Explanation:
Did you know that
Van Gogh's painting
Starry Night includes Comet Hale-Bopp?
Hopefully not, because it doesn't.
But the above image does.
Although today's featured picture may appear at first glance to be a faithful digital reproduction of the
original Starry Night,
actually it is a modern rendition meant not only to honor one of the most famous paintings of the second millennium, but to act as a
scavenger hunt.
Can you find, in the above image, a comet, a spiral galaxy, an open star cluster, and a supernova remnant?
Too easy? OK, then find, the rings of
Supernova 1987A, the
Eskimo Nebula, the
Crab Nebula,
Thor's Helmet, the
Cartwheel Galaxy, and the
Ant Nebula.
Still too easy? Then please identify any more hidden images not mentioned here -- and there are several -- on APOD's main discussion board:
Starship Asterisk.
Finally, the collagist has graciously hidden
APOD's 10th anniversary Vermeer photomontage
to help honor
APOD
on its 15th anniversary tomorrow.