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.

                                2020 March 7

                            Pic du Midi Panorama
                 Image Credit & Copyright: Patrick Lécureuil

   Explanation: A surreal night skyscape, this panorama stitched from 12
   photos looks to the west at an evening winter sky over Pic du Midi
   Observatory, Pyrenees Mountains, Planet Earth. Telescope domes and a
   tall communications tower inhabit the rugged foreground. On the right,
   lights from Tarbes, France about 35 kilometers away impinge on the
   designated dark sky site though, but more distant terrestrial lights
   seen toward the left are from cities in Spain. Stars and nebulae of the
   northern winter's Milky Way arc through the sky above. Known to the
   planet's night skygazers, the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters still
   hang over the western horizon near center. Captured in mid February the
   familiar stars of the constellation Orion are to the left and include
   the no longer fainting star Betelgeuse.

                      Tomorrow's picture: stellar winds
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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