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 August 16
Milky Way over Yellowstone
Image Credit & Copyright:
Dave Lane
Explanation:
The Milky Way was not created by an evaporating lake.
The colorful pool of water, about 10 meters across, is known as
Silex Spring and is located in
Yellowstone National Park in
Wyoming, USA.
Illuminated artificially, the colors are caused by layers of
bacteria that grow in the
hot spring.
Steam rises off
the spring, heated by underground
magma associated with the
Yellowstone Hotspot.
Unrelated and far in the distance, the
central band of our
Milky Way Galaxy arches high overhead, a band lit by billions of stars.
The picture features a 16-image panorama taken in 2014.
If the
Yellowstone Hotspot
causes another supervolcanic eruption
as it did about
640,000 years ago, a
large part of North America would be affected.
Tomorrow’s picture: eclipse gold
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Authors & editors:
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(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn
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