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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.

Moon and Venus Over Switzerland

Explanation: Sometimes a morning sky can be a combination of serene and surreal. Such a sky perhaps existed before sunrise this past Sunday as viewed from a snowy slope in eastern Switzerland . Quiet clouds blanket the above scene, lit from beneath by lights from the village of Trbbach . A snow covered mountain, Mittlerspitz , poses dramatically on the upper left, hovering over the small town of Balzers , Liechtenstein far below. Peaks from the Alps can be seen across the far right, just below the freshly rising Sun . Visible on the upper right are the crescent Moon and the bright planet Venus . Venus will remain in the morning sky all month, although it will likely not be found in such a photogenic setting.

Poll: Which of last week's APODs should be the APOW?

Date February 2, 2011
Credit Credit & Copyright: David Kaplan
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.