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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.
Stars, Meteors, and a Comet in Taurus
Explanation: This was an unusual night to look in the direction of the Bull. The constellation Taurus is always well known for hosting two bright star clusters -- the Pleaides , visible on the right, and the comparatively diffuse Hyades , visible on the left. This night last month, however, was atypically the peak of the Geminid meteor shower , and so several meteors were caught shooting through the constellation with parallel trails . More unusually still, Comet Wirtanen was drifting through the constellation, here appearing near the image bottom surrounded by a greenish coma. The comet was near its brightest as it sped past the Earth. The orange star on the upper left is Aldebaran , considered to be the eye of the Bull. Aldebaran is the brightest star in Taurus and the 15th brightest star in the sky. The featured image is a combination of nearly 800 exposures taken from the Spanish village Albany .
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| Date | January 7, 2019 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Casado ( TWAN , Earth and Stars ) |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |