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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. 2003 April 4 Clusters and Nebulae of the Hexagon Credit & Copyright: Axel Mellinger Explanation: At first, the bright stars of the large asterism known as the (northern) Winter Hexagon might be hard to pick out in this gorgeous deep sky mosaic from December 2002. But placing your cursor over the picture will reveal the hexagon's outlines and the bright clusters and nebulae along a stunning portion of...

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. 2003 March 21 Stars and Planets in the Halo of the Moon Credit & Copyright: Lauri Kangas Explanation: Photographed on March 13th from Caledon, Ontario, Canada, a bright Moon was surrounded by this lovely halo. Planet Jupiter and stars Procyon, Castor, and Pollux also appear within the circle of lunar light. Castor and Pollux, twins in Greek Mythology, are appropriately bright stars of the constellation Gemini while Procyon...

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. 2002 November 6 The Winter Hexagon Credit & Copyright: Jerry Lodriguss Explanation: Some of the brightest stars form a large and easily found pattern in the winter sky of Earth's northern hemisphere. Dubbed the Winter Hexagon, the stars involved can usually be identified even in the bright night skies of a big city. The six stars that compose the Winter Hexagon are Aldebaren, Capella, Castor, Procyon, Rigel, and...