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.

                               2021 October 2
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                           A Light and Dusty Night
               Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Rodrigo Guerra

   Explanation: [5]Posing as a brilliant evening star, Venus lies near the
   western horizon in this southern hemisphere, early spring, night
   skyscape. To create the composite view exposures tracking the sky and
   fixed for the foreground were taken on September 25 from Cascavel in
   southern Brazil. In view after sunset, Venus appears immersed in a cone
   of zodiacal light, sunlight scattered from dust along the [6]Solar
   System's ecliptic plane. In fact from either hemisphere of planet
   Earth, [7]zodiacal light is most visible after sunset near a spring
   equinox, (or before sunrise near an autumn equinox) when its luminous
   arc lies at steep angles to the horizon. Extending above the sunset on
   this night, the zodiacal light reaches toward rich starfields and
   immense interstellar dust clouds in the bulge of the central Milky Way.
   Follow along the Milky Way from the central bulge back toward the
   horizon and you'll spot the closest star system to the Sun, Alpha
   Centauri, [8]a mere 4.37 light-years away.

                  Tomorrow's picture: holographic tea time
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    Authors & editors: [20]Robert Nemiroff ([21]MTU) & [22]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([23]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [24]Specific rights apply.
              [25]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [26]ASD at [27]NASA / [28]GSFC
                           & [29]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2110/ArcsOfLightAndDust.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.instagram.com/rodrigoguerra13/
   5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210716.html
   6. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/basics/chapter2-2/
   7. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-zodiacal-light-or-false-dawn/
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160825.html
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211001.html
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  13. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  18. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=211002
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211003.html
  20. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  21. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  22. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  23. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  25. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  26. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  27. https://www.nasa.gov/
  28. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  29. http://www.mtu.edu/