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. 2021 September 6 [2]The picture shows an arching Milky Way Galaxy with a firefly path in the foreground over Russia. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Firefly Milky Way over Russia Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Anton Komlev Explanation: It started with a pine tree. The idea was to photograph a statuesque [4]pine in front of the central band of our [5]Milky Way Galaxy. And the plan, carried out two months ago, was successful -- they both appear prominently. But the [6]resulting 3-frame panorama captured much more. [7]Colorful stars, for example, dot the distant background, with bright [8]Altair visible on the upper left. The planet [9]Saturn, a bit closer, was captured just over the horizon on the far left. Just beyond the [10]Earth's atmosphere, seen in the upper right, an [11]Earth-orbiting satellite was caught leaving a streak during the 25-second exposure. The [12]Earth's atmosphere itself was [13]surprisingly visible -- as [14]green airglow across the image top. Finally, just by chance, there was a [15]firefly. Do you see it? Near the image bottom, the firefly blinked in yellow several times as it fluttered before the rolling hills above [16]Milogradovka River in [17]Primorsky Krai, [18]Russia. Explore Your Universe: [19]Random APOD Generator Tomorrow's picture: colliding galaxies __________________________________________________________________ [20]< | [21]Archive | [22]Submissions | [23]Index | [24]Search | [25]Calendar | [26]RSS | [27]Education | [28]About APOD | [29]Discuss | [30]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [31]Robert Nemiroff ([32]MTU) & [33]Jerry Bonnell ([34]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [35]Specific rights apply. [36]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [37]ASD at [38]NASA / [39]GSFC & [40]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2109/FireFlyMilkyWay_Komlev_1446.jpg 3. https://www.instagram.com/komlev.av/?hl=en 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine 5. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/285/the-milky-way-galaxy/ 6. https://www.instagram.com/p/CRs9fhiB7oi/ 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191013.html 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altair 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200808.html 10. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/atmosphere/en/ 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121209.html 12. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/463940main_atmosphere-layers2_full.jpg 13. https://i.redd.it/meb0p9b84q001.jpg 14. http://www.atoptics.co.uk/highsky/airglow1.htm 15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly 16. https://youtu.be/Os-uw7mO--Q 17. https://youtu.be/yCt9BbH95C4 18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia 19. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/random_apod.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210905.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 29. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=210906 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210907.html 31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 33. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 34. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 36. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 37. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 38. https://www.nasa.gov/ 39. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 40. http://www.mtu.edu/