Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]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 3
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                            The Traffic in Taurus
                Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Lionel Majzik

   Explanation: There's a traffic jam in Taurus lately. On April 1, this
   [5]celestial frame from slightly hazy skies over Tapiobicske, Hungary
   recorded an impressive pile up toward the zodiacal constellation of the
   Bull and the Solar System's ecliptic plane. Streaking right to left the
   [6]International Space Station speeds across the bottom of the
   telescopic field of view. [7]Wandering about as far from the Sun in
   planet Earth's skies as it can get, inner planet Venus is bright and
   approaching much slower, overexposed at the right. Bystanding at the
   upper left are the sister stars of the Pleiades. No one has been
   injured in the close encounter though, because it really isn't very
   close. Continuously occupied since November 2000, the space station
   orbits some 400 kilometers [8]above the planet's surface. Venus,
   currently the brilliant evening star, is almost 2/3 of an
   [9]astronomical unit away. A more permanent resident of Taurus, the
   Pleiades star cluster is [10]400 light-years distant.

                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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    Authors & editors: [22]Robert Nemiroff ([23]MTU) & [24]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([25]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [26]Specific rights apply.
              [27]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [28]ASD at [29]NASA / [30]GSFC
                           & [31]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2004/TrafficTaurusLionelMajzik_2400.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.lionelmajzik.com/
   5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200402.html
   6. https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/
   7. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/visible-planets-tonight-mars-jupiter-venus-saturn-mercury
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200104.html
   9. https://earthsky.org/space/what-is-the-astronomical-unit
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191107.html
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200402.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  15. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  20. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=200403
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200404.html
  22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  25. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  27. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  28. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  31. http://www.mtu.edu/