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.

                                2025 July 25
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                        Twelve Years of Kappa Cygnids
  Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Petr Horálek, [5]Josef Kujal, [6]Tomáš
                Slovinský; Acknowledgement: [7]Mahdi Zamani

   Explanation: Meteors from the [8]Kappa Cygnid meteor shower are
   captured in this time-lapse composite skyscape. The minor meteor
   shower, with a [9]radiant not far from its eponymous star Kappa Cygni,
   peaks in mid-August, almost at the same time as the much better-known
   and better-observed Perseid meteor shower. But, seen to have a peak
   rate of only about 3 meteors per hour, Kappa Cygnids are vastly
   outnumbered by the more popular, prolific [10]Perseid shower's meteors
   that emanate from the heroic constellation Perseus. To capture dozens
   of Kappa Cygnids, this long term astro-imaging project compiled meteors
   in exposures selected from over 51 August nights during the years 2012
   through 2024. Most of the exposures with [11]identified Kappa Cygnid
   meteors were made in August 2021, a high point of the shower's known
   7-year activity cycle. [12]All twelve years worth of Kappa Cygnids are
   registered against a base sea and night skyscape of the Milky Way above
   Elafonisi Beach, Crete, Greece, also recorded in August of 2021.

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [24]Robert Nemiroff ([25]MTU) & [26]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([27]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [28]Specific rights apply.
            [29]NASA Web Privacy, [30]Accessibility, [31]Notices;
                A service of: [32]ASD at [33]NASA / [34]GSFC,
                         [35]NASA Science Activation
                           & [36]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2507/KCG2021_08_11_Pano_Elafonisi_met_fin-CCMZ_1500px.png
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.petrhoralek.com/#about-1
   5. https://www.instagram.com/josef.kujal/
   6. https://tomasslovinsky.com/#about
   7. https://mahdizamani.com/
   8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappa_Cygnids
   9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiant_(meteor_shower)
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230809.html
  11. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025A&A...695A..83B/abstract
  12. https://www.petrhoralek.com/?p=25643
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250724.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  17. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  19. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  22. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250725
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250726.html
  24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  27. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  32. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  35. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  36. http://www.mtu.edu/