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. 2024 December 28 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. A December Winter Night Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Włodzimierz Bubak Explanation: [5]Orion seems to come up sideways, climbing over a distant mountain range in this deep skyscape. [6]The wintry scene was captured from southern Poland on the northern hemisphere's long solstice night. [7]Otherwise unseen nebulae hang in the sky, revealed by the camera modified to record red [8]hydrogen-alpha light. The nebulae lie near the edge of the Orion molecular cloud and [9]join the Hunter's familiar belt stars and bright giants Betelgeuse and Rigel. Eye of Taurus the Bull, yellowish [10]Aldebaran anchors the V-shaped Hyades star cluster near top center. Still, near opposition in planet Earth's sky, the Solar System's [11]ruling gas giant Jupiter is the brightest celestial beacon above this horizon's snowy peaks. Tomorrow's picture: frozen __________________________________________________________________ [12]< | [13]Archive | [14]Submissions | [15]Index | [16]Search | [17]Calendar | [18]RSS | [19]Education | [20]About APOD | [21]Discuss | [22]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [23]Robert Nemiroff ([24]MTU) & [25]Jerry Bonnell ([26]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [27]Specific rights apply. [28]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [29]ASD at [30]NASA / [31]GSFC, [32]NASA Science Activation & [33]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2412/bubak-poland.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.facebook.com/TrzeciPlan/ 5. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44273/the-star-splitter 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231223.html 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090411.html 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen-alpha 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120119.html 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121224.html 11. https://science.nasa.gov/jupiter/ 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241227.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 16. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 21. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=241228 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241229.html 23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 26. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 28. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 29. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 30. https://www.nasa.gov/ 31. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 32. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 33. http://www.mtu.edu/