                        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.

                                2022 April 18

                       Stars and Planets over Portugal
       Image Credit & Copyright: Miguel Claro (TWAN, Dark Sky Alqueva)

   Explanation: The mission was to document night-flying birds -- but it
   ended up also documenting a beautiful sky. The featured wide-angle
   mosaic was taken over the steppe golden fields in Mértola, Portugal in
   2020. From such a dark location, an immediately-evident breathtaking
   glow arched over the night sky: the central band of our Milky Way
   galaxy. But this sky had much more. Thin clouds crossed the sky like
   golden ribbons. The planet Mars appeared on the far left, while the
   planets Saturn and Jupiter were also simultaneously visible -- but on
   the opposite side of the sky, here seen on the far right. Near the top
   of the image the bright star Vega can be found, while the far-distant
   and faint Andromeda Galaxy can be seen toward the left, just below
   Milky Way's arch. As the current month progresses, several planets are
   lining up in the pre-dawn sky: Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Saturn.

          Did you know? Many APODs have links for adventure & humor
                      Tomorrow's picture: giant chicken
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
                NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

