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 April 21

                            Eye on the Milky Way
       Image Credit & Copyright: Miguel Claro (TWAN, Dark Sky Alqueva)

   Explanation: Have you ever had stars in your eyes? It appears that the
   eye on the left does, and moreover it appears to be gazing at even more
   stars. The featured 27-frame mosaic was taken last July from Ojas de
   Salar in the Atacama Desert of Chile. The eye is actually a small
   lagoon captured reflecting the dark night sky as the Milky Way Galaxy
   arched overhead. The seemingly smooth band of the Milky Way is really
   composed of billions of stars, but decorated with filaments of
   light-absorbing dust and red-glowing nebulas. Additionally, both
   Jupiter (slightly left the galactic arch) and Saturn (slightly to the
   right) are visible. The lights of small towns dot the unusual vertical
   horizon. The rocky terrain around the lagoon appears to some more like
   the surface of Mars than our Earth.

                        Tomorrow's picture: earth day
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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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