Subj : Daily APOD Report
To   : All
From : Alan Ianson
Date : Mon Jul 24 2023 08:42:10

                        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.

                                2023 July 24
      A bright colorful streak crossed the image center, which wisps of
     colorful gas extending out. In the background is a dark starfield.
          Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

                  Chemicals Glow as a Meteor Disintegrates
                Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Kleinburger

   Explanation: Meteors can be colorful. While the human eye usually
   cannot discern many colors, cameras often can. Pictured here is a
   fireball, a disintegrating meteor that was not only one of the
   brightest the photographer has ever seen, but colorful. The meteor was
   captured by chance in mid-July with a camera set up on Hochkar Mountain
   in Austria to photograph the central band of our Milky Way galaxy. The
   radiant grit, likely cast off by a comet or asteroid long ago, had the
   misfortune to enter Earth's atmosphere. Colors in meteors usually
   originate from ionized chemical elements released as the meteor
   disintegrates, with blue-green typically originating from magnesium,
   calcium radiating violet, and nickel glowing green. Red, however,
   typically originates from energized nitrogen and oxygen in the Earth's
   atmosphere. This bright meteoric fireball was gone in a flash -- less
   than a second -- but it left a wind-blown ionization trail that
   remained visible for almost a minute.

                       Tomorrow's picture: X-ray eagle
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