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.
Frosted Leaf Orion
Explanation: Sometimes, you can put some night sky in your art. Captured above Japan earlier this month, a picturesque night sky was photographed behind a picturesque frosted leaf. The reflecting ice crystals on the leaf coolly mimic the shining stars far in the background. The particular background sky on this 48-second wide angle exposure , however, might appear quite interesting and familiar. On the far left, although hard to find, appears a streaking meteor . Below and to the right of the meteor appears a longer and brighter streak of an airplane. The bright star on the left is the dog-star Sirius , the brightest star on the night sky. To Sirius' right appears the constellation of Orion , including the three linear belt stars below the red giant Betelgeuse . The bright patch of light further to the right is the Pleiades open star cluster . Similar views including the constellation Orion can be seen above much of the northern hemisphere for the next several months, although you might have to provide your own leaf.
Challenge: Can you identify what type of leaf was imaged?
| Date | November 17, 2010 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit & Copyright: Masahiro Miyasaka |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |



