                        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.

                                2025 August 2

                      Fireflies, Meteors, and Milky Way
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel Korona

   Explanation: Taken on July 29 and July 30, a registered and stacked
   series of exposures creates this dreamlike view of a northern summer
   night. Multiple firefly flashes streak across the foreground as the
   luminous Milky Way arcs above the horizon in the Sierra de Órganos
   national park of central Mexico, The collection of bright streaks
   aligned across the sky toward the upper left in the timelapse image are
   Delta Aquariid meteors
   . Currently active, the annual Delta Aquarid meteor shower shares
   August nights though, overlapping with the better-known Perseid meteor
   shower. This year that makes post-midnight, mostly moonless skies in
   early August very popular with late night skygazers. How can you tell a
   Delta Aquariid from a Perseid meteor? The streaks of Perseid meteors
   can be traced back to an apparent radiant in the constellation Perseus.
   Delta Aquariids appear to emerge from the more southerly constellation
   Aquarius, beyond the top left of this frame. Of course, the
   bioluminescent flashes of fireflies are common too on these northern
   summer nights. But how can you tell a firefly from a meteor? Just try
   to catch one.

                         Tomorrow's picture: or ...
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

