                        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.

                                 2026 May 5
   A starry sky is seen above a snowy volcano peak. The sky is bright with
     many stars and red nebula. In the foreground is dark soil and green
        evergreen trees. Please see the explanation for more detailed
                                information.

                           Orion over Mount Teide
                Image Credit & Copyright: Marcin Rosadziński

   Explanation: Orion is rarely seen like this. To achieve this majestic
   vista, you need a camera capable of taking such long duration exposures
   that faint features in the night sky become revealed. Iconic nebulas
   that appear include the Orion Nebula, the Flame Nebula, and Barnard's
   Loop. For contrast, it also helps to have a volcano on the foreground,
   in this case the Teide volcano on Tenerife on the Canary Islands of
   Spain. But if you want your Teide volcano snow-covered, you also need
   good timing -- because that only happens, typically, for a few days
   each year. Good timing also includes waiting for Orion to appear just
   behind Teide, which occurred late last year after sunset. The featured
   image is the result of a series of images taken consecutively with the
   same camera from the same location.

    Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after
                                    1995)
                    Tomorrow's picture: backwards planets
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

