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APOD

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.

See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

Starry Night Scavenger Hunt

Explanation: Did you know that van Gogh 's painting Starry Night includes Comet Hale-Bopp? Hopefully not, because it doesn't. But the featured image does. Although today's picture may appear at first glance to be a faithful digital reproduction of the original Starry Night , actually it is a modern rendition meant not only to honor one of the most famous paintings of the second millennium, but to act as a scavenger hunt . Can you find, in the featured image, a comet , a spiral galaxy , an open star cluster , and a supernova remnant ? Too easy? OK, then find, the rings of Supernova 1987A , the NGC 2392 , the Crab Nebula , Thor's Helmet , the Cartwheel Galaxy , and the Ant Nebula . Still too easy? Then please identify any more hidden images not mentioned here -- and there are several -- on APOD's main discussion board: The Asterisk . Finally, the collagist has graciously hidden APOD's 10th anniversary Vermeer photomontage just to honor APOD . ( Thanks! )

Free Download: APOD 2017 Calendar: NASA Images

Date September 18, 2016
Credit Image Credit: Vincent van Gogh; Digital Collage & Copyright: Ronnie Warner
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.