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 13

                    Starry Night by Jean-Francois Millet
   Digital Reproduction Credit: Yale University Art Gallery - Text: Letty
                                   Bonnell

   Explanation: A dramatic nocturnal landscape from around 1850, this oil
   painting is the work of French artist Jean-Francois Millet. In the dark
   and atmospheric night sky are shooting stars, known too as meteors,
   above a landscape showing a path through the faintly lit countryside
   that leads toward trees and a cart in silhouette on the horizon. Millet
   was raised in a farming family in Normandy and is known for his
   paintings of rural scenes and peasant life. This Starry Night was
   painted after the artist moved to Barbizon, about 30 kilometers
   southeast of any 19th century light pollution from Paris. Millet wrote
   to his brother at this time, "If only you knew how beautiful the night
   is ... the calm and grandeur of it are so awesome that I find that I
   actually feel overwhelmed." Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh was an
   admirer of Millet's work, and later also painted two dramatic starry
   nights.

                      Tomorrow's picture: pi in the sky
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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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