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 December 30 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Mars and the Star Clusters Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Gabor Balazs Explanation: [5]At this year's end [6]Mars still shines brightly in [7]planet Earth's night as it wanders through the head-strong constellation Taurus. Its bright yellowish hue dominates this [8]starry field of view that includes Taurus' alpha star Aldebaran and the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters. While [9]red giant Aldebaran appears to anchor the [10]V-shape of the Hyades at the left of the frame, Aldebaran is not a member of the Hyades star cluster. The Hyades cluster is 151 light-years away making it the nearest established open star cluster, but Aldebaran lies at less than half that distance, along the same line-of-sight. At the right, some 400 light-years distant is the open star cluster [11]cataloged as Messier 45, also known as the Pleiades or Seven Sisters. In Greek myth, the Pleiades were daughters of the [12]astronomical titan Atlas and sea-nymph [13]Pleione. Tomorrow's picture: so nice, they named it twice __________________________________________________________________ [14]< | [15]Archive | [16]Submissions | [17]Index | [18]Search | [19]Calendar | [20]RSS | [21]Education | [22]About APOD | [23]Discuss | [24]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [25]Robert Nemiroff ([26]MTU) & [27]Jerry Bonnell ([28]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [29]Specific rights apply. [30]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [31]ASD at [32]NASA / [33]GSFC, [34]NASA Science Activation & [35]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2212/mars_clusters.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.asztrofoto.hu/adatlap/BGabor 5. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/visible-planets-tonight-mars-jupiter-venus-saturn-mercury/ 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221215.html 7. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/skywatching/home/ 8. https://www.asztrofoto.hu/galeria_image/1672090034 9. http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/aldebaran.html 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121224.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191107.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap061202.html 13. http://www.naic.edu/~gibson/pleiades/ 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221229.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 18. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 23. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=221230 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221231.html 25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 28. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 30. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 31. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 32. https://www.nasa.gov/ 33. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 34. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 35. http://www.mtu.edu/