                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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 July 10

                        Mercury and the Da Vinci Glow
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Gabriel Funes

   Explanation: On July 8th early morning risers saw Mercury near an old
   Moon low on the eastern horizon. On that date bright planet, faint glow
   of lunar night side, and sunlit crescent were captured in this predawn
   skyscape from Tenerife's Teide National Park in the Canary Islands.
   Never far from the Sun in planet Earth's sky, the fleeting inner planet
   shines near its brightest in the morning twilight scene. Mercury lies
   just below the zeta star of the constellation Taurus, Zeta Tauri, near
   the tip of the celestial bull's horn. Of course the Moon's ashen glow
   is earthshine, earthlight reflected from the Moon's night side. A
   description of earthshine, in terms of sunlight reflected by Earth's
   oceans illuminating the Moon's dark surface, was written over 500 years
   ago by Leonardo da Vinci. Waiting for the coming dawn in the foreground
   are the Teide Observatory's sentinels of the Sun, also known as (large
   domes left to right) the THEMIS, VTT, and GREGOR solar telescopes.

                   Tomorrow's picture: try to see the Moon
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