Planet of the Tajinastes

Astronomy Picture of the Day · 2019-05-25 · NASA (public domain)

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Planet of the Tajinastes — APOD for 2019-05-25

What bizarre planet are these alien creatures from? It's only planet Earth , of course. The planet's home galaxy the Milky Way stretches across a dark sky in the panoramic, fisheye all-sky projection composed with a wide lens. But the imposing forms gazing skyward probably look strange to many denizens of Earth . Found on the Canary Island of Tenerife in the Teide National Park, they are red tajinastes , flowering plants that grow to a height of up to 3 meters. Among the rocks of the volcanic terrain , tajinastes bloom in spring and early summer and then die after a week or so as their seeds mature. A species known as Echium wildpretii , the terrestrial life forms were individually lit by flashlight during the wide-angle exposures.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for 2019-05-25 — image & explanation courtesy of NASA (public domain), mirrored at Tukuk-OS for reading and search convenience.

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