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.

                                 2026 May 4
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                          Superplumes Inside Earth
    Image Credit & [2]License: [3]Sanne Cottaar via [4]Wikimedia Commons

   Explanation: Why are there huge, unusual masses inside the Earth? No
   one is sure. By noting how earthquakes [5]rumble through [6]our
   planet's interior, humanity has discovered two [7]deep structures that
   appear to have unusual temperatures and/or chemical compositions. One
   hypothesis holds that the [8]superplumes are sunken debris left over
   from the Earth-shattering collision that [9]created Earth's Moon about
   4.5 billion years ago. A competing hypothesis is that they are
   graveyards for old [10]tectonic plates that slowly [11]slid under each
   other over the past few billion years. No matter their origin, the
   superplumes are thought to affect [12]Earth’s surface volcanism,
   possibly creating, for example, island chains such as [13]Hawaii. Also
   known as [14]large low-shear-velocity provinces (LLSVPs), Earth's
   superplumes are visualized in the [15]featured animation.

                     Tomorrow's picture: orionic volcano
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    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://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
   3. https://www.esc.cam.ac.uk/directory/dr-sanne-cottaar
   4. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LLSVP.gif
   5. https://pnsn.org/education/seismology/earthquake-waves
   6. https://science.nasa.gov/earth/facts/
   7. https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/gd/2022/09/07/llsvps-mysteries-in-the-deep-mantle/
   8. https://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/cretaceous/superplume.html
   9. https://science.nasa.gov/moon/formation/
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_tectonics
  11. https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https://i.redd.it/bp1czz6s0tx51.jpg
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070922.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap020427.html
  14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_low-shear-velocity_provinces
  15. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LLSVP.gif
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260503.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=260504
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260505.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/