﻿ 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. 2022 July 11 [2]The featured image shows a zoom into the Andromeda Galaxy over dunes in the Sahara Desert. Two people are barely visible at the top of one of the dunes. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Andromeda over the Sahara Desert Credit & Copyright: [3]Jordi Coy Explanation: What is the oldest thing you can see? At 2.5 million [4]light years distant, the answer for the unaided [5]eye is the [6]Andromeda galaxy, because its photons are 2.5 million years old when they reach you. Most other apparent denizens of the night sky -- [7]stars, clusters, and nebulae -- appear as they were only a few hundred to a few thousand years ago, as they lie well within our own [8]Milky Way Galaxy. Given its distance, light from [9]Andromeda is likely also the [10]farthest object that you can see. Also known as M31, the Andromeda Galaxy dominates the center of the featured [11]zoomed image, taken from the [12]Sahara Desert in [13]Morocco last month. The featured image is a combination of three background and one foreground exposure -- all taken with the same camera and from the same location and on the same calendar day -- with the foreground image taken during the evening [14]blue hour. [15]M110, a [16]satellite galaxy of Andromenda is visible just above and to the left of M31's core. As [17]cool as it may be to see this neighboring galaxy to our Milky Way with your own eyes, [18]long duration camera exposures can pick up many faint and breathtaking details. [19]Recent data indicates that [20]our Milky Way Galaxy will [21]collide and combine with the similarly-sized Andromeda galaxy in a few billion years. Tomorrow's picture: noctilucent tower __________________________________________________________________ [22]< | [23]Archive | [24]Submissions | [25]Index | [26]Search | [27]Calendar | [28]RSS | [29]Education | [30]About APOD | [31]Discuss | [32]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [33]Robert Nemiroff ([34]MTU) & [35]Jerry Bonnell ([36]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [37]Specific rights apply. [38]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [39]ASD at [40]NASA / [41]GSFC & [42]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2207/SaharaAndromeda_Coy_6135.jpg 3. https://www.facebook.com/jordilopezphotography 4. https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html 5. https://www.the-eyeworks.com/resource/eye-resources/interactive-eye/ 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190909.html 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180702.html 8. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/285/the-milky-way-galaxy/ 9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_Galaxy 10. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/aug/25/starwatch-the-furthest-thing-you-can-see-with-the-naked-eye 11. https://youtu.be/TijClV4uHIk 12. https://youtu.be/TaIniVvizEQ 13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco 14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_hour 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080909.html 16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Andromeda's_satellite_galaxies 17. https://cdn.wallpapersafari.com/38/15/MJ0ui3.jpg 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap181217.html 19. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/milky-way-collide.html 20. http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/galaxy.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120604.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220710.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 31. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220711 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220712.html 33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 35. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 36. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 38. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 39. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 40. https://www.nasa.gov/ 41. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 42. http://www.mtu.edu/