                        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.

                                2025 August 6
   A starfield has the Andromeda galaxy in the center. Streaking down from
      the top is a green line with several bright segments -- a meteor
     captured coincidently. Please see the explanation for more detailed
                                information.

                            Meteor before Galaxy
              Image Credit & Copyright: Fritz Helmut Hemmerich

   Explanation: What's that green streak in front of the Andromeda galaxy?
   A meteor. While photographing the Andromeda galaxy in 2016, near the
   peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower, a small pebble from deep space
   crossed right in front of our Milky Way Galaxy's far-distant companion.
   The small meteor took only a fraction of a second to pass through this
   10-degree field. The meteor flared several times while braking
   violently upon entering Earth's atmosphere. The green color was
   created, at least in part, by the meteor's gas glowing as it vaporized.
   Although the exposure was timed to catch a Perseid meteor, the
   orientation of the imaged streak seems a better match to a meteor from
   the Southern Delta Aquariids, a meteor shower that peaked a few weeks
   earlier. Not coincidentally, the Perseid Meteor Shower peaks next week,
   although this year the meteors will have to outshine a sky brightened
   by a nearly full moon.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

