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 December 9 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Pic du Pleiades Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Jean-Francois Graffand Explanation: Near dawn on November 19 [5]the Pleiades stood in still dark skies over the French Pyrenees. But just before sunrise a serendipitous moment was captured in this single 3 second exposure; a bright meteor streak appeared to pierce the heart of the galactic star cluster. [6]From the camera's perspective, star cluster and meteor were poised directly above the mountain top observatory on the [7]Pic du Midi de Bigorre. And though astronomers [8]might consider the Pleiades to be relatively close by, the [9]grain of dust vaporizing as it plowed through planet Earth's upper atmosphere actually missed the cluster's tight grouping of young stars by about 400 light-years. While [10]recording a night sky timelapse series, the camera and telephoto lens were fixed to a tripod on the Tour-de-France-[11]cycled slopes of the [12]Col du Tourmalet about 5 kilometers from the Pic du Midi. Tomorrow's picture: the plough over the mountain __________________________________________________________________ [13]< | [14]Archive | [15]Submissions | [16]Index | [17]Search | [18]Calendar | [19]RSS | [20]Education | [21]About APOD | [22]Discuss | [23]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [24]Robert Nemiroff ([25]MTU) & [26]Jerry Bonnell ([27]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [28]Specific rights apply. [29]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [30]ASD at [31]NASA / [32]GSFC, [33]NASA Science Activation & [34]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2312/_MG_4553_rawfile.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.facebook.com/EchoesPhotographie 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230105.html 6. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1235572967363002&set=a.677558839831087 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200307.html 8. https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/how-far-are-pleiades-really 9. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/meteors-meteorites/geminids/ 10. http://www.echosduciel.fr/ 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201002.html 12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col_du_Tourmalet#Tour_de_France 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231208.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 17. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 22. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=231209 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231210.html 24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 27. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 29. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 30. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 31. https://www.nasa.gov/ 32. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 33. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 34. http://www.mtu.edu/