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 23

                             Lyrid Meteor Streak
                    Image Credit & Copyright: Zolt Levay

   Explanation: Earth's annual Lyrid Meteor Shower peaked before dawn
   yesterday, as our fair planet plowed through debris from the tail of
   long-period comet Thatcher. In crisp, clear and moonless predawn skies
   over Brown County, Indiana this streak of vaporizing comet dust briefly
   shared a telephoto field of view with stars and nebulae along the Milky
   Way. Alpha star of the constellation Cygnus, Deneb lies near the bright
   meteor's path along with the region's dark interstellar clouds of dust
   and the recognizable glow of the North America nebula (NGC 7000). The
   meteor's streak points back to the shower's radiant, its apparent point
   of origin on the sky. That would be in the constellation Lyra, near
   bright star Vega and off the top edge of the frame.

              Celebrate the Night: International Dark Sky Week
                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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