                        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 20
   A deep sky is shown with the band of our Milky Way Galaxy running from
    the upper left to the lower right. The streaks or many curved meteors
      are seen. In the foreground a beach is seen with an unusual rock
      outcrop that has an opening. Please see the explanation for more
                            detailed information.

                      Perseid Meteors from Durdle Door
                     Image Credit & Copyright: Josh Dury

   Explanation: What are those curved arcs in the sky? Meteors --
   specifically, meteors from this year's Perseid meteor shower. Over the
   past few weeks, after the sky darkened, many images of Perseid meteors
   were captured separately and merged into a single frame, taken earlier.
   Although the meteors all traveled on straight paths, these paths appear
   slightly curved by the wide-angle lens of the capturing camera. The
   meteor streaks can all be traced back to a single point on the sky
   called the radiant, here just off the top of the frame in the
   constellation of Perseus. The same camera took a deep image of the
   background sky that brought up the central band of our Milky Way galaxy
   running nearly vertically through the featured image's center. The
   limestone arch in the foreground in Dorset, England is known as Durdle
   Door, a name thought to survive from a thousand years ago.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

