                        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.

                               2023 December 9

                               Pic du Pleiades
              Image Credit & Copyright: Jean-Francois Graffand

   Explanation: Near dawn on November 19 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. From
   the camera's perspective, star cluster and meteor were poised directly
   above the mountain top observatory on the Pic du Midi de Bigorre. And
   though astronomers might consider the Pleiades to be relatively close
   by, the 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 recording a night sky timelapse
   series, the camera and telephoto lens were fixed to a tripod on the
   Tour-de-France-cycled slopes of the Col du Tourmalet about 5 kilometers
   from the Pic du Midi.

              Tomorrow's picture: the plough over the mountain
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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