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 January 27
    [2]A cluster of bright blue stars is seen on the upper right while an
    unusual dome-like mountain occupies most of the frame. Please see the
                 explanation for more detailed information.

                           Pleiades over Half Dome
               Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Dheera Venkatraman

   Explanation: Stars come in bunches. The most famous bunch of stars on
   the sky is [4]the Pleiades, a [5]bright cluster that can be easily seen
   with the [6]unaided eye. The Pleiades lies only about 450 [7]light
   years away, formed about 100 million years ago, and will likely last
   about another 250 million years. [8]Our Sun was likely born in a
   [9]star cluster, but now, being about 4.5 billion years old, its
   [10]stellar birth companions have long since dispersed. The
   [11]Pleiades star cluster is pictured over [12]Half Dome, a famous rock
   structure in [13]Yosemite National Park in [14]California, [15]USA. The
   [16]featured image is a composite of 28 foreground exposures and 174
   images of the stellar background, all taken from the same location and
   by the same camera on the same night in October 2019. After
   [17]calculating the timing of a future juxtaposition of the
   [18]Pleiades and [19]Half Dome, the astrophotographer was unexpectedly
   rewarded by an [20]electrical blackout, making the [21]background sky
   unusually [22]dark.

     Astrophysicists: [23]Browse 3,500+ codes in the Astrophysics Source
                                Code Library
                        Tomorrow's picture: big comet
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    Authors & editors: [35]Robert Nemiroff ([36]MTU) & [37]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([38]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [39]Specific rights apply.
            [40]NASA Web Privacy, [41]Accessibility, [42]Notices;
                A service of: [43]ASD at [44]NASA / [45]GSFC,
                         [46]NASA Science Activation
                           & [47]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2501/HalfPleiades_Venkatraman_1365.jpg
   3. https://dheera.net/about
   4. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241209.html
   5. https://go-astronomy.com/star-clusters.php
   6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_eye#In_astronomy
   7. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/
   8. https://science.nasa.gov/sun/facts/
   9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_cluster
  10. https://www.astronomy.com/observing/ask-astro-what-happened-to-the-suns-original-star-cluster/
  11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades
  12. https://youtu.be/mEOkthVDha0
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_National_Park
  14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California
  15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States
  16. https://dheera.net/photos/deepscapes/#&gid=1&pid=2
  17. https://media.istockphoto.com/photos/dog-as-financial-work-with-report-pens-and-calculater-on-table-dog-picture-id1165372431?k=20&m=1165372431&s=612x612&w=0&h=R-3PIrplLqu4k4lx6ynWNhW5b10Rt5dLL2rqfWExzxU=
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220405.html
  19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_Dome
  20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_California_power_shutoffs
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200408.html
  22. https://www.darksky.org/
  23. http://ascl.net/
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250126.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  30. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  33. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250127
  34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250128.html
  35. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  36. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  37. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  38. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  39. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  42. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  43. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  44. https://www.nasa.gov/
  45. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  46. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  47. http://www.mtu.edu/