✦ Today's cosmos

Contemplating the Sky

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day · August 13, 2002
Contemplating the Sky
Tap the image for full resolution ↗
Image credit & copyright: Sebastien Giguere (Astrolab du Parc du Mont-Megantic) · via NASA APOD
◆ What you're looking at
Have you contemplated your sky recently? Last night was a good one for midnight meditators at many northerly locations as meteors from the Perseid meteor shower frequently streaked through. The Perseid meteor shower has slowly been building to a crescendo but should continue to be rewarding tonight and into the week. Pictured above on August 1, a group of celestial sightseers near Quebec, Canada are treated to a dark and wondrous night sky that contained bright stars, green auroras, the band of our Milky Way galaxy, a majestic Moon rising, the International Space Station slowly gliding by, and the occasional flash of a Perseid meteor. Although no meteors were caught in this frame, the Big Dipper remained quite prominent.