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                           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.   
      
                                 2021 December 21   
      
                            Solstice Sun and Milky Way   
              Composite Image Credit & Copyright: Stefan Seip (TWAN)   
      
      Explanation: Welcome to December's solstice, first day of winter in the   
      north and summer for the southern hemisphere. Astronomical markers of   
      the seasons, solstice and equinox dates are based on the Sun's place in   
      its annual journey along the ecliptic, through planet Earth's sky. At   
      this solstice, the Sun reaches its maximum southern declination of   
      -23.5 degrees today at 15:59 UTC, while its right ascension coordinate   
      on the celestial sphere is 18 hours. That puts the Sun in the   
      constellation Sagittarius in a direction near the center of our Milky   
      Way galaxy. In fact, if you could see today's Solstice Sun against   
      faint background stars and nebulae (that's really hard to do,   
      especially in the daytime ...) your view might look something like this   
      composited panorama. To make it, images of our fair galaxy were taken   
      under dark Namibian night skies, then stitched together in a panoramic   
      view. From a snapshot made on 2015 December 21, the Sun was digitally   
      overlayed as a brilliant star at today's northern winter solstice   
      position, close to the center of the Milky Way.   
      
      Discovery + Outreach: Graduate student research position open for APOD   
                           Tomorrow's picture: X launch   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.   
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                         A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC   
                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
      
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