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.

                                2024 March 12
   [2]A field of snow is shown, lined with trees along the back. Above the
   horizon is an unusual white spiral cloud. Stars dot the background, and
   faint green and red aurora are also visible. Please see the explanation
                       for more detailed information.

                    A Galaxy-Shaped Rocket Exhaust Spiral
                    Credit & Copyright: [3]Seung Hye Yang

   Explanation: What's that over the horizon? What may look like a
   strangely [4]nearby galaxy is actually a normal rocket's exhaust plume
   -- but unusually backlit. Although the [5]SpaceX [6]Falcon 9 rocket was
   [7]launched from [8]Cape Canaveral in [9]Florida, [10]USA, its burned
   propellant was visible over a much wider area, with the featured
   photograph being taken from [11]Akureyri, [12]Iceland. The huge
   spaceship was lifted off a week ago, and the [13]resulting spectacle
   was captured soon afterward with a single 10-second [14]smartphone
   exposure, before it quickly dissipated. Like [15]noctilucent clouds,
   the plume's brightness is caused by the [16]Twilight Effect, where an
   object is high enough to be illuminated by the twilight Sun, even when
   the observer on the ground experiences the darkness of night. The
   [17]spiral shape is likely caused by [18]high winds pushing the
   expelled gas into the shape of a [19]corkscrew, which, when seen along
   the trajectory, looks like a [20]spiral. Stars and faint green and red
   [21]aurora appear in the background of this [22]extraordinary image.

                  Tomorrow's picture: bird in red and blue
     __________________________________________________________________

      [23]< | [24]Archive | [25]Submissions | [26]Index | [27]Search |
   [28]Calendar | [29]RSS | [30]Education | [31]About APOD | [32]Discuss |
                                    [33]>
     __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: [34]Robert Nemiroff ([35]MTU) & [36]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([37]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn; [38]Specific rights apply.
              [39]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [40]ASD at [41]NASA / [42]GSFC,
                         [43]NASA Science Activation
                           & [44]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2403/RocketSpiral_Yang_3024.jpg
   3. mailto: seunghyeyang98 at gmail dot com
   4. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231113.html
   5. https://www.spacex.com/
   6. https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/falcon-9/
   7. https://youtu.be/kEupBbJI07g?t=3662
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap181001.html
   9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States
  11. https://youtu.be/TrQCPC-wdTc
  12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap171224.html
  14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220712.html
  16. https://youtu.be/Y1Hfiirwgys
  17. https://www.businessinsider.com/mysterious-glowing-spirals-night-sky-could-be-spacex-rocket-fuel-2023-4
  18. https://youtu.be/rKUipxR3bDc
  19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corkscrew#/media/File:Korkenzieher_01_KMJ.jpg
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240101.html
  21. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/aurora/en/
  22. https://www.floppycats.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Heroic-Cat.webp
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240311.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  29. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  32. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240312
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240313.html
  34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  35. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  36. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  37. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  39. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  40. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/
  42. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  43. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  44. http://www.mtu.edu/