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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Desert Stairway to Heaven
NASA ^ | 13 Oct. 2026 | Credit & Copyright Julien Looten; Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirent

Posted on 10/13/2026 12:01:31 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: This stairway in Chile brings you only a little bit closer to heaven. But ooh, the sky above it makes you wonder. For example, you may wonder about the dark lane of our own Milky Way galaxy rising behind the expansive Atacama Desert in Chile, the band of zodiacal light on the upper left, the green and red airglow just above the horizon, the star Spica in the zodiacal light stripe, and, at the very top on the right, the Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy. The Desert Staircase sculpture is in the foreground, and this image was timed to catch the picturesque peering perch just in front of the near-vertical Milky Way band. Upon close inspection of the horizon you can find, left to right, some Andes Mountains, the Licancabur volcano, and the town lights of San Pedro de Atacama. The featured wide-angle composite was captured in July 2025.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

1 posted on 10/13/2026 12:01:31 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 10/13/2026 12:01:56 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

3 posted on 10/13/2026 12:02:23 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 31R1O; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; ...
Pinging the APOD list

đŸȘ 🌟 🌌 🍔

4 posted on 10/13/2026 12:03:24 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

I don’t see a hedgerow to be bustled.


5 posted on 10/13/2026 12:04:14 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber
That's Darmammu


6 posted on 10/13/2026 12:08:59 PM PDT by DannyTN
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To: MtnClimber

A ring around the Milky Way!

Most impressive.


7 posted on 10/13/2026 12:12:41 PM PDT by Delta 21 (None of us are descendants of fearful men!)
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To: MtnClimber

Wow.


8 posted on 10/13/2026 12:19:31 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: MtnClimber

Whoa.


9 posted on 10/13/2026 12:19:44 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: Delta 21

Very.


10 posted on 10/13/2026 12:20:03 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: MtnClimber

It looks amazing, but being a composite, its not really real?


11 posted on 10/13/2026 12:35:32 PM PDT by b4me (Pray, and let God change you. He knows better than you or anyone else, who He made you to be.)
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To: MtnClimber

Which way is up in all that?


12 posted on 10/13/2026 12:37:01 PM PDT by Delta 21 (None of us are descendants of fearful men!)
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To: b4me
It looks amazing, but being a composite, its not really real?

I think the stairway sculpture and the mountain background were taken when there was enough light for a good exposure and then the sky exposure was taken after dark and overlaid on the earlier image. Both were real, just not at the exact same time.

13 posted on 10/13/2026 12:41:33 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

A Stairway to Heaven

that is awesome.


14 posted on 10/13/2026 12:47:08 PM PDT by telescope115 (Ad Astra, Ad Deum
)
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To: MtnClimber
Not all that dissimilar to the Cosmonaut Memorial in Moscow:


15 posted on 10/13/2026 2:18:55 PM PDT by null and void (Do we vote for the people who want to hurt us, or vote for the people who don’t want to stop them?)
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To: MtnClimber

Wow, this is quite beautiful!


16 posted on 10/13/2026 3:55:49 PM PDT by DataJunkie ( )
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