                        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 May 16

                      Milky Way over French Alp Hoodoos
                 Image Credit & Copyright: Benjamin Barakat

   Explanation: Real castles aren't this old. And the background galaxy is
   even older. Looking a bit like an alien castle, the pictured rock
   spires are called hoodoos and are likely millions of years old. Rare,
   but found around the world, hoodoos form when dense rocks slow the
   erosion of softer rock underneath. The pictured hoodoos survive in the
   French Alps and are named Demoiselles Coiffées -- which translates to
   English as "Ladies with Hairdos". The background galaxy is part of the
   central disk of our own Milky Way galaxy and contains stars that are
   typically billions of years old. The photogenic Cygnus sky region --
   rich in dusty dark clouds and red glowing nebulas -- appears just above
   and behind the hoodoos. The featured image was taken in two stages: the
   foreground was captured during the evening blue hour, while the
   background was acquired from the same location later that night.

                     Tomorrow's picture: shells of stars
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

