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NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day for September 26, 2026, features a Perseid meteor photographed above the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma. The meteor’s atmospheric flash is also reflected in segments of the prototype LST-1 telescope’s 23-meter mirror, beneath the Milky Way.
NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day on September 26, 2026, features a Perseid meteor crossing the sky above La Palma in Spain’s Canary Islands, with its atmospheric flash reflected in segments of the LST-1 telescope’s 23-meter mirror. The image brings together the meteor, the central Milky Way and a telescope built to detect brief flashes produced by energetic gamma rays.
The image was taken on August 15 at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos. NASA’s accompanying explanation identifies the streak as a Perseid meteor and describes its trail as bright and colorful. Behind it, the Milky Way’s central region rises above the horizon, with dark interstellar dust clouds set against luminous starlight.
In the foreground is LST-1, a prototype Large-Sized Telescope at the northern-hemisphere site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory. Its mirror measures 23 meters across and consists of 198 hexagonal segments. NASA says the telescope’s large, high-efficiency pixelated camera is designed to detect extremely short flashes of visible light in the atmosphere.
Those flashes last about one billionth of a second, according to NASA, and are triggered by energetic gamma rays from sources that include distant active galaxies and gamma-ray bursts. The APOD explanation notes that some LST-1 mirror segments also reflected the Perseid’s atmospheric flash that night. The photograph is credited to Jeff Dai (TWAN).
A Meteor Reflected in Telescope Segments
The photograph connects two different kinds of brief light in one frame: a meteor’s visible trail and the atmospheric flashes that LST-1 is designed to register. The reflection is a feature of this particular image; NASA does not describe it as a telescope observation or a measurement of the meteor.
For readers, the scene offers a direct view of the setting for high-energy astronomy on La Palma. LST-1’s segmented mirror and camera are intended to capture fleeting atmospheric light linked to gamma rays from cosmic sources. The image makes that specialized purpose easier to picture while documenting a Perseid above the observatory.
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LST-1 at the La Palma Observatory
NASA’s APOD service publishes a different astronomy image or photograph each day, accompanied by an explanation written by a professional astronomer. The September 26 entry places LST-1 within a landscape that includes the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory and the island’s night sky.
NASA describes LST-1 as the first telescope built at the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory’s northern-hemisphere site. Its purpose is to detect visible atmospheric flashes associated with energetic gamma rays. The APOD image was made during the Perseid meteor shower period, but the source gives the specific date of the photograph as August 15 and does not provide further observing details.
The NASA entry also notes two service changes: the APOD image-submission email address has changed, and APOD’s main site is moving from apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apod. The page directs submitters to its APOD Submissions information.
Details Beyond the Image
The NASA entry identifies the date, location, photographer and telescope, but it does not give the meteor’s speed, brightness, trajectory or the exposure settings used to make the photograph. It also does not report a scientific measurement of the meteor or say that LST-1 recorded it as an observation.
The page explains that the mirror segments reflected the atmospheric flash, but does not specify which segments or quantify the reflected light. Its description of the image should not be taken as evidence that the meteor was caused by a gamma-ray source; NASA separately explains gamma-ray-related flashes as the phenomenon LST-1 is designed to detect.
APOD’s Site and Submission Changes
NASA’s entry points readers to APOD Submissions for the updated image-submission email address and says the service’s main site is moving to science.nasa.gov/apod from apod.nasa.gov. The entry does not specify a completion date for the move.
For this image, the published record is the September 26 APOD explanation, credited to Jeff Dai (TWAN) and authored and edited by Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Robert Nemiroff and Keighley Rockcliffe. NASA lists the service as supported by ASD at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Science Activation and Michigan Technological University.
Key Questions
When was the photograph taken?
NASA says it was taken on August 15. It appeared as APOD on September 26, 2026.
Where was the image captured?
The scene was photographed above the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on La Palma, in Spain’s Canary Islands.
What is LST-1?
LST-1 is a prototype Large-Sized Telescope at the northern-hemisphere site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory. NASA says its 23-meter mirror has 198 hexagonal segments.
Did LST-1 detect the meteor?
The APOD explanation says some mirror segments reflected the meteor’s atmospheric flash. It does not say that LST-1 recorded or scientifically measured the meteor.
Where is NASA moving the APOD site?
NASA says APOD’s main site is moving from apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apod. The entry does not give a date for completion.
Source: primary
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