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. 2023 January 7 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Space Stations in Low Earth Orbit Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Zarcos Palma Explanation: On January 3, two space stations already illuminated by sunlight in low Earth orbit crossed this dark predawn sky. Moving west to east (left to right) across the composited timelapse image [5]China's Tiangong Space Station traced the upper trail captured more than an hour before the local sunrise. Seen against a starry background [6]Tiangong passes just below the inverted Big Dipper asterism of Ursa Major near the peak of its bright arc, and above north pole star Polaris. But less than five minutes before, the [7]International Space Station had traced its own sunlit streak across the dark sky. [8]Its trail begins just above the W-shape outlined by the bright stars of Cassiopeia near the northern horizon. The dramatic foreground spans an abandoned mine at Achada do Gamo in southeastern Portugal. Tomorrow's picture: where you come from __________________________________________________________________ [9]< | [10]Archive | [11]Submissions | [12]Index | [13]Search | [14]Calendar | [15]RSS | [16]Education | [17]About APOD | [18]Discuss | [19]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [20]Robert Nemiroff ([21]MTU) & [22]Jerry Bonnell ([23]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [24]Specific rights apply. [25]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [26]ASD at [27]NASA / [28]GSFC, [29]NASA Science Activation & [30]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2301/ISS_TIANHE_FINAL_4_APOD.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. mailto:%20firstname.lastname%20[at]%20gmail 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong_space_station 6. https://www.astroviewer.net/iss/en/observation-css.php 7. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html 8. https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230106.html 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 13. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 18. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230107 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230108.html 20. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 21. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 22. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 23. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 25. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 26. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 27. https://www.nasa.gov/ 28. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 29. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 30. http://www.mtu.edu/