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
     __________________________________________________________________

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     __________________________________________________________________

    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/