                        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.

                                2026 April 19
    The image shows land on the left and a star filled sky on the right.
    Prominent in the sky is the band of our Milky Way Galaxy. On the left
    is a small circular lake that reflects some of the stars in the sky.
    Together, the land and lake look like an eye lookout out at the Milky
       Way. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

                            Eye on the Milky Way
       Image Credit & Copyright: Miguel Claro (TWAN, Dark Sky Alqueva)

   Explanation: Have you ever had stars in your eyes? It appears that the
   eye on the left does, and moreover, it appears to be gazing at even
   more stars. The featured 27-frame mosaic was taken in 2019 from Ojas de
   Salar in the Atacama Desert of Chile. The eye is actually a small
   lagoon captured reflecting the dark night sky as the Milky Way Galaxy
   arched overhead. The seemingly smooth band of the Milky Way is really
   composed of billions of stars, but decorated with filaments of
   light-absorbing dust and red-glowing nebulas. Additionally, both
   Jupiter (slightly left the galactic arch) and Saturn (slightly to the
   right) are visible. The lights of small towns dot the unusual vertical
   horizon. The rocky terrain around the lagoon appears to some more like
   the surface of Mars than our Earth.

    Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after
                                    1995)
                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

