                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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.

                                2025 April 23
    A skyscape is shown over a rocky landscape. In the starry sky are the
   central band of our Milky Way Galaxy on the left, a meteor trail on the
        right, the dim band of zodiacal light in the center, and the
     photographer holding a light just below the center. The path of the
     light is shown as a bright streak in the bottom part of the frame.
          Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

                          An Almost Everything Sky
                Image Credit & Copyright: Koen van Barneveld

   Explanation: This surprising sky has almost everything. First, slanting
   down from the upper left and far in the distance is the central band of
   our Milky Way Galaxy. More modestly, slanting down from the upper right
   and high in Earth's atmosphere is a bright meteor. The dim band of
   light across the central diagonal is zodiacal light: sunlight reflected
   from dust in the inner Solar System. The green glow on the far right is
   aurora high in Earth's atmosphere. The bright zigzagging bright line
   near the bottom is just a light that was held by the scene-planning
   astrophotographer. This "almost everything" sky was captured over rocks
   on Castle Hill, New Zealand late last month. The featured finished
   frame is a combination of 10 exposures all taken with the same camera
   and from the same location. But what about the astrophotographer
   himself? He's pictured too -- can you find him?

                   Jigsaw Fun: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

