                        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.

                               2024 August 24

                           South Pacific Shadowset
                     Image Credit & Copyright: Jin Wang

   Explanation: The full Moon and Earth's shadow set together in this
   island skyscape. The alluring scene was captured Tuesday morning,
   August 20, from Fiji, South Pacific Ocean, planet Earth. For early
   morning risers shadowset in the western sky is a daily apparition.
   Still, the grey-blue shadow is often overlooked in favor of a brighter
   eastern horizon. Extending through the dense atmosphere, Earth's
   setting shadow is bounded above by a pinkish glow or anti-twilight
   arch. Known as the Belt of Venus, the arch's lovely color is due to
   backscattering of reddened light from the opposite horizon's rising
   Sun. Of course, the setting Moon's light is reddened by the long
   sight-line through the atmosphere. But on that date the full Moon could
   be called a seasonal Blue Moon, the third full Moon in a season with
   four full Moons. And even though the full Moon is always impressive
   near the horizon, August's full Moon is considered by some the first of
   four consecutive full Supermoons in 2024.

                   Tomorrow's picture: fresh tiger stripes
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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