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.

                                2024 August 9
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                               A Perseid Below
         Image Credit: Ron Garan, [3]ISS Expedition 28 Crew, [4]NASA

   Explanation: Denizens of planet Earth typically watch meteor showers
   [5]by looking up. But this [6]remarkable view, captured on August 13,
   2011 by astronaut Ron Garan, caught a Perseid meteor by looking down.
   From Garan's perspective on board the [7]International Space Station
   orbiting at an altitude of about 380 kilometers, the Perseid meteors
   streak below, swept up dust from [8]comet Swift-Tuttle. The
   [9]vaporizing comet dust grains are traveling at about 60 kilometers
   per second through the denser atmosphere around 100 kilometers above
   Earth's surface. In this case, the foreshortened meteor flash is near
   frame center, below the curving limb of the Earth and a layer of
   greenish airglow, just below bright star [10]Arcturus. Want to look up
   at a meteor shower? [11]You're in luck, as the 2024 Perseid meteor
   shower is active now and predicted to peak near August 12. With
   interfering bright moonlight absent, this year you'll likely see many
   Perseid meteors under clear, dark skies after midnight.

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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    Authors & editors: [23]Robert Nemiroff ([24]MTU) & [25]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([26]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [27]Specific rights apply.
               [28]NASA Web Privacy, [29]Accessibility Notices
                A service of: [30]ASD at [31]NASA / [32]GSFC,
                         [33]NASA Science Activation
                           & [34]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2408/perseid_iss_4256.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition28/index.html
   4. https://www.nasa.gov/
   5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190815.html
   6. https://images.nasa.gov/details/iss028e024847
   7. https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240808.html
   9. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/meteors-meteorites/perseids/
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090704.hml
  11. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-perseid-meteor-shower/
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240808.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  16. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  21. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240809
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240810.html
  23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  26. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  28. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  30. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  33. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  34. http://www.mtu.edu/