Cosmic Parade: Planets, the Moon, and a Comet Dazzle Over Paranal

Cosmic Parade: Planets, the Moon, and a Comet Dazzle Over Paranal

A dazzling snapshot from ESO’s Paranal Observatory captures a rare sky parade — the Moon, a comet, and nearly every visible planet strung across the heavens. This celestial lineup is an optical illusion caused by their shared orbital plane, the ecliptic, which slices through the night sky at a striking angle to the Milky Way. [...]