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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.   
      
                                  2023 January 1   
       The featured image shows several streaks on a dark background with a   
        pale blue dot in one of the streaks. Please see the explanation for   
                            more detailed information.   
      
                       The Largest Rock in our Solar System   
                     Image Credit: NASA, Voyager 1 spacecraft   
      
      Explanation: There, that dot on the right, that's the largest rock   
      known in our Solar System. It is larger than every known asteroid,   
      moon, and comet nucleus. It is larger than any other local rocky   
      planet. This rock is so large its gravity makes it into a large ball   
      that holds heavy gases near its surface. (It used to be the largest   
      known rock of any type until the recent discoveries of large dense   
      planets orbiting other stars.) The Voyager 1 spacecraft took the   
      featured picture -- famously called Pale Blue Dot -- of this giant   
      space rock in 1990 from the outer Solar System. Today, this rock starts   
      another orbit around its parent star, for roughly the 5 billionth time,   
      spinning over 350 times during each trip. Happy Gregorian Calendar New   
      Year to all inhabitants of this rock we call Earth.   
      
                         Tomorrow's picture: planets align   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.   
                   NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices   
                         A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,   
                              NASA Science Activation   
                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
      
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