Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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. 2025 August 20 [2]A deep sky is shown with the band of our Milky Way Galaxy running from the upper left to the lower right. The streaks or many curved meteors are seen. In the foreground a beach is seen with an unusual rock outcrop that has an opening. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Perseid Meteors from Durdle Door Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Josh Dury Explanation: What are those curved arcs in the sky? Meteors -- specifically, meteors from this year's [4]Perseid meteor shower. Over the past few weeks, after the sky darkened, many images of [5]Perseid meteors were captured separately and merged into a single frame, taken earlier. Although the [6]meteors all traveled on straight paths, these paths appear slightly curved by the wide-angle lens of the capturing camera. The meteor [7]streaks can all be traced back to a single point on the sky called the [8]radiant, here just off the top of the frame in the [9]constellation of Perseus. The same camera took a deep image of the background sky that brought up the [10]central band of our [11]Milky Way galaxy running nearly vertically through the [12]featured image's center. The limestone arch in the foreground in [13]Dorset, [14]England is known as [15]Durdle Door, a name thought to survive from a thousand years ago. Tomorrow's picture: open space __________________________________________________________________ [16]< | [17]Archive | [18]Submissions | [19]Index | [20]Search | [21]Calendar | [22]RSS | [23]Education | [24]About APOD | [25]Discuss | [26]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [27]Robert Nemiroff ([28]MTU) & [29]Jerry Bonnell ([30]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [31]Specific rights apply. [32]NASA Web Privacy, [33]Accessibility, [34]Notices; A service of: [35]ASD at [36]NASA / [37]GSFC, [38]NASA Science Activation & [39]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2508/PerseidsDurdleDoor_Dury_3963.jpg 3. https://www.joshduryphoto-media.com/ 4. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/meteors-meteorites/perseids/ 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseids 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240811.html 7. https://www.armandhammer.com/-/media/aah/feature/articles/cat-litter-articles/cat-agility-header-image.jpg 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiant_(meteor_shower) 9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseus_(constellation) 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250604.html 11. https://science.nasa.gov/resource/the-milky-way-galaxy/ 12. https://www.joshduryphoto-media.com/astrophotography-v2?pgid=m9v1kp17-befb7637-ae9a-49f6-b3ba-119066945dc6 13. https://youtu.be/JYDRQFA51N0 14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England 15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durdle_Door 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250819.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 20. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 22. https://apod.com/feed.rss 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 25. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250820 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250821.html 27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 30. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 32. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 33. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 34. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 35. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 36. https://www.nasa.gov/ 37. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 38. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 39. http://www.mtu.edu/