Astronomy Picture of the Day

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                2018 August 8
                      Animation: Perseid Meteor Shower
   Visualization Credit: Ian Webster [2] ; Data: NASA [3] , CAMS [4] , Peter
                     Jenniskens [5] (SETI Institute [6] )

Explanation: Where do Perseid meteors come from? Mostly small bits of stony
grit, Perseid meteoroids [7]  were once expelled from Comet Swift-Tuttle [8]
and continue to follow this comet's orbit as they slowly disperse. The
featured animation [9]  depicts the entire meteoroid stream as it orbits our
Sun [10] . When the Earth nears this stream, as it does every year, the
Perseid Meteor Shower [11]  occurs. Highlighted as bright in the animation,
comet debris [12] this size is usually so dim it is practically undetectable.
Only a small fraction of this debris will enter the Earth's atmosphere [13] ,
heat up and disintegrate brightly [14] . This weekend promises some of the
better skies to view the Perseid shower [15] as well as other active showers
[16] because the new moon [17]  will not only be faint, it will be completely
absent from the sky for most of the night. Although not outshining faint
Perseids [18] , the new moon will partially obstruct the Sun as a partial
solar eclipse [19]  will be visible from [20]  some northern locations.

                        Tomorrow's picture: open space

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [32] (MTU [33] ) & Jerry Bonnell [34]
                                  (UMCP [35] )
          NASA Official:  Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [36] .
              NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [37]
              A service of: ASD [38]  at NASA [39]  / GSFC [40]
                           & Michigan Tech. U. [41]
----------
Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] http://www.ianww.com/
  [3] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [4] http://cams.seti.org/
  [5] https://www.seti.org/our-scientists/peter-jen...
  [6] https://www.seti.org/
  [7]
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/small-bodies/met...
in-depth/
  [8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Swift%E2%...
  [9] https://www.meteorshowers.org/view/Perseids
  [10] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun...
  [11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseids
  [12] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/epoxi/imag...
  [13]
https://airs.jpl.nasa.gov/system/internal_res...
22_earth-atmosphere-layers.jpg
  [14] ap011118.html
  [15] ap170818.html
  [16] http://cams.seti.org/FDL/
  [17] https://moon.nasa.gov/resources/54/phases-of-...
  [18]
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atom...
jpl-20180801-whatsuf-0001-180cc.mp4
  [19] ap140430.html
  [20] https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/globe/201...
  [21] ap180807.html
  [22] archivepix.html
  [23] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [24] lib/aptree.html
  [25] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apo...
  [26] calendar/allyears.html
  [27] /apod.rss
  [28] lib/edlinks.html
  [29] lib/about_apod.html
  [30] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?dat...
  [31] ap180809.html
  [32] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [33] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [34] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnel...
  [35] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [36] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [37] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Priv...
  [38] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [39] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [40] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [41] http://www.mtu.edu/

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