[NASA] APOD: 2026 August 19 – The Case of the Mysterious Maybe Meteor

[SpaceMan 0]

APOD

1. This is the hidden content, please

   • Sign In
   • or
   • Sign Up
2. This is the hidden content, please

   • Sign In
   • or
   • Sign Up
3. APOD: 2026 August 19 – The…

• This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up
• This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up
• This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up
• This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up
• This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up
• This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up
• This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up
• This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up
• This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up
• This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up

 

APOD

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.

Juan Pablo Castañeda

The Case of the Mysterious Maybe Meteor

Explanation:

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

? What disappeared while crossing a partially eclipsed Sun? Let’s present the evidence. The 24 frames-per-second video was taken in Spain (40°34’30.3″N 1°12’28.8″W) at 20:28 local time on August 12, 2026. The

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

was at its peak during this time. Is this a

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

?

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

trace back to a region of the sky called a

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

that corresponds to where the Earth is

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. The object’s path might trace back to the Perseids’ radiant point in the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. The object trails a smaller

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

than the 0.5 degree Sun and Moon, which is smaller than expected for a meteor. Its

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

does not extend much past the Sun, but a meteor burning up in the sky would not need sunlight to be seen. Perhaps the sunlight is reflecting off of the object? After cross-referencing the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

with a

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, the culprit is found to be an

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

!

Tomorrow’s picture: another mystery

Date:	August 19, 2026
Credit & Copyright:	Juan Pablo Castañeda
Authors & editors:	Keighley Rockcliffe, Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti
Hat tip:	This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up , David Lee, This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up , This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up , This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up
A service of:	This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up at This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up / This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up , This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up & This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up

Random APOD Generator

Yesterday’s Image

APOD: 2026 August 18 – Perseids from Perseus

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Tomorrow’s Image

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up