                        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 March 16

                            ELT and the Milky Way
   Image Credit & License: European Southern Observatory - Courtesy: Jens
                                 Scheidtmann

   Explanation: The southern winter Milky Way sprawls across this night
   skyscape. Looking due south, the webcam view was recorded near local
   midnight on March 11 in dry, dark skies over the central Chilean
   Atacama desert. Seen below the graceful arc of diffuse starlight are
   satellite galaxies of the mighty Milky Way, also known as the Large and
   Small Magellanic clouds. In the foreground is the site of the European
   Southern Observatory's 40-metre-class Extremely Large Telescope (ELT).
   Under construction at the 3000 metre summit of Cerro Armazones, the ELT
   is on track to become planet Earth's biggest Eye on the Sky.

                  Tomorrow's picture: when galaxies collide
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

