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 July 11
   [2]The featured image shows a zoom into the Andromeda Galaxy over dunes
    in the Sahara Desert. Two people are barely visible at the top of one
   of the dunes. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

                      Andromeda over the Sahara Desert
                      Credit & Copyright: [3]Jordi Coy

   Explanation: What is the oldest thing you can see? At 2.5 million
   [4]light years distant, the answer for the unaided [5]eye is the
   [6]Andromeda galaxy, because its photons are 2.5 million years old when
   they reach you. Most other apparent denizens of the night sky --
   [7]stars, clusters, and nebulae -- appear as they were only a few
   hundred to a few thousand years ago, as they lie well within our own
   [8]Milky Way Galaxy. Given its distance, light from [9]Andromeda is
   likely also the [10]farthest object that you can see. Also known as
   M31, the Andromeda Galaxy dominates the center of the featured
   [11]zoomed image, taken from the [12]Sahara Desert in [13]Morocco last
   month. The featured image is a combination of three background and one
   foreground exposure -- all taken with the same camera and from the same
   location and on the same calendar day -- with the foreground image
   taken during the evening [14]blue hour. [15]M110, a [16]satellite
   galaxy of Andromenda is visible just above and to the left of M31's
   core. As [17]cool as it may be to see this neighboring galaxy to our
   Milky Way with your own eyes, [18]long duration camera exposures can
   pick up many faint and breathtaking details. [19]Recent data indicates
   that [20]our Milky Way Galaxy will [21]collide and combine with the
   similarly-sized Andromeda galaxy in a few billion years.

                    Tomorrow's picture: noctilucent tower
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [33]Robert Nemiroff ([34]MTU) & [35]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([36]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [37]Specific rights apply.
              [38]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [39]ASD at [40]NASA / [41]GSFC
                           & [42]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2207/SaharaAndromeda_Coy_6135.jpg
   3. https://www.facebook.com/jordilopezphotography
   4. https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html
   5. https://www.the-eyeworks.com/resource/eye-resources/interactive-eye/
   6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190909.html
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180702.html
   8. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/285/the-milky-way-galaxy/
   9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_Galaxy
  10. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/aug/25/starwatch-the-furthest-thing-you-can-see-with-the-naked-eye
  11. https://youtu.be/TijClV4uHIk
  12. https://youtu.be/TaIniVvizEQ
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco
  14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_hour
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080909.html
  16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Andromeda's_satellite_galaxies
  17. https://cdn.wallpapersafari.com/38/15/MJ0ui3.jpg
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap181217.html
  19. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/milky-way-collide.html
  20. http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/galaxy.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120604.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220710.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  31. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220711
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220712.html
  33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  35. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  36. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  39. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  42. http://www.mtu.edu/