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 February 28
The featured image shows a direction projection of the last full moon through the optics of a mid-sized telescope high in the French Alps. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Direct Projection: The Moon in My Hands
Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Graphy

You don't have to look through a telescope to see where it is pointing. Allowing the telescope to project its image onto a large surface can be useful because it reduces the intense brightness of very bright sources. It is useful to look at the Sun during a solar eclipse. There is a too-bright full moon projected in the featured single-exposure image. The February full moon is called the Snow Moon by some northern cultures. The main telescope at the Saint-Véran Observatory is a 62-centimeter telescope. It is easier to see a full moon directly because it is not as bright. The next chance will be on March 17.

Tomorrow's picture: dueling bands < | Archive | Submissions | Index | Search | Calendar | RSS | Education | About APOD | Discuss | >

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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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 March 1
The featured image shows a nightscape over China
featuring bands of zodiacal light, on the left, and the central
band of our Milky Way Galaxy, on the right.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Dueling Bands in the Night
Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN)

What are the two bands in the sky? The band on the right is the central band of the universe. Our Sun is in the disk of a spiral galaxy and it appears as a band of comparable brightness all the way around the sky. The band can be seen all year long if it's not in the city. The band on the left is zodiacal light, which reflects sunlight from the Sun in our Solar System. Zodiacal light is best seen just before sunrise or after sunset. During the months of March and April, this ribbon of zodiacal light can be seen after sunset. The zodiacal dust was mostly ejected by comets that passed near Jupiter. Only on certain times of the year will the two bands be seen side by side. The featured image was captured over a frozen lake in China in late January.

Tomorrow's picture: it came from the sun

< | Archive | Submissions | Index | Search | Calendar | RSS | Education | About APOD | Discuss | >

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
& Michigan Tech. U.