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.

                                2022 June 14
     [2]The featured image shows the rock spires known as Pinnacles that
    occur in Australia. Behind the spires is a sky filled with satellite
     trails, including many from the Starlink constellation of low-Earth
       orbit satellites. Please see the explanation for more detailed
                                information.

                         Satellites Behind Pinnacles
                 Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Joshua Rozells

   Explanation: What are all those streaks across the background?
   Satellite trails. First, the foreground features picturesque rock
   mounds known as Pinnacles. Found in the [4]Nambung National Park in
   Western [5]Australia, these human-sized spires are made by unknown
   processes from ancient sea shells ([6]limestone). Perhaps more
   eye-catching, though, is the sky behind. Created by [7]low-Earth orbit
   satellites reflecting sunlight, all of these streaks were captured in
   less than two hours and digitally combined onto [8]the single featured
   image, with the foreground taken consecutively by the same camera and
   from the same location. Most of the [9]streaks were made by the
   developing [10]Starlink constellation of communication satellites, but
   some are not. In general, the [11]streaks are indicative of an
   increasing number of [12]satellites nearly continuously visible above
   [13]the Earth after dusk and before dawn. [14]Understanding and
   [15]removing the effects of satellite trails on images from Earth's
   ground-based cameras and telescopes is now important not only for
   [16]elegant astrophotography, but for humanity's [17]scientific
   understanding of the [18]distant universe.

     Astrophysicists: [19]Browse 2,800+ codes in the Astrophysics Source
                                Code Library
              Tomorrow's picture: the galaxy cluster next door
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    Authors & editors: [31]Robert Nemiroff ([32]MTU) & [33]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([34]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [35]Specific rights apply.
              [36]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [37]ASD at [38]NASA / [39]GSFC
                           & [40]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2206/StarTrailsPinnacles_Rozells_3872.jpg
   3. https://www.instagram.com/joshua_rozells/
   4. https://youtu.be/7XOkWFIjz_M
   5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia
   6. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2011-05-11-ct-x-c-fossils-in-chicagoland-buildin20110511-story.html
   7. https://www.nasa.gov/leo-economy/faqs
   8. https://www.instagram.com/p/CeA8Y5oLWfb/
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170221.html
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140525.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210601.html
  13. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/earth/in-depth/
  14. https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2019/09/04/08/24/cat-4451003_1280.jpg
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191014.html
  16. https://www.pcmag.com/news/starlink-satellites-are-photo-bombing-astronomy-images
  17. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022ApJ...924L..30M/abstract
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210802.html
  19. http://ascl.net/
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220613.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  29. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220614
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220615.html
  31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  33. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  34. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  37. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/
  39. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  40. http://www.mtu.edu/