Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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 September 25 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Saturn Opposite the Sun Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Jin Wang Explanation: This year [5]Saturn was at opposition on September 21, opposite the Sun in planet Earth's sky. At its closest to Earth, Saturn was also at its brightest of the year, rising as the Sun set and shining above the horizon all night long among the fainter stars of the constellation Pisces. In this snapshot from the [6]Qinghai Lenghu Observatory, Tibetan Plateau, southwestern China, the outer planet is immersed in a faint, diffuse oval of light known as [7]the gegenschein or counter glow. The diffuse gegenschein is produced by sunlight backscattered by [8]interplanetary dust along the Solar System's [9]ecliptic plane, opposite the Sun in planet Earth's sky. Like a giant eye, on this dark night Saturn and gegenschein seem to stare down on the observatory's telescope domes seen against a colorful background of airglow along the horizon. Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space __________________________________________________________________ [10]< | [11]Archive | [12]Submissions | [13]Index | [14]Search | [15]Calendar | [16]RSS | [17]Education | [18]About APOD | [19]Discuss | [20]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [21]Robert Nemiroff ([22]MTU) & [23]Jerry Bonnell ([24]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [25]Specific rights apply. [26]NASA Web Privacy, [27]Accessibility, [28]Notices; A service of: [29]ASD at [30]NASA / [31]GSFC, [32]NASA Science Activation & [33]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2509/DSC05293.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. mailto: royalk86 gmail 5. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/saturn-at-opposition-closest-brightest-best/ 6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_Field_Survey_Telescope 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080507.html 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210311.html 9. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/skywatching/planetary-alignments-and-planet-parades/#hds-sidebar-nav-1 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250924.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 14. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 16. https://apod.com/feed.rss 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 19. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250925 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250926.html 21. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 23. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 24. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 26. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 27. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 28. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 29. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 30. https://www.nasa.gov/ 31. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 32. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 33. http://www.mtu.edu/