Subj : Daily APOD Report
To   : All
From : Alan Ianson
Date : Tue May 31 2022 03:55:02

                        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.

                                 2022 May 31

                        Rocket Transits Rippling Sun
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Cain

   Explanation: The launch of a rocket at sunrise can result in unusual
   but intriguing images that feature both the rocket and the Sun. Such
   was the case last month when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from
   NASA's Kennedy Space Center carrying 53 more Starlink satellites into
   low Earth orbit. In the featured launch picture, the rocket's exhaust
   plume glows beyond its projection onto the distant Sun, the rocket
   itself appears oddly jagged, and the Sun's lower edge shows peculiar
   drip-like ripples. The physical cause of all of these effects is
   pockets of relatively hot or rarefied air deflecting sunlight less
   strongly than pockets relatively cool or compressed air: refraction.
   Unaware of the Earthly show, active sunspot region 3014 -- on the upper
   left -- slowly crosses the Sun.

                       Tomorrow's picture: big dragons
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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