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. 2025 July 23 [2]A bright streak is pictured through a starry sky over a beach spotted with the husks of dead trees. The rollover shows the resulting smoke trail from the bright meteor. Moving the cursor over the image will bring up an annotated version. Clicking on the image will bring up the highest resolution version available. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Fireball over Cape San Blas Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Jason Rice Explanation: Have you ever seen a fireball? In astronomy, a [4]fireball is a very bright [5]meteor -- one at least as bright as [6]Venus and possibly brighter than even a full [7]Moon. [8]Fireballs are rare -- if you see one you are likely to [9]remember it for your whole life. Physically, a [10]fireball is a small rock that [11]originated from an [12]asteroid or [13]comet that typically leaves a fading smoke [14]trail of gas and dust as it shoots through the [15]Earth's atmosphere. It is unlikely that any single large ground strike occurred -- much of the rock likely vaporized as it broke up into many small pieces. The [16]featured picture was [17]captured last week from a deadwood beach in [18]Cape San Blas, [19]Florida, [20]USA. Piece it Back Together: [21]Astronomy Puzzle of the Day Tomorrow's picture: open space __________________________________________________________________ [22]< | [23]Archive | [24]Submissions | [25]Index | [26]Search | [27]Calendar | [28]RSS | [29]Education | [30]About APOD | [31]Discuss | [32]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [33]Robert Nemiroff ([34]MTU) & [35]Jerry Bonnell ([36]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [37]Specific rights apply. [38]NASA Web Privacy, [39]Accessibility, [40]Notices; A service of: [41]ASD at [42]NASA / [43]GSFC, [44]NASA Science Activation & [45]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2507/MeteorMilkyWay_Rice_2000.jpg 3. https://www.instagram.com/jriceastro/?hl=en 4. https://www.amsmeteors.org/fireballs/faqf/ 5. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/meteors-meteorites/ 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230306.html 7. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5415/ 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230916.html 9. https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-scottish-fold-cat-head-600nw-1276621966.jpg 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211012.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231126.html 12. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/asteroids/ 13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_nucleus 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190430.html 15. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/atmosphere/ 16. https://www.instagram.com/p/DLa5D4sxVag/ 17. https://www.instagram.com/p/DLaPqFTRiAx/ 18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCQhTcFGiSE 19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida 20. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states/ 21. https://www.scigames.org/apps/webjigsaw2/index.php 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250722.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 28. https://apod.com/feed.rss 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 31. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250723 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250724.html 33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 35. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 36. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 38. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 39. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 40. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 41. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 42. https://www.nasa.gov/ 43. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 44. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 45. http://www.mtu.edu/