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Credit & Copyright: Jingyi Zhang
Explanation:
They may look like round rocks, but they're alive.
Moreover, they are modern versions of one of the oldest known forms of life:
stromatolites.
Fossils indicate that
stromatolites
appeared on Earth about 3.7 billion years ago -- even before many of the
familiar stars in the modern night sky were formed.
In the featured
image taken in
Western Australia, only the ancient central arch of our
Milky Way Galaxy formed earlier.
Even the
Magellanic Clouds,
satellite galaxies of our Milky Way and visible in the featured image below the
Milky Way's arch, didn't exist in their current form
when
stromatolites first grew
on Earth.
Stromatolites are accreting biofilms of billions of
microorganisms that can slowly move toward light.
Using this light to
liberate oxygen into the air,
ancient stromatolites helped make
Earth hospitable to
other life forms including, eventually,
humans.
Almost Hyperspace:
Random APOD Generator
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Milky Way
Publications with words: Milky Way
See also:
- APOD: 2024 August 4 Á Gaia: Here Comes the Sun
- APOD: 2024 July 29 Á Milky Way over Uluru
- APOD: 2024 July 22 Á Chamaeleon Dark Nebulas
- APOD: 2024 May 29 Á Stairway to the Milky Way
- APOD: 2023 December 12 Á Aurora and Milky Way over Norway
- Milky Way Rising
- APOD: 2023 July 18 Á Milky Way above La Palma Observatory