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 December 13
                                      [2]
                                  3D Bennu
 Image Credit: NASA [3] , GSFC [4] , U. Arizona [5]  - Stereo Image Copyright:
                             Patrick Vantuyne [6]

Explanation: Put on your red/blue glasses and float next to asteroid 101955
Bennu [7] . Shaped like a spinning top toy with boulders littering its rough
surface, the tiny Solar System world is about 1 Empire State Building [8]
(less than 500 meters) across. Frames used to construct this 3D anaglyph were
taken by PolyCam on board the OSIRIS_REx spacecraft on December 3 from a
distance of about 80 kilometers. Now settling in [9] to explore Bennu from
orbit, the OSIRIS-REx mission [10] is expected to deliver samples of the
asteroid to planet Earth in 2023. Samples of dust from another asteroid will
streak through Earth's atmosphere much sooner though, when the Geminid meteor
shower peaks in predawn skies on December 14. The parent body for the annual
Geminids is asteroid 3200 Phaethon [11] .

                      Watch: Geminid Meteor Shower [12]
                    Tomorrow's picture: dolphins in space

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [24] (MTU [25] ) & Jerry Bonnell [26]
                                  (UMCP [27] )
          NASA Official:  Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [28] .
              NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [29]
              A service of: ASD [30]  at NASA [31]  / GSFC [32]
                           & Michigan Tech. U. [33]
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1812/ana03BennuVantuyne1465c.jpg
  [3] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [4] https://www.nasa.gov/goddard
  [5] https://www.lpl.arizona.edu/research/orex
  [6] https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/ApAnPaVa.html
  [7] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets...
asteroids/101955-bennu/overview/
  [8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
List_of_tallest_buildings_in_New_York_City#/media/
File:Empire_State_Building_by_David_Shankbone_crop.jpg
  [9] https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/
nasa-s-newly-arrived-osiris-rex-spacecraft-already-discovers-water-on-asteroid
  [10] https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex
  [11] https://arxiv.org/abs/1809.04713
  [12] https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/
everything-you-need-to-know-geminid-meteor-shower
  [13] ap181212.html
  [14] archivepix.html
  [15] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [16] lib/aptree.html
  [17] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apo...
  [18] calendar/allyears.html
  [19] /apod.rss
  [20] lib/edlinks.html
  [21] lib/about_apod.html
  [22] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?dat...
  [23] ap181214.html
  [24] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [25] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [26] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnel...
  [27] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [28] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [29] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Priv...
  [30] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [31] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [32] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [33] http://www.mtu.edu/

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