AstronomyPicture of the Day—20181206
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.
2018December 6
RocketLaunch between Mountains
ImageCredit & Copyright: Yudong Jiang
Explanation:What's happening between those mountains? A rocket is being launched to space.Specifically, a Long March 3B Carrier Rocket was launched from XichangSatellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province in China about two week ago. Therocket lifted two navigation satellites to about 2,000 kilometers above theEarth's surface, well above the orbit of the International Space Station, butwell below the orbit of geostationary satellites. China's Chang'e 3 missionthat landed the robotic Yutu rover on the Moon was launched from Xichang in2013. The featured image was taken about 10 kilometers from the launch site andis actually a composite of nine exposures, including a separate backgroundimage.