Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

A Close Encounter Of The Stellar Kind

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 11, 1999 is “A Close Encounter Of The Stellar Kind,” an image. It is credited to Credit: Digitized Sky Survey, SkyView. The original explanation runs about 190 words.

A Close Encounter Of The Stellar Kind
Credit: Digitized Sky Survey, SkyView Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“The unassuming star centered in this sky view will one day be our next door stellar neighbor . The faint 9th magnitude red dwarf , currently 63 light-years away in the constellation Ophiucus , was recently discovered to be approaching our Solar System.”

— APOD editors, December 11, 1999

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
December 11, 1999
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Digitized Sky Survey, SkyView
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 190 words

All of December 1999 → · 1999 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

On this day: December 11 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.