APOD
Yosemite Winter Night
December 25, 2012Wally Pacholka
About This Image
In this evocative night skyscape a starry band of the Milky Way climbs over Yosemite Valley, Sierra Nevada Range, planet Earth. Jupiter is the brightest celestial beacon on the wintry scene, though. Standing nearly opposite the Sun in the constellation Taurus, the wandering planet joins yellowish Aldebaran and the Hyades star cluster. Below, Orion always comes up sideways over a fence of mountains. And from there the twin stars of Gemini rise just across the Milky Way. As this peaceful winter night began, they followed Auriga the charioteer, its alpha star Capella near the top of the frame.
On This Day in Space History
On December 25, 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was launched, ushering in a new era of infrared astronomy.
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