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. 2026 July 6 [2]A distant person stands on a rocky landscape. Above is a starry sky. Rising up from the horizon on either side of the person are bright arching spires. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Dueling Bands over the Atacama Desert Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Julien Looten Explanation: What are these two bands in the sky? The more commonly seen band is on the left and is the central band of our [4]Milky Way galaxy. Our [5]Sun orbits in the disk of [6]this spiral galaxy so that from inside, it [7]appears as a band of comparable brightness all the way [8]around the sky. The less commonly seen band, on the right, is [9]zodiacal light -- sunlight reflected from dust orbiting the Sun in our [10]Solar System. [11]Zodiacal light is brightest near the Sun and so is best seen just before sunrise or just after sunset. On some evenings, this ribbon of zodiacal light can [12]appear quite prominent. It was [13]discovered only in this century that zodiacal dust was mostly expelled by comets that have passed [14]near Jupiter. The [15]featured image was captured about a year ago from the [16]Atacama Desert in [17]Chile. Tomorrow's picture: dueling space dragons __________________________________________________________________ [18]< | [19]Archive | [20]Submissions | [21]Index | [22]Search | [23]Calendar | [24]RSS | [25]Education | [26]About APOD | [27]Discuss | [28]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [29]Robert Nemiroff ([30]MTU) & [31]Jerry Bonnell ([32]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [33]Specific rights apply. [34]NASA Web Privacy, [35]Accessibility, [36]Notices; A service of: [37]ASD at [38]NASA / [39]GSFC, [40]NASA Science Activation & [41]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2607/ZodiMw_Looten_6125.jpg 3. https://www.flickr.com/photos/julienlooten/ 4. https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/milkyway1.html 5. https://science.nasa.gov/sun/ 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240804.html 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170328.html 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180313.html 9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiacal_light 10. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/ 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120116.html 12. https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/funny-excited-guinea-pig-isolated-yellow-background-shocked-face-tiny-paws-raised-364478590.jpg 13. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010ApJ...713..816N/abstract 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250216.html 15. https://www.flickr.com/photos/julienlooten/55200394659/ 16. https://youtu.be/o5JfmFSBDgE 17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260705.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 22. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 24. https://apod.com/feed.rss 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 27. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260706 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260707.html 29. https://www.mtu.edu/physics/department/faculty/nemiroff/ 30. https://www.mtu.edu/physics/ 31. https://inspirehep.net/authors/1073087 32. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 34. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 35. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 36. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 37. https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/astrophysics/ 38. https://www.nasa.gov/ 39. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 40. https://science.nasa.gov/learn/about-science-activation/ 41. http://www.mtu.edu/