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                        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.

                               2026 January 12
    A view of mountains over clouds shows a starfield with a purple glow.
   Prominent on the right is the trail of a bright meteor. To the left of
    the meteor and connecting to the meteor is something unusual: a light
     brown triangular puff. Please see the explanation for more detailed
                                information.

                                 Meteor Dust
                      Image Credit & Copyright: Xu Chen

   Explanation: What's happening to this meteor? It is shedding its outer
   layers as it passes through the Earth's atmosphere and heats up. The
   sudden high temperatures not only cause the bright glow along the
   dramatic streak but also melt and vaporize the meteor's component rock
   and ice, creating dust. Wind in the atmosphere typically blows this
   dust away over the next few seconds, leaving no visible trace after
   only a few minutes. Much of this dust will eventually settle down to
   the Earth. The featured image was captured in mid-December, coincident
   with the Geminids meteor shower. On the upper left is Sirius, the
   brightest star in the night sky, while in the foreground is
   fog-engulfed Huangshan, the Yellow Mountains of eastern China.

                  Tomorrow's picture: launched from the Sun
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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