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 12
                                      [2]
                            Meteor before Galaxy
             Image Credit & Copyright: Fritz Helmut Hemmerich [3]

Explanation: What's that green streak in front of the Andromeda galaxy? A
meteor. While photographing the Andromeda galaxy [4]  in 2016, near the peak
of the Perseid [5] Meteor [6] Shower [7] , a sand-sized rock from deep space
crossed right in front [8]  of our Milky Way Galaxy [9] 's far-distant
companion. The small meteor [10] took only a fraction of a second to pass
through this 10-degree field. The meteor flared [11] several times while
braking violently upon entering Earth's atmosphere [12] . The green color [13]
was created, at least in part, by the meteor's gas glowing as it vaporized.
Although the exposure [14]  was timed to catch a Perseids meteor [15] , the
orientation of the imaged streak seems a better match to a meteor from the
Southern Delta Aquariids [16] , a meteor shower [17]  that peaked a few weeks
earlier. Not coincidentally, the Perseid Meteor Shower [18]  peaks again
tonight [19] .

                       Tomorrow's picture: space pencil

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [31] (MTU [32] ) & Jerry Bonnell [33]
                                  (UMCP [34] )
          NASA Official:  Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [35] .
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              A service of: ASD [37]  at NASA [38]  / GSFC [39]
                           & Michigan Tech. U. [40]
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1608/MeteorM31_hemmerich_1948.jpg
  [3] https://www.flickr.com/people/fhhemmerich/
  [4] ap150830.html
  [5]
https://www.facebook.com/APOD.Sky/photos/?tab...
  [6]
https://www.facebook.com/APOD.Sky/photos/?tab...
  [7] ap160813.html
  [8] ap030802.html
  [9]
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/ne...
  [10] http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/asteroids/best-meteor...
  [11] ap081011.html
  [12]
http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/image...
463940main_atmosphere-layers2_full.jpg
  [13] http://www.amsmeteors.org/fireballs/faqf/#5
  [14] https://www.flickr.com/photos/fhhemmerich/289...
  [15] ap160808.html
  [16] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Delta_...
  [17]
http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/
everything-you-need-to-know-delta-aquarid-meteor-shower
  [18] ap180808.html
  [19]
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atom...
jpl-20180801-whatsuf-0001-180cc.mp4
  [20] ap180811.html
  [21] archivepix.html
  [22] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [23] lib/aptree.html
  [24] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apo...
  [25] calendar/allyears.html
  [26] /apod.rss
  [27] lib/edlinks.html
  [28] lib/about_apod.html
  [29] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?dat...
  [30] ap180813.html
  [31] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [32] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [33] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnel...
  [34] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [35] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [36] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Priv...
  [37] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [38] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [39] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [40] http://www.mtu.edu/

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