                        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 November 5
     A grassy hill appears in the foreground with tall statues of human
    heads embeddd. High overhead the central band of the Milky Way galaxy
     crosses horizontally. Above the Milky Way is a dark sky filled with
      stars. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

                        Milky Way over Easter Island
                        Credit & Copyright: Josh Dury

   Explanation: Why were the statues on Easter Island built? No one is
   sure. What is sure is that over 900 large stone statues called moais
   exist there. The Rapa Nui (Easter Island) moais stand, on average, over
   twice as tall as a person and have over 200 times as much mass. It is
   thought that the unusual statues were created about 600 years ago in
   the images of local leaders of a vibrant and ancient civilization. Rapa
   Nui has been declared by UNESCO to a World Heritage Site. Pictured
   here, some of the stone giants were imaged last month under the central
   band of our Milky Way galaxy. Previously unknown moais are still being
   discovered.

            Alternative Multi-APOD Front Page: MyUniverseHub.com
                     Tomorrow's picture: comet mountain
     __________________________________________________________________

       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.

