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 July 30

                             The Red Planet Mars
                    Image Credit & Copyright: Luc Debeck

   Explanation: Mars looks pretty sharp in this backyard telescope image
   captured on July 23 from Hoegaarden, Belgium, planet Earth. The Red
   Planet's bright south polar cap is bathed in sunlight at the top of the
   inverted view, while the dark feature known as Syrtis Major extends
   toward the right (eastern) edge. Rising around midnight for now, the
   Red Planet is months away from its own opposition in early October.
   Telescopic views will improve even more as Earth, in its faster orbit,
   catches up to Mars, the ruddy disk growing larger and brighter still.
   The martian Jezero Crater is within the Syrtis Major region. That's the
   landing site for NASA's 2020 Mars Rover Perseverance, scheduled for
   launch today.

     Comet NEOWISE images from planet Earth: July 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24
                  Tomorrow's picture: more 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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                             & Michigan Tech. U.


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