brightest and most
picturesque galaxies on the sky. The featured deep image is a digital
combination of images taken in different colors over 58 hours with a
telescope from Lijiang, China. Anyone with a good pair of binoculars,
however, can see this Whirlpool toward the constellation of the Hunting
Dogs (Canes Venatici). M51 is a spiral galaxy of type Sc and is the
dominant member of a whole group of galaxies. Astronomers speculate
that M51's spiral structure is primarily due to its gravitational
interaction with the smaller galaxy just above it.

Tomorrow's picture: open space
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 January 15

Plato and the Lunar Alps
Image Credit & Copyright: Luigi Morrone

Explanation: The dark-floored, 95 kilometer wide crater Plato and
sunlit peaks of the lunar Alps (Montes Alpes) are highlighted in this
this sharp telescopic snapshot of the Moon's surface. While the Alps of
planet Earth were uplifted over millions of years as continental plates
slowly collided, the lunar Alps were likely formed by a sudden
collision that created the giant impact basin known as the Mare Imbrium
or Sea of Rains. The mare's generally smooth, lava-flooded floor is
seen below the bordering mountain range. The prominent straight feature
cutting through the mountains is the lunar Alpine Valley (Vallis
Alpes). Joining the Mare Imbrium and northern Mare Frigoris (Sea of
Cold) the valley extends toward the upper right, about 160 kilometers
long and up to 10 kilometers wide. Of course, the large, bright lunar
alpine mountain below and right of Plato crater is named Mont Blanc.
Lacking an atmosphere, not to mention snow, the lunar Alps are probably
not an ideal location for a winter vacation. Still, a 150 pound skier
would weigh a mere 25 pounds on the Moon.

Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.

2026 January 16

NGC 7023: The Iris Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Justus Falk

Explanation: These cosmic clouds have blossomed 1,300 light-years away
in the fertile starfields of the constellation Cepheus. Called the Iris
Nebula, NGC 7023 is not the only nebula to evoke the imagery of
flowers. Still, this deep telescopic image shows off the Iris Nebula's
range of colors and symmetries embedded in surrounding fields of
interstellar dust. Within the Iris itself, dusty nebular material
surrounds a hot, young star. The dominant color of the brighter
reflection nebula is blue, characteristic of dust grains reflecting
starlight. Central filaments of the reflection nebula glow with a faint
reddish photoluminescence as some dust grains effectively convert the
star's invisible ultraviolet radiation to visible red light. Infrared
observations indicate that this nebula contains complex carbon
molecules known as PAHs. The dusty blue petals of the Iris Nebula span
about six light-years.

Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2026 January 17

Apollo 14: A View from Antares
Image Credit: Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14, NASA; Mosaic - Eric M. Jones

Explanation: Apollo 14's Lunar Module Antares landed on the Moon on
February 5, 1971. Toward the end of the stay astronaut Ed Mitchell
snapped a series of photos of the lunar surface while looking out a
window, assembled into this detailed mosaic by Apollo Lunar Surface
Journal editor Eric Jones. The view looks across the Fra Mauro
highlands to the northwest of the landing site after the Apollo 14
astronauts had completed their second and final walk on the Moon.
Prominent in the foreground is their Modular Equipment Transporter, a
two-wheeled, rickshaw-like device used to carry tools and samples. Near
the horizon at top center is a 1.5 meter wide boulder dubbed Turtle
rock. In the shallow crater below Turtle rock is the long white handle
of a sampling instrument, thrown there javelin-style by Mitchell.
Mitchell's fellow moonwalker and first American in space, Alan Shepard,
also used a makeshift six iron to hit two golf balls. One of Shepard's
golf balls is just visible as a white spot below Mitchell's javelin.

Tomorrow's picture: infrared Jupiter
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2026 January 18
The featured image shows Jupiter in infrared light as captured by the
James Webb Space Telescope. Visible in unusually dark colors are
Jupiter's clouds including the Great Red Spot, a ring, several moons,
and bright aurora. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

Jupiter from the Webb Space Telescope
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; Processing: Ricardo
Hueso (UPV/EHU) & Judy Schmidt

Explanation: This infrared view of Jupiter by Webb is illuminating.
High-resolution infrared images of Jupiter from the James Webb Space
Telescope (Webb) reveal, for example, differences between high-floating
bright clouds -- including the Great Red Spot -- and low-lying dark
clouds. Also clearly visible in the featured Webb image are Jupiter's
dust ring, bright auroras at the poles, and Jupiter's moons Amalthea
and Adrastea. The footprint of large volcanic moon Io's magnetic
funneling of charged particles onto Jupiter is also visible in the
southern aurora. Some objects are so bright that light noticeably
diffracts around Webb's optics creating streaks. Webb, which orbits the
Sun near the Earth, has a mirror over six meters across making it the
largest astronomical telescope ever launched -- with over six times
more light-collecting area than Hubble.

Tomorrow's picture: interstellar garlic
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2026 January 19
A colorful starfield surrounds a giant nearly-spherical nebula that has
texture and stripes like watermelon. The lower right of the nebula is
open making it appear like a medulla oblongata -- the stem that
connects to a brain. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.

CTB 1: The Medulla Nebula
Image Credit: Pierre Konzelmann

Explanation: What powers this unusual nebula? CTB 1 is the expanding
gas shell that was left when a massive star toward the constellation of
Cassiopeia exploded about 10,000 years ago. The star likely detonated
when it ran out of elements, near its core, that could create
stabilizing pressure with nuclear fusion. The resulting supernova
remnant, nicknamed the Medulla Nebula for its brain-like shape, still
glows in visible light because of the heat generated by its collision
with confining interstellar gas. Why the nebula also glows in X-ray
light, though, remains a topic of research. One hypothesis holds that
an energetic pulsar was created and powers the nebula with a fast
outwardly moving wind. Following this lead, a pulsar was found in radio
waves that appears to have been expelled by the supernova explosion at
over 1000 kilometers per second. Although the Medulla Nebula appears as
large as a full moon, it is so faint that it took 84-hours of exposure
with a small telescope in Texas, USA, to create the featured image.

Tomorrow's picture: volcano world
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2026 January 20
A big ball that is mostly yellow is shown. The ball has many circular
and irregular regions that are different colors, typically brown or
olive green. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Io in True Color
Image Credit: NASA, JPL, Galileo Project

Explanation: The strangest moon in the Solar System is bright yellow.
The featured picture, an attempt to show how Io would appear in the
"true colors" perceptible to the average human eye, was taken in 1999
July by the Galileo spacecraft that orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003.
Io's colors derive from sulfur and molten silicate rock. The unusual
surface of Io is kept very young by its system of active volcanoes. The
intense tidal gravity of Jupiter stretches Io and damps wobbles caused
by Jupiter's other Galilean moons. The resulting friction greatly heats
Io's interior, causing molten rock to explode through the surface. Io's
volcanoes are so active that they are effectively turning the whole
moon inside out. Some of Io's volcanic lava is so hot it glows in the
dark.

Tomorrow's picture: open space
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2026 January 21

Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1365 from Webb
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Janice Lee (NOIRLab) - Processing: Alyssa
Pagan (STScI)

Explanation: A mere 56 million light-years distant toward the southern
constellation Fornax, NGC 1365 is an enormous barred spiral galaxy
about 200,000 light-years in diameter. That's twice the size of our own
barred spiral Milky Way. This sharp image from the James Webb Space
Telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) reveals stunning details of
this magnificent spiral in infrared light. Webb's field of view
stretches about 60,000 light-years across NGC 1365, exploring the
galaxy's core and bright newborn star clusters. The intricate network
of dusty filaments and bubbles is created by young stars along spiral
arms winding from the galaxy's central bar. Astronomers suspect the
gravitational field of NGC 1365's bar plays a crucial role in the
galaxy's evolution, funneling gas and dust into a star-forming
maelstrom and ultimately feeding material into the active galaxy's
central, supermassive black hole.

Tomorrow's picture: the light, the dark, and the dusty
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2026 January 22

LDN 1622: Dark Nebula in Orion
Image Credit & Copyright: Chris Fellows

Explanation: The silhouette of an intriguing dark nebula inhabits this
cosmic scene. Lynds' Dark Nebula (LDN) 1622 appears against a faint
background of glowing hydrogen gas only visible in long telescopic
exposures of the region. In contrast, a brighter reflection nebula, vdB
62, is more easily seen just above the dusty dark nebula. LDN 1622 lies
near the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, close on the sky to Barnard's
Loop, a large cloud surrounding the rich complex of emission nebulae
found in the Belt and Sword of Orion. With swept-back outlines, the
obscuring dust of LDN 1622 is thought to lie at a similar distance,
perhaps 1,500 light-years away. At that distance, this 3 degree wide
field of view would span about 100 light-years. Young stars do lie
hidden within the dark expanse and have been revealed in Spitzer Space
telescope infrared images. Still, the foreboding visual appearance of
LDN 1622 inspires its popular name, the Boogeyman Nebula.

Tomorrow's picture: the faint and mostly round
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

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2026 January 23

Planetary Nebula Abell 7
Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh

Explanation: Very faint planetary nebula Abell 7 is about 1,800
light-years distant. It lies just south of Orion in planet Earth's
skies toward the constellation Lepus, The Hare. Posing with scattered
Milky Way stars, its generally simple spherical shape about 8
light-years in diameter is revealed in this deep telescopic image. The
beautiful and complex shapes seen within the cosmic cloud are visually
enhanced by the use of long exposures and narrowband filters that
capture emission from hydrogen and oxygen atoms. Otherwise Abell 7
would be much too faint to be appreciated by eye. A planetary nebula
represents a very brief final phase in stellar evolution that our own
Sun will experience 5 billion years hence, as the nebula's central,
once sun-like star shrugs off its outer layers. Abell 7 itself is
estimated to be 20,000 years old. But its central star, seen here as a
fading white dwarf, is some 10 billion years old.

Tomorrow's picture: Earthset
__________________________________________________________________

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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