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.

                                 2023 May 12
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                    Halley Dust, Mars Dust, and Milky Way
   Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Petr Horalek / [5]Institute of Physics
                                  in Opava

   Explanation: [6]Grains of cosmic dust streaked through night skies in
   early May. Swept up as planet Earth plowed through the [7]debris
   streams left behind by [8]periodic Comet Halley, the annual meteor
   shower is known as the Eta Aquarids. This year, the Eta Aquarids peak
   was visually hampered by May's bright Full Moon, though. But early
   morning hours surrounding last May's shower of Halley dust were free of
   moonlight interference. [9]In exposures recorded between April 28 and
   May 8 in 2022, this composited image shows nearly 90 Eta Aquarid
   meteors streaking from the shower's radiant in Aquarius over San Pedro
   de Atacama, Chile. The central Milky Way arcs above in the southern
   hemisphere's predawn skies. The faint band of light rising from the
   horizon is Zodiacal light, caused by dust scattering sunlight near our
   Solar System's ecliptic plane. Along the ecliptic and entrained in the
   Zodiacal glow [10]are the bright planets Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and
   Saturn. [11]Of course Mars itself has recently been found to be a
   likely source of the dust along the ecliptic responsible for creating
   [12]Zodiacal light.

                   Tomorrow's picture: The Crescent Earth
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [24]Robert Nemiroff ([25]MTU) & [26]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([27]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [28]Specific rights apply.
              [29]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [30]ASD at [31]NASA / [32]GSFC
                           & [33]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2305/2022_05_04_Eta_Aquaridy_SP_Meteory_Fin_Vyska_1500px.png
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.petrhoralek.com/#about-1
   5. https://www.slu.cz/phys/en/
   6. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-eta-aquarid-meteor-shower/
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230511.html
   8. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/comets/1p-halley/in-depth/
   9. https://www.petrhoralek.com/?p=23016
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2305/2022_05_04_Eta_Aqu_planetsCrop.jpg
  11. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/serendipitous-juno-spacecraft-detections-shatter-ideas-about-origin-of-zodiacal-light
  12. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-zodiacal-light-or-false-dawn/
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230511.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  17. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  22. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230512
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230513.html
  24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  27. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  30. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  33. http://www.mtu.edu/