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.

2006 July 20
See Explanation. Moving the cursor over the image will bring up an annotated version. Clicking on the image will bring up the highest resolution version available.

Constellation Construction
Credit & Copyright: Jerry Lodriguss (Catching the Light)

Explanation: This lovely twilight scene, recorded last April, finds a young crescent Moon low in the west at sunset. Above it, stars shine in the darkening sky but they too are soon to drop below the western horizon. These stars and constellations are prominent in the northern hemisphere winter sky and as the season changes, slowly give way to the stars of summer. Sliding your mouse over the picture will detail the constellations and stars in view, including Orion, Gemini, Auriga, Perseus, and the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters.

Tomorrow's picture: meteorites on Mars

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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
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