Hubble captures Milky Way over Yellowstone in stunning image

NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) released on 16 August 2026 shows the Milky Way arching over Yellowstone National Park. The image was captured on 15 August by the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3, with supplementary data from the 2.5‑m telescope at Mauna Kea. The composite places the glowing band of stars against the iconic granite and geyser landscape, visible from the park’s northern rim during the late summer twilight.

The APOD series, launched in 1995 by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, has long paired stunning space imagery with everyday scenes on Earth. This particular shot highlights why the Milky Way is still visible from the western United States: the park’s high altitude and clear skies give a rare view of the Orion arm. The image was produced by combining a 10‑second Hubble exposure with a 30‑minute ground‑based pass that captured the park’s night‑sky glow. Scientists used the data to map the distribution of dust and gas in the Milky Way’s foreground, offering a fresh look at the galaxy’s structure. The result is a