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.

                               2021 January 13

                         Arches Across an Arctic Sky
                 Image Credit & Copyright: Giulio Cobianchi

   Explanation: What are these two giant arches across the sky? Perhaps
   the more familiar one, on the left, is the central band of our Milky
   Way Galaxy. This grand disk of stars and nebulas here appears to
   encircle much of the southern sky. Visible below the stellar arch is
   the rusty-orange planet Mars and the extended Andromeda galaxy. For a
   few minutes during this cold artic night, a second giant arch appeared
   to the right, encircling part of the northern sky: an aurora. Auroras
   are much closer than stars as they are composed of glowing air high in
   Earth's atmosphere. Visible outside the green auroral arch is the group
   of stars popularly known as the Big Dipper. The featured digital
   composite of 18 images was captured in mid-December over the in Norway.

         APOD Year in Review (2020): RJN's Night Sky Network Lecture
                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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