Astronomy Picture of the Day · January 19, 2021

A Lunar Corona with Jupiter and Saturn

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for January 19, 2021 is “A Lunar Corona with Jupiter and Saturn,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Image Credit & Copyright: Alessandra Masi). The original explanation runs about 126 words.

From the explanation

“Why does a cloudy moon sometimes appear colorful? The effect , called a lunar corona , is created by the quantum mechanical diffraction of light around individual, similarly-sized water droplets in an intervening but mostly-transparent cloud.”

— APOD editors, January 19, 2021

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date: January 19, 2021
Type: Image
Credit: Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Alessandra Masi
Copyright: Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length: About 126 words

All of January 2021 → · 2021 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

The Moon Jupiter Saturn

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: January 19 in other years

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Source

Astronomy Picture of the Day, January 19, 2021 — science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2021-january-19-a-lunar-corona-with-jupiter-and-saturn

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.