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. 2020 April 3 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. The Traffic in Taurus Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Lionel Majzik Explanation: There's a traffic jam in Taurus lately. On April 1, this [5]celestial frame from slightly hazy skies over Tapiobicske, Hungary recorded an impressive pile up toward the zodiacal constellation of the Bull and the Solar System's ecliptic plane. Streaking right to left the [6]International Space Station speeds across the bottom of the telescopic field of view. [7]Wandering about as far from the Sun in planet Earth's skies as it can get, inner planet Venus is bright and approaching much slower, overexposed at the right. Bystanding at the upper left are the sister stars of the Pleiades. No one has been injured in the close encounter though, because it really isn't very close. Continuously occupied since November 2000, the space station orbits some 400 kilometers [8]above the planet's surface. Venus, currently the brilliant evening star, is almost 2/3 of an [9]astronomical unit away. A more permanent resident of Taurus, the Pleiades star cluster is [10]400 light-years distant. Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space __________________________________________________________________ [11]< | [12]Archive | [13]Submissions | [14]Index | [15]Search | [16]Calendar | [17]RSS | [18]Education | [19]About APOD | [20]Discuss | [21]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [22]Robert Nemiroff ([23]MTU) & [24]Jerry Bonnell ([25]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [26]Specific rights apply. [27]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [28]ASD at [29]NASA / [30]GSFC & [31]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2004/TrafficTaurusLionelMajzik_2400.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.lionelmajzik.com/ 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200402.html 6. https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ 7. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/visible-planets-tonight-mars-jupiter-venus-saturn-mercury 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200104.html 9. https://earthsky.org/space/what-is-the-astronomical-unit 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191107.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200402.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 15. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 20. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=200403 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200404.html 22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 25. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 27. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 28. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 29. https://www.nasa.gov/ 30. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 31. http://www.mtu.edu/