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.
2022 August 16
Is the Earth capable of passing through a wind of meteorites? They are often visible as meteorite showers. Most meteorites are sand-sized debris that escaped from a comet or asteroid and travels around the Sun in an elliptical pattern. Our Earth can move through a debris stream where it can be seen over time as a meteorite. The meteorites that light up in the sky are usually destroyed. All of their streaks can be traced back to a single point on the sky. During the peak of the Southern Delta Aquariids meteor shower, the featured image was taken near the ancient Berber village of Zriba El Alia in Tunisia. The image is to the left. The peak of the meteor wind was experienced a few days ago on our planet.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman
Specific rights apply.
NASA Web
Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of:
ASD at
NASA /
GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.
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.
2022 August 17
You pass through a gate of stars twice a day. It is the spin of the Earth that propels you through the stargate. A faint band stretching across the sky, only visible in away from bright city lights, is what the central band of our Milky Way looks like. The central plane of the Milky Way can be seen in a wide-angle image from a dark place. A stereographic projection that causes the Milky Way to appear as a giant circular portal was used to create the featured picture. There is a faint stripe of zodiacal light inside the stargate-like arcs of our solar system. cacti and dry rocks are found in the rough terrain of the high desert of Chile, not far from the El Sauce Observatory and the Vera Rubin Observatory, which are expected to begin operations in 2024.
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Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman
Specific rights apply.
NASA Web
Privacy Policy and Important Notices
A service of:
ASD at
NASA /
GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.