﻿ 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 August 23 [2]A color meteor streak is seen above the Andromeda spiral galaxy. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. The Meteor and the Galaxy Credit & Copyright: [3]Jose Pedrero Explanation: It came from [4]outer space. It -- in this case a [5]sand-sized bit of a [6]comet nucleus -- was likely ejected many years ago from Sun-orbiting [7]Comet Swift-Tuttle, but then continued to orbit the Sun alone. When the Earth crossed through this orbit, the piece of comet debris impacted the [8]atmosphere of our fair planet and was seen as a meteor. This [9]meteor deteriorated, causing gases to be emitted that glowed in colors emitted by its component elements. The featured image was taken last week from [10]Castilla La Mancha, [11]Spain, during the peak night of the [12]Perseids meteor shower. The picturesque meteor streak happened to appear in the [13]only one of 50 frames that also included the [14]Andromeda galaxy. Stars dot the frame, each much further away than the meteor. Compared to the stars, the [15]Andromeda galaxy (M31) is, again, much further away. Tomorrow's picture: open space __________________________________________________________________ [16]< | [17]Archive | [18]Submissions | [19]Index | [20]Search | [21]Calendar | [22]RSS | [23]Education | [24]About APOD | [25]Discuss | [26]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [27]Robert Nemiroff ([28]MTU) & [29]Jerry Bonnell ([30]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [31]Specific rights apply. [32]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [33]ASD at [34]NASA / [35]GSFC, [36]NASA Science Activation & [37]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2308/M31Perseid_Pedrero_3232.jpg 3. https://www.instagram.com/josepedrero.jpart/ 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Came_from_Outer_Space 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap011117.html 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200315.html 7. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/comets/109p-swift-tuttle/in-depth/ 8. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/atmosphere/en/ 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230724.html 10. https://youtu.be/MeEYLreMbpw 11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230809.html 13. https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1240888678/photo/the-surprised-cat-the-amazement-of-the-cat-open-your-mouth-in-surprise-an-extreme-degree-of.webp?b=1&s=170667a&w=0&k=20&c=DREvaissymPAAG3WlYALFfuNTm8WrmPhcjLdejOsaQs= 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191014.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230322.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230822.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 20. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 25. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230823 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230824.html 27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 30. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 32. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 33. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 34. https://www.nasa.gov/ 35. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 36. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 37. http://www.mtu.edu/