• Daily APOD Report

    From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Sep 24 01:14:36 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 September 24

    Sand Dunes Thawing on Mars
    Image Credit & License: ESA, Roscosmos, CaSSIS

    Explanation: What are these strange shapes on Mars? Defrosting sand
    dunes. As spring dawned on the Northern Hemisphere of Mars, dunes of
    sand near the pole, as pictured here in late May by ESA's ExoMars Trace
    Gas Orbiter, began to thaw. The carbon dioxide and water ice actually
    sublime in the thin atmosphere directly to gas. Thinner regions of ice
    typically defrost first revealing sand whose darkness soaks in sunlight
    and accelerates the thaw. The process might even involve sandy jets
    exploding through the thinning ice. By summer, spots will expand to
    encompass the entire dunes. The Martian North Pole is ringed by many
    similar fields of barchan sand dunes, whose strange, smooth arcs are
    shaped by persistent Martian winds.

    Create a Distant Legacy: Send your name to Mars.
    Tomorrow's picture: really big bird
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Sep 25 00:41:38 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 September 25

    The Pelican Nebula in Gas, Dust, and Stars
    Image Credit & Copyright: Yannick Akar

    Explanation: The Pelican Nebula is slowly being transformed. IC 5070,
    the official designation, is divided from the larger North America
    Nebula by a molecular cloud filled with dark dust. The Pelican,
    however, receives much study because it is a particularly active mix of
    star formation and evolving gas clouds. The featured picture was
    produced in three specific colors -- light emitted by sulfur, hydrogen,
    and oxygen -- that can help us to better understand these interactions.
    The light from young energetic stars is slowly transforming the cold
    gas to hot gas, with the advancing boundary between the two, known as
    an ionization front, visible in bright orange on the right.
    Particularly dense tentacles of cold gas remain. Millions of years from
    now this nebula might no longer be known as the Pelican, as the balance
    and placement of stars and gas will surely leave something that appears
    completely different.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Sep 26 00:22:16 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 September 26

    Da Vinci Rise
    Image Credit & Copyright: Likai Lin

    Explanation: An old Moon rose this morning, its waning sunlit crescent
    shining just above the eastern horizon before sunrise. But earthshine,
    light reflected from a bright planet Earth, lit the shadowed portion of
    the lunar disk and revealed most of a familiar lunar near side to early
    morning risers. In fact, a description of earthshine in terms of
    sunlight reflected by Earth's oceans illuminating the Moon's dark
    surface was written over 500 years ago by Leonardo da Vinci. One
    lunation ago this old Moon also rose above the eastern horizon. Its
    sunlit crescent and da Vinci glow were captured in stacked exposures
    from the Badain Jilin Desert of Inner Mongolia, China on August 29,
    2019. This year marks the 500th anniversary of Leondardo da Vinci's
    death.

    Tomorrow's picture: annotated GC
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Sep 27 00:54:24 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 September 27

    The Annotated Galactic Center
    Image Credit & Copyright: Miguel Claro (TWAN, Dark Sky Alqueva)

    Explanation: The center of our Milky Way galaxy can be found some
    26,000 light-years away toward the constellation Sagittarius. Even on a
    dark night, you can't really see it though. Gaze in that direction, and
    your sight-line is quickly obscured by intervening interstellar dust.
    In fact, dark dust clouds, glowing nebulae, and crowded starfieds are
    packed along the fertile galactic plane and central regions of our
    galaxy. This annotated view, a mosaic of dark sky images, highlights
    some favorites, particularly for small telescope or binocular equipped
    skygazers. The cropped version puts the direction to the galactic
    center on the far right. It identifies well-known Messier objects like
    the Lagoon nebula (M8), the Trifid (M20), star cloud M24, and some of
    E.E. Barnard's dark markings on the sky. A full version extends the
    view to the right toward the constellation Scorpius, in all covering
    over 20 degrees across the center of the Milky Way.

    Tomorrow's picture: analemma of the sun
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Sep 28 03:02:50 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 September 28

    An Analemma of the Sun
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gyorgy Soponyai

    Explanation: This week the equinox found the Sun near the middle, but
    not at the crossing point, of an analemma in its annual trek through
    planet Earth's skies. In this scenic view, that graceful,
    figure-8-shaped curve was intentionally posed above the iconic Danube
    River and the capital city of Hungary. Looking south from Budapest's
    Margaret Bridge it combines digital frames taken at exactly the same
    time of day (11:44 CET) on dates between 2018 September 24 and 2019
    September 15. That puts the metropolitan Pest on the left, regal Buda
    on the right, and the positions of the Sun on the solstice dates at the
    top and bottom of the analemma curve. December's near solstice Sun is
    just hidden behind a dramatic cloud bank.

    Tomorrow's picture: eye of the hourglass
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Sep 29 00:16:12 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 September 29

    MyCn 18: The Engraved Hourglass Planetary Nebula
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & License: Judy Schmidt

    Explanation: Do you see the hourglass shape -- or does it see you? If
    you can picture it, the rings of MyCn 18 trace the outline of an
    hourglass -- although one with an unusual eye in its center. Either
    way, the sands of time are running out for the central star of this
    hourglass-shaped planetary nebula. With its nuclear fuel exhausted,
    this brief, spectacular, closing phase of a Sun-like star's life occurs
    as its outer layers are ejected - its core becoming a cooling, fading
    white dwarf. In 1995, astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
    to make a series of images of planetary nebulae, including the one
    featured here. Pictured, delicate rings of colorful glowing gas
    (nitrogen-red, hydrogen-green, and oxygen-blue) outline the tenuous
    walls of the hourglass. The unprecedented sharpness of the Hubble
    images has revealed surprising details of the nebula ejection process
    that are helping to resolve the outstanding mysteries of the complex
    shapes and symmetries of planetary nebulas like MyCn 18.

    Tomorrow's picture: orion treed
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Sep 30 00:36:24 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 September 30

    Orion Rising over Brazil
    Image Credit & Copyright: Carlos Fairbairn

    Explanation: Have you seen Orion lately? The next few months will be
    the best for seeing this familiar constellation as it rises continually
    earlier in the night. However, Orion's stars and nebulas won't look
    quite as colorful to the eye as they do in this fantastic camera image.
    In the featured image, Orion was captured by camera showing its full
    colors last month over a Brazilian copal tree from Brazil's
    Central-West Region. Here the cool red giant Betelgeuse takes on a
    strong orange hue as the brightest star on the far left. Otherwise,
    Orion's hot blue stars are numerous, with supergiant Rigel balancing
    Betelgeuse at the upper right, Bellatrix at the upper left, and Saiph
    at the lower right. Lined up in Orion's belt (bottom to top) are
    Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka all about 1,500 light-years away, born of
    the constellation's well studied interstellar clouds. And if a "star"
    toward the upper right Orion's sword looks reddish and fuzzy to you, it
    should. It's the stellar nursery known as the Great Nebula of Orion.

    Tomorrow's picture: unsafe horizons
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Oct 1 00:31:12 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 1

    Black Hole Safety Video
    Video Credit: NASA's GSFC, SVS; Music: Prim and Proper from Universal
    Production Music

    Explanation: If you were a small one-eyed monster, would you want to
    visit a black hole? Well the one in this video does -- but should it?
    No, actually, but since our little friend is insistent on going, the
    video informs it what black holes really are, and how to be as safe as
    possible when visiting. Black holes are clumps of matter so dense that
    light cannot escape. Pairs of black holes, each several times the mass
    of our Sun, have recently been found to merge by detection of unusual
    gravitational radiation. The regions surrounding supermassive black
    holes in the centers of galaxies can light up as stars that near them
    get shredded. The closest known black hole to the Earth is V616 Mon,
    which is about 3,300 light years away. The best way for our monster
    friend to stay safe, the video informs, is to not go too close.

    Tomorrow's picture: found floating in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Oct 2 00:45:40 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 2

    Molecular Clouds in the Carina Nebula
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble

    Explanation: They are not alive -- but they are dying. The unusual
    forms found in the Carina nebula, a few of which are featured here,
    might best be described as evaporating. Energetic light and winds from
    nearby stars are breaking apart the dark dust grains that make the
    iconic forms opaque. Ironically the figures, otherwise known as dark
    molecular clouds or bright rimmed globules, frequently create in their
    midst the very stars that later destroy them. The floating space
    structures pictured here by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope span a
    few light months. The Great Nebula in Carina itself spans about 30
    light years, lies about 7,500 light years away, and can be seen with a
    small telescope toward the constellation of Keel(Carina).

    Tomorrow's picture: galaxy in the local group
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Oct 3 01:15:48 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 3

    The Hydrogen Clouds of M33
    Image Data: Subaru Telescope (NAOJ), Hubble Space Telescope - Image
    Processing: Robert Gendler
    Additional Data: BYU, Robert Gendler, Johannes Schedler, Adam Block -
    Copyright: Robert Gendler, Subaru Telescope, NAOJ

    Explanation: Gorgeous spiral galaxy M33 seems to have more than its
    fair share of glowing hydrogen gas. A prominent member of the local
    group of galaxies, M33 is also known as the Triangulum Galaxy and lies
    a mere 3 million light-years away. The galaxy's inner 30,000
    light-years or so are shown in this magnificent 25 panel telescopic
    mosaic. Based on image data from space and ground-based telescopes, the
    portrait of M33 shows off the galaxy's reddish ionized hydrogen clouds
    or HII regions. Sprawling along loose spiral arms that wind toward the
    core, M33's giant HII regions are some of the largest known stellar
    nurseries, sites of the formation of short-lived but very massive
    stars. Intense ultraviolet radiation from the luminous, massive stars
    ionizes the surrounding hydrogen gas and ultimately produces the
    characteristic red glow. To enhance this image, broadband data was used
    to produce a color view of the galaxy and combined with narrowband data
    recorded through a hydrogen-alpha filter. That filter transmits the
    light of the strongest visible hydrogen emission line.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Oct 4 00:19:50 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 4

    InSight on a Cloudy Day
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Mars InSight

    Explanation: Clouds drift through the sky as the light fades near
    sunset in this three frame animated gif. The scene was captured on sol
    145 beginning around 6:30pm local time by a camera on the Mars InSight
    lander. Of course, InSight's martian day, sol 145, corresponds to Earth
    calendar date April 25, 2019. Under the 69 centimeter (2.3 foot)
    diameter dome in the foreground is the lander's sensitive seismometer
    SEIS designed to detect marsquakes. Earthquakes reveal internal
    structures on planet Earth, and so tremors detected by SEIS can explore
    beneath the martian surface. In particular, two typical marsquakes were
    recorded by SEIS on May 22 (sol 173) and July 25 (sol 235). The subtle
    tremors from the Red Planet are at very low frequencies though, and for
    listening have to be processed into the audio frequency range. In the
    sped up recordings external noises more prevalent on cool martian
    evenings and likely caused by mechanical shifts and contractions have
    been technically dubbed dinks and donks.

    Tomorrow's picture: moon shadow
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Oct 5 00:35:26 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 5

    Jupiter and the Moons
    Image Credit & Copyright: Derek Demeter (Emil Buehler Planetarium)

    Explanation: After sunset on October 3, some of the Solar System's
    largest moons stood low along the western horizon with the largest
    planet. Just after nightfall, a pairing of the Moon approaching first
    quarter phase and Jupiter was captured in this telephoto field of view.
    A blend of short and long exposures, it reveals the familiar face of
    our fair planet's own large natural satellite in stark sunlight and
    faint earthshine. At lower right are the ruling gas giant and its four
    Galilean moons. Left to right, the tiny pinpricks of light are
    Ganymede, [Jupiter], Io, Europa, and Callisto. Our own natural
    satellite appears to loom large because it's close, but Ganymede, Io,
    and Callisto are actually larger than Earth's Moon. Water world Europa
    is only slightly smaller. Of the Solar System's six largest planetary
    satellites, only Saturn's moon Titan, is missing from this scene. But
    be sure to check for large moons in your sky tonight.

    Submitted to APOD: The Moon and Jupiter with its Satellites
    Tomorrow's picture: the dark horse
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Oct 6 00:36:12 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 6

    The Horsehead Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jos+¬ Jim+¬nez Priego

    Explanation: The Horsehead Nebula is one of the most famous nebulae on
    the sky. It is visible as the dark indentation to the red emission
    nebula in the center of the above photograph. The horse-head feature is
    dark because it is really an opaque dust cloud that lies in front of
    the bright red emission nebula. Like clouds in Earth's atmosphere, this
    cosmic cloud has assumed a recognizable shape by chance. After many
    thousands of years, the internal motions of the cloud will surely alter
    its appearance. The emission nebula's red color is caused by electrons
    recombining with protons to form hydrogen atoms. On the image left is
    the Flame Nebula, an orange-tinged nebula that also contains filaments
    of dark dust. Just to the lower left of the Horsehead nebula featured
    picture is a blueish reflection nebulae that preferentially reflects
    the blue light from nearby stars.

    Tomorrow's picture: jupiter spotted
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Oct 7 00:58:40 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 7

    Io Eclipse Shadow on Jupiter from Juno
    Image Credit & License: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Processing: Kevin
    M. Gill

    Explanation: What's that dark spot on Jupiter? It's the shadow of
    Jupiter's most volcanic moon Io. Since Jupiter shines predominantly by
    reflected sunlight, anything that blocks that light leaves a shadow. If
    you could somehow be in that shadow, you would see a total eclipse of
    the Sun by Io. Io's shadow is about 3600 kilometers across, roughly the
    same size as Io itself -- and only slightly larger than Earth's Moon.
    The featured image was taken last month by NASA's robotic Juno
    spacecraft currently orbiting Jupiter. About every two months, Juno
    swoops close by Jupiter, takes a lot of data and snaps a series of
    images -- some of which are made into a video. Among many other things,
    Juno has been measuring Jupiter's gravitational field, finding
    surprising evidence that Jupiter may be mostly a liquid. Under
    unexpectedly thick clouds, the Jovian giant may house a massive liquid
    hydrogen region that extends all the way to the center.

    Tomorrow's picture: sprite lightning in HD
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Oct 8 00:48:28 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 8

    Sprite Lightning in HD
    Image Credit & Copyright: Stephane Vetter (TWAN)

    Explanation: This phenomenon occurs in the sky over our heads, not the
    sea. It is a type of lightning known as red sprite, and rarely has it
    ever been photographed in this detail. Even though sprites have been
    recorded for over 30 years, their root cause remains unknown. Some
    thunderstorms have them, but most don't. These mysterious bursts of
    light in the upper atmosphere momentarily resemble gigantic jellyfish.
    A few years ago high speed videos were taken detailing how red sprites
    actually develop. The featured image was captured last month in high
    definition from Italy. One unusual feature of sprites is that they are
    relatively cold -- they operate more like long fluorescent light tubes
    than hot compact light bulbs. In general, red sprites take only a
    fraction of a second to occur and are best seen when powerful
    thunderstorms are visible from the side.

    Tomorrow's picture: starburst
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Oct 9 01:36:14 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 9

    NGC 7714: Starburst after Galaxy Collision
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive;
    Processing & Copyright: Rudy Pohl

    Explanation: Is this galaxy jumping through a giant ring of stars?
    Probably not. Although the precise dynamics behind the featured image
    is yet unclear, what is clear is that the pictured galaxy, NGC 7714,
    has been stretched and distorted by a recent collision with a
    neighboring galaxy. This smaller neighbor, NGC 7715, situated off to
    the left of the featured frame, is thought to have charged right
    through NGC 7714. Observations indicate that the golden ring pictured
    is composed of millions of older Sun-like stars that are likely
    co-moving with the interior bluer stars. In contrast, the bright center
    of NGC 7714 appears to be undergoing a burst of new star formation. The
    featured image was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. NGC 7714 is
    located about 130 million light years away toward the constellation of
    the Two Fish (Pisces). The interactions between these galaxies likely
    started about 150 million years ago and should continue for several
    hundred million years more, after which a single central galaxy may
    result.

    Tomorrow's picture: the window seat
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Oct 10 00:58:02 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 10

    Mid-Air Meteor and Milky Way
    Image Credit & Copyright: Eric Wagner

    Explanation: On September 24, a late evening commercial flight from
    Singapore to Australia offered stratospheric views of the southern
    hemisphere's night sky, if you chose a window seat. In fact, a
    well-planned seating choice with a window facing toward the Milky Way
    allowed the set up of a sensitive digital camera on a tripod mount to
    record the galaxy's central bulge in a series of 10 second long
    exposures. By chance, one of the exposures caught this bright fireball
    meteor in the starry frame. Reflected along the wing of the A380
    aircraft, the brilliant greenish streak is also internally reflected in
    the double layer window, producing a fainter parallel to the original
    meteor track. In the southern sky Jupiter is the bright source beneath
    the galactic bulge and seen next to a green beacon, just off the wing
    tip.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Oct 11 01:18:56 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 11

    Planet Earth at Blue Hour
    Image Credit & Copyright: Matthias Ciprian

    Explanation: Nature photographers and other fans of planet Earth always
    look forward to the blue hour. That's the transition in twilight, just
    before sunrise or after sunset, when the Sun is below the horizon but
    land and sky are still suffused with beautiful bluish hues of light. On
    August 8 this early morning blue hour panorama scanned along the clear
    western sky, away from the impending sunrise. A breathtaking scene, it
    looks down the slopes of Mt. Whitney, from along the John Muir Trail
    toward rugged peaks of planet Earth's Sierra Nevada mountain range.
    Above the horizon a faint pinkish band of back scattered sunlight, the
    anti-twilight arch or Belt of Venus, borders the falling grey shadow of
    Earth itself. Subtle bands of light across the clear sky are
    anti-crepuscular rays, defined by shadows of clouds near the sunward
    horizon. Actually following parallel lines they seem to converge along
    the horizon at the point opposite the rising Sun due to perspective.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Oct 12 00:36:38 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 12

    Interplanetary Earth
    Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA & NASA/JHU Applied Physics
    Lab/Carnegie Inst. Washington

    Explanation: In an interplanetary first, on July 19, 2013 Earth was
    photographed on the same day from two other worlds of the Solar System,
    innermost planet Mercury and ringed gas giant Saturn. Pictured on the
    left, Earth is the pale blue dot just below the rings of Saturn, as
    captured by the robotic Cassini spacecraft then orbiting the outermost
    gas giant. On that same day people across planet Earth snapped many of
    their own of their own pictures of Saturn. On the right, the Earth-Moon
    system is seen against the dark background of space as captured by the
    robotic MESSENGER spacecraft, then in Mercury orbit. MESSENGER took its
    image as part of a search for small natural satellites of Mercury,
    moons that would be expected to be quite dim. In the MESSENGER image,
    the Earth (left) and Moon (right) are overexposed and shine brightly
    with reflected sunlight. Destined not to return to their home world,
    both Cassini and Messenger have since retired from their missions of
    Solar System exploration.

    Tomorrow's picture: a jewel box of stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Oct 13 00:11:46 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 13

    A Stellar Jewel Box: Open Cluster NGC 290
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Acknowledgement: E. Olzewski (U.
    Arizona)

    Explanation: Jewels don't shine this bright -- only stars do. Like gems
    in a jewel box, though, the stars of open cluster NGC 290 glitter in a
    beautiful display of brightness and color. The photogenic cluster,
    pictured here, was captured in 2006 by the orbiting Hubble Space
    Telescope. Open clusters of stars are younger, contain few stars, and
    contain a much higher fraction of blue stars than do globular clusters
    of stars. NGC 290 lies about 200,000 light-years distant in a
    neighboring galaxy called the Small Cloud of Magellan (SMC). The open
    cluster contains hundreds of stars and spans about 65 light years
    across. NGC 290 and other open clusters are good laboratories for
    studying how stars of different masses evolve, since all the open
    cluster's stars were born at about the same time.

    Tomorrow's picture: andromeda before photoshop
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Oct 14 00:25:14 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 14

    Andromeda before Photoshop
    Image Credit: Kees Scherer

    Explanation: What does the Andromeda galaxy really look like? The
    featured image shows how our Milky Way Galaxy's closest major galactic
    neighbor really appears in a long exposure through Earth's busy skies
    and with a digital camera that introduces normal imperfections. The
    picture is a stack of 223 images, each a 300 second exposure, taken
    from a garden observatory in Portugal over the past year. Obvious image
    deficiencies include bright parallel airplane trails, long and
    continuous satellite trails, short cosmic ray streaks, and bad pixels.
    These imperfections were actually not removed with Photoshop
    specifically, but rather greatly reduced with a series of computer
    software packages that included Astro Pixel Processor, DeepSkyStacker,
    and PixInsight. All of this work was done not to deceive you with a
    digital fantasy that has little to do with the real likeness of the
    Andromeda galaxy (M31), but to minimize Earthly artifacts that have
    nothing to do with the distant galaxy and so better recreate what M31
    really does look like.

    Tomorrow's picture: the galaxy above
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Oct 15 00:37:12 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 15

    The Galaxy Above
    Image Credit & Copyright: Rodrigo Guerra

    Explanation: Have you contemplated your home galaxy lately? If your sky
    looked like this, perhaps you'd contemplate it more often! The featured
    picture is actually a composite of two images taken last month from the
    same location in south Brazil and with the same camera -- but a few
    hours apart. The person in the image -- also the astrophotographer --
    has much to see in the Milky Way Galaxy above. The central band of our
    home Galaxy stretches diagonally up from the lower left. This band is
    dotted with spectacular sights including dark nebular filaments, bright
    blue stars, and red nebulas. Millions of fainter and redder stars fill
    in the deep Galactic background. To the lower right of the Milky Way
    are the colorful gas and dust clouds of Rho Ophiuchus, featuring the
    bright orange star Antares. On this night, just above and to the right
    of Antares was a bright planet Jupiter. The sky is so old and so
    familiar that humanity has formulated many stories about it, some of
    which inspired this very picture.

    Tomorrow's picture: double start
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Oct 17 00:49:26 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 17

    Moons of Saturn
    Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, NASA

    Explanation: On July 29, 2011 the Cassini spacecraft's narrow-angle
    camera took this snapshot and captured 5 of Saturn's moons, from just
    above the ringplane. Left to right are small moons Janus and Pandora
    respectively 179 and 81 kilometers across, shiny 504 kilometer diameter
    Enceladus, and Mimas, 396 kilometers across, seen just next to Rhea.
    Cut off by the right edge of the frame, Rhea is Saturn's second largest
    moon at 1,528 kilometers across. So how many moons does Saturn have?
    Twenty new found outer satellites bring its total to 82 known moons,
    and since Jupiter's moon total stands at 79, Saturn is the Solar
    System's new moon king. The newly announced Saturnian satellites are
    all very small, 5 kilometers or so in diameter, and most are in
    retrograde orbits inclined to Saturn's ringplane. You can help name
    Saturn's new moons, but you should understand the rules. Hint: A
    knowledge of Norse, Inuit, and Gallic mythology will help.

    Tomorrow's picture: interstellar interloper
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Oct 18 00:15:26 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 18

    Interstellar Interloper 2I/Borisov
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (UCLA) et al.

    Explanation: After the 2017 detecton of 1I/'Oumuamua, comet 2I/Borisov
    has become the second recognized interstellar interloper. Like
    'Oumuamua, Borisov's measured hyperbolic trajectory and speed as it
    falls toward the Sun confirm that its origin is from beyond our Solar
    System. But while detailed observations indicate 'Oumuamua is a rocky
    body with differences from known Solar System objects, Borisov is
    definitely a far wandering comet. Taken on October 12, 2019 this Hubble
    Space Telescope image of Borisov reveals a familiar looking comet-like
    activity and concentration of dust around around its nucleus. Not
    resolved in the image, some estimates suggest the nucleus could be
    between 2 and 16 kilometers in diameter. At the time of the Hubble
    image, comet 2I/Borisov was about 418 million kilometers away. Borisov
    is still inbound though and will make its closest approach to the Sun
    on December 7 at a distance of about 300 million kilometers (2
    Astronomical units).

    Tomorrow's picture: Pluto at Night
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Oct 19 01:34:36 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 19

    All Female Spacewalk Repairs Space Station
    Image Credit: NASA TV, Expedition 61

    Explanation: The failed unit was beyond the reach of the robotic
    Canadarm2. Therefore, this repair of the International Space Station
    would require humans. The humans on duty were NASA's Jessica Meir and
    Christina Koch. This was the fourth spacewalk for Meir, the first for
    Koch, and the first all-female spacewalk in human history. The first
    woman to walk in space was Svetlana Savitskaya in 1984. Koch (red
    stripe) and Weir are pictured hard at work on the P6 Truss, with solar
    panels and the darkness of space in the background. Working over seven
    hours, the newly installed Battery Charge / Discharge Unit (BCDU) was
    successfully replaced and, when powered up, operated normally.

    Tomorrow's picture: Pluto at Night
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Oct 21 09:23:26 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 21

    A Mercury Transit Music Video from SDO
    Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Genna Duberstein;
    Music: Encompass by Mark Petrie

    Explanation: What's that small black dot moving across the Sun?
    Mercury. Possibly the clearest view of Mercury crossing in front of the
    Sun in 2016 May was from Earth orbit. The Solar Dynamics Observatory
    obtained an uninterrupted vista recording it not only in optical light
    but also in bands of ultraviolet light. Featured here is a composite
    movie of the crossing set to music. Although the event might prove
    successful scientifically for better determining components of Mercury'
    ultra-thin atmosphere, the event surely proved successful culturally by
    involving people throughout the world in observing a rare astronomical
    phenomenon. Many spectacular images of this Mercury transit from around
    (and above) the globe were proudly displayed. The next transit of
    Mercury will take place in three weeks: on 2019 November 11.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 2,000+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: sky mirror sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


    --- mgpost
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Oct 22 02:20:40 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 22

    Night Sky Reflections from the World's Largest Mirror
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jheison Huerta

    Explanation: What's being reflected in the world's largest mirror?
    Stars, galaxies, and a planet. Many of these stars are confined to the
    grand arch that runs across the image, an arch that is the central
    plane of our home Milky Way Galaxy. Inside the arch is another galaxy
    -- the neighboring Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Stars that are
    individually visible include Antares on the far left and Sirius on the
    far right. The planet Jupiter shines brightly just below Antares. The
    featured picture is composed of 15 vertical frames taken consecutively
    over ten minutes from the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia. Uyuni Salt Flat
    (Salar de Uyuni) is the largest salt flat on Earth and is so large and
    so extraordinarily flat that, after a rain, it can become the world's
    largest mirror -- spanning 130 kilometers. This expansive mirror was
    captured in early April reflecting each of the galaxies, stars, and
    planet mentioned above.

    Tomorrow's picture: famous swirls
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Oct 23 00:49:20 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 23

    Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh
    Painting Credit: Vincent van Gogh; Digital Rendering: MoMA, Google Arts
    & Culture, via Wikipedia

    Explanation: The painting Starry Night is one of the most famous icons
    of the night sky ever created. The scene was painted by Vincent van
    Gogh in southern France in 1889. The swirling style of Starry Night
    appears, to many, to make the night sky come alive. Although van Gogh
    frequently portrayed real settings in his paintings, art historians do
    not agree on precisely what stars and planets are being depicted in
    Starry Night. The style of Starry Night is post-impressionism, a
    popular painting style at the end of the nineteenth century. The
    original Starry Night painting hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New
    York City, New York, USA.

    New: APOD Read to You by AI
    Tomorrow's picture: Seahorse Sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Oct 24 01:59:02 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 24

    Dark Seahorse in Cepheus
    Image Credit & Copyright: Sergio Kaminsky

    Explanation: Light-years across, this suggestive shape known as the
    Seahorse Nebula appears in silhouette against a rich, luminous
    background of stars. Seen toward the royal northern constellation of
    Cepheus, the dusty, obscuring clouds are part of a Milky Way molecular
    cloud some 1,200 light-years distant. It is also listed as Barnard 150
    (B150), one of 182 dark markings of the sky cataloged in the early 20th
    century by astronomer E. E. Barnard. Packs of low mass stars are
    forming within from collapsing cores only visible at long infrared
    wavelengths. Still, colorful stars in Cepheus add to the pretty,
    galactic skyscape.

    Tomorrow's picture: ghosts in Cassiopeia
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Oct 25 00:51:38 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 25

    The Ghosts of Cassiopeia
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tommaso Stella

    Explanation: These bright rims and flowing shapes look ghostly on a
    cosmic scale. A telescopic view toward the constellation Cassiopeia,
    the colorful skyscape features swept-back, comet-shaped clouds IC 59
    (left) and IC 63. About 600 light-years distant, the clouds aren't
    actually ghosts. They are slowly disappearing though, under the
    influence of energetic radiation from hot,luminous star gamma Cas.
    Gamma Cas is physically located only 3 to 4 light-years from the
    nebulae, the bright star just above and left in the frame. Slightly
    closer to gamma Cas, IC 63 is dominated by red H-alpha light emitted as
    hydrogen atoms ionized by the star's ultraviolet radiation recombine
    with electrons. Farther from the star, IC 59 shows proportionally less
    H-alpha emission but more of the characteristic blue tint of dust
    reflected star light. The field of view spans over 1 degree or 10
    light-years at the estimated distance of gamma Cas and friends.

    Tomorrow's picture: only the smile
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Oct 26 01:12:46 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 26

    Gravity's Grin
    Image Credit: X-ray - NASA / CXC / J. Irwin et al. ; Optical -
    NASA/STScI

    Explanation: Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, published
    over 100 years ago, predicted the phenomenon of gravitational lensing.
    And that's what gives these distant galaxies such a whimsical
    appearance, seen through the looking glass of X-ray and optical image
    data from the Chandra and Hubble space telescopes. Nicknamed the
    Cheshire Cat galaxy group, the group's two large elliptical galaxies
    are suggestively framed by arcs. The arcs are optical images of distant
    background galaxies lensed by the foreground group's total distribution
    of gravitational mass. Of course, that gravitational mass is dominated
    by dark matter. The two large elliptical "eye" galaxies represent the
    brightest members of their own galaxy groups which are merging. Their
    relative collisional speed of nearly 1,350 kilometers/second heats gas
    to millions of degrees producing the X-ray glow shown in purple hues.
    Curiouser about galaxy group mergers? The Cheshire Cat group grins in
    the constellation Ursa Major, some 4.6 billion light-years away.

    Tomorrow's picture: ghostly sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Oct 27 00:49:06 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 27

    Ghost Aurora over Canada
    Image Credit & Copyright: Yuichi Takasaka, TWAN

    Explanation: What does this aurora look like to you? While braving the
    cold to watch the skies above northern Canada early one morning in
    2013, a most unusual aurora appeared. The aurora definitely appeared to
    be shaped like something , but what? Two ghostly possibilities recorded
    by the astrophotographer were "witch" and "goddess of dawn", but please
    feel free to suggest your own Halloween-enhanced impressions.
    Regardless of fantastical pareidolic interpretations, the pictured
    aurora had a typical green color and was surely caused by the
    scientifically commonplace action of high energy particles from space
    interacting with oxygen in Earth's upper atmosphere. In the image
    foreground, at the bottom, is a frozen Alexandra Falls, while evergreen
    trees cross the middle.

    Tomorrow's picture: sun station
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Oct 28 00:46:44 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 28

    The Space Station Crosses a Spotless Sun
    Image Credit & Copyright: Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau

    Explanation: Typically, the International Space Station is visible only
    at night. Slowly drifting across the night sky as it orbits the Earth,
    the International Space Station (ISS) can be seen as a bright spot
    about once a month from many locations. The ISS is then visible only
    just after sunset or just before sunrise because it shines by reflected
    sunlight -- once the ISS enters the Earth's shadow, it will drop out of
    sight. The only occasion when the ISS is visible during the day is when
    it passes right in front of the Sun. Then, it passes so quickly that
    only cameras taking short exposures can visually freeze the ISS's
    silhouette onto the background Sun. The featured picture did exactly
    that -- it is actually a series of images taken a month ago from Santa
    Fe, Argentina with perfect timing. This image series was later combined
    with a separate image highlighting the texture of the spotless Sun, and
    an image bringing up the Sun's prominences around the edge. At an
    unusually low Solar Minimum, the Sun has gone without sunspots now for
    most of 2019.

    Follow APOD in English on: Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, or Twitter
    Tomorrow's picture: red robot
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Oct 29 00:59:00 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 29

    Curiosity Rover Finds a Clay Cache on Mars
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS

    Explanation: Why is there clay on Mars? On Earth, clay can form at the
    bottom of a peaceful lake when specific minerals trap water. At the
    pictured site on Mars, the robotic rover Curiosity drilled into two
    rocks and found the highest concentration of clay yet. The clay cache
    is considered addition evidence that Gale Crater once held water in the
    distant past. Pictured, 57 images taken by Curiosity have been combined
    into a selfie. The images were taken by a camera at the end of its
    robotic arm. Many details of the car-sized rover are visible, including
    its rugged wheels, numerous scientific instruments, and a high mast
    that contains camera "eyes", one of which can shoot out an infrared
    laser beam. Curiosity continues to roll around and up Mount Sharp -- in
    the center of Gale Crater -- in a search for new clues about the
    ancient history of Mars and whether or not the red planet once had
    conditions that could support life.

    Tomorrow's picture: orion in detail
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Oct 30 01:00:16 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 30

    M42: Inside the Orion Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Josep M. Drudis & Don Goldman

    Explanation: The Great Nebula in Orion, an immense, nearby starbirth
    region, is probably the most famous of all astronomical nebulas. Here,
    glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an immense
    interstellar molecular cloud only 1500 light-years away. In the
    featured deep image in assigned colors highlighted by emission in
    oxygen and hydrogen, wisps and sheets of dust and gas are particularly
    evident. The Great Nebula in Orion can be found with the unaided eye
    near the easily identifiable belt of three stars in the popular
    constellation Orion. In addition to housing a bright open cluster of
    stars known as the Trapezium, the Orion Nebula contains many stellar
    nurseries. These nurseries contain much hydrogen gas, hot young stars,
    proplyds, and stellar jets spewing material at high speeds. Also known
    as M42, the Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is located in
    the same spiral arm of our Galaxy as the Sun.

    Tomorrow's picture: ghost, shocked
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Oct 31 00:11:08 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 October 31

    The Ghostly Veil Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Anis Abdul

    Explanation: A ghostly visage on a cosmic scale, these remains of
    shocked, glowing gas haunt planet Earth's sky toward the constellation
    of Cygnus and form the Veil Nebula. The nebula itself is a large
    supernova remnant, an expanding cloud born of the death explosion of a
    massive star. Light from the original supernova explosion likely
    reached Earth over 5,000 years ago. Also known as the Cygnus Loop, the
    Veil Nebula now spans nearly 3 degrees or about 6 times the diameter of
    the full Moon. That translates to over 70 light-years at its estimated
    distance of 1,500 light-years. In fact, the Veil is so large its
    brighter parts are recognized as separate nebulae, including The
    Witch's Broom (NGC 6960) below and right of center. At the top left you
    can find the Spectre of IC 1340. Happy Halloween!

    Tomorrow's picture: Sunday's Childe
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Nov 1 00:26:28 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 1

    The Day After Mars
    Image Credit & Copyright: Rolando Ligustri (CARA Project, CAST)

    Explanation: October 31, 1938 was the day after Martians encountered
    planet Earth, and everything was calm. Reports of the invasion were
    revealed to be part of a Halloween radio drama, the now famous
    broadcast based on H.G. Wells' scifi novel War of the Worlds. On Mars
    October 20, 2014 was calm too, the day after its close encounter with
    Comet Siding Spring (C/2013 A1). Not a hoax, this comet really did come
    within 86,700 miles or so of Mars, about 1/3 the Earth-Moon distance.
    Earth's spacecraft and rovers in Mars orbit and on the surface reported
    no ill effects though, and had a ringside seat as a visitor from the
    outer solar system passed by. Spanning over 2 degrees against stars of
    the constellation Ophiuchus, this colorful telescopic snapshot captures
    our view of Mars on the day after. Bluish star 51 Ophiuchi is at the
    upper right and the comet is just emerging from the Red Planet's bright
    glare.

    Tomorrow's picture: inside the flame
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Nov 2 01:23:46 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 2

    Inside the Flame Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Optical: DSS; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech;
    X-ray: NASA/CXC/PSU/ K.Getman, E.Feigelson, M.Kuhn & the MYStIX team

    Explanation: The Flame Nebula stands out in this optical image of the
    dusty, crowded star forming regions toward Orion's belt, a mere 1,400
    light-years away. X-ray data from the Chandra Observatory and infrared
    images from the Spitzer Space Telescope can take you inside the glowing
    gas and obscuring dust clouds though. Swiping your cursor (or clicking
    the image) will reveal many stars of the recently formed, embedded
    cluster NGC 2024, ranging in age from 200,000 years to 1.5 million
    years young. The X-ray/infrared composite image overlay spans about 15
    light-years across the Flame's center. The X-ray/infrared data also
    indicate that the youngest stars are concentrated near the middle of
    the Flame Nebula cluster. That's the opposite of the simplest models of
    star formation for the stellar nursery that predict star formation
    begins in the denser center of a molecular cloud core. The result
    requires a more complex model; perhaps star formation continues longer
    in the center, or older stars are ejected from the center due to
    subcluster mergers.

    Tomorrow's picture: surfin' the rings
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Nov 3 00:12:06 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 3

    Daphnis and the Rings of Saturn
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Space Science Institute, Cassini

    Explanation: What's happening to the rings of Saturn? A little moon
    making big waves. The moon is 8-kilometer Daphnis and it is making
    waves in the Keeler Gap of Saturn's rings using just its gravity -- as
    it bobs up and down, in and out. The featured image is a colored and
    more detailed version of a previously released images taken in 2017 by
    the robotic Cassini spacecraft during one of its Grand Finale orbits.
    Daphnis can be seen on the far right, sporting ridges likely
    accumulated from ring particles. Daphnis was discovered in Cassini
    images in 2005 and raised mounds of ring particles so high in 2009 --
    during Saturn's equinox when the ring plane pointed directly at the Sun
    -- that they cast notable shadows.

    Tomorrow's picture: turmoil in a stellar lagoon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Nov 4 01:32:26 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 4

    Near the Center of the Lagoon Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Zhuoqun Wu, Chilescope

    Explanation: Stars are battling gas and dust in the Lagoon Nebula but
    the photographers are winning. Also known as M8, this photogenic nebula
    is visible even without binoculars towards the constellation of the
    Archer (Sagittarius). The energetic processes of star formation create
    not only the colors but the chaos. The glowing gas results from
    high-energy starlight striking interstellar hydrogen gas and trace
    amounts of sulfur, and oxygen gases. The dark dust filaments that lace
    M8 were created in the atmospheres of cool giant stars and in the
    debris from supernovae explosions. The light from M8 we see today left
    about 5,000 years ago. Light takes about 50 years to cross this section
    of M8.

    Tomorrow's picture: super spirals
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Nov 5 07:04:40 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 5

    Spiral Galaxies Spinning Super-Fast
    Image Credit: Top row: NASA, ESA, Hubble, P. Ogle & J. DePasquale
    (STScI);
    Bottom row: SDSS, P. Ogle & J. DePasquale (STScI)

    Explanation: Why are these galaxies spinning so fast? If you estimated
    each spiral's mass by how much light it emits, their fast rotations
    should break them apart. The leading hypothesis as to why these
    galaxies don't break apart is dark matter -- mass so dark we can't see
    it. But these galaxies are even out-spinning this break-up limit --
    they are the fastest rotating disk galaxies known. It is therefore
    further hypothesized that their dark matter halos are so massive -- and
    their spins so fast -- that it is harder for them to form stars than
    regular spirals. If so, then these galaxies may be among the most
    massive spirals possible. Further study of surprising super-spirals
    like these will continue, likely including observations taken by NASA's
    James Webb Space Telescope scheduled for launch in 2021.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Nov 7 00:40:36 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 7

    Messier 45: The Daughters of Atlas and Pleione
    Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block, Steward Observatory, University
    of Arizona

    Explanation: Hurtling through a cosmic dust cloud a mere 400
    light-years away, the lovely Pleiades or Seven Sisters open star
    cluster is well-known for its striking blue reflection nebulae. It lies
    in the night sky toward the constellation Taurus and the Orion Arm of
    our Milky Way Galaxy. The sister stars and cosmic dust cloud are not
    related though, they just happen to be passing through the same region
    of space. Known since antiquity as a compact grouping of stars, Galileo
    first sketched the star cluster viewed through his telescope with stars
    too faint to be seen by eye. Charles Messier recorded the position of
    the cluster as the 45th entry in his famous catalog of things which are
    not comets. In Greek myth, the Pleiades were seven daughters of the
    astronomical Titan Atlas and sea-nymph Pleione. Their parents names are
    included in the cluster's nine brightest stars. This deep and wide
    telescopic image spans over 20 light-years across the Pleides star
    cluster.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Nov 8 00:10:46 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 8

    NGC 3572 and the Southern Tadpoles
    Image Credit & Copyright: Josep Drudis

    Explanation: This cosmic skyscape features glowing gas and dark dust
    clouds along side the young stars of NGC 3572. A beautiful emission
    nebula and star cluster in far southern skies, the region is often
    overlooked by astroimagers in favor of its brighter neighbor, the
    nearby Carina Nebula. Stars from NGC 3572 are toward the upper left in
    the telescopic frame that would measure about 100 light-years across at
    the cluster's estimated distant of 9,000 light-years. The visible
    interstellar gas and dust is part of the star cluster's natal molecular
    cloud. Dense streamers of material within the nebula, eroded by stellar
    winds and radiation, clearly trail away from the energetic young stars.
    They are likely sites of ongoing star formation with shapes reminiscent
    of the cosmic Tadpoles of IC 410 better known to northern skygazers. In
    the coming tens to hundreds of millions of years, gas and stars in the
    cluster will be dispersed though, by gravitational tides and by violent
    supernova explosions that end the short lives of the massive cluster
    stars.

    Tomorrow's picture: Saturn the Giant
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Nov 9 00:59:54 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 9

    Saturn the Giant
    Image Credit: NASA

    Explanation: On May 25, 1961 U.S. president John Kennedy announced the
    goal of landing astronauts on the Moon by the end of the decade. By
    November 9, 1967 this Saturn V rocket was ready for launch and the
    first full test of its capabilities on the Apollo 4 mission. Its
    development directed by rocket pioneer Wernher Von Braun, the three
    stage Saturn V stood over 36 stories tall. It had a cluster of five
    first stage engines fueled by liquid oxygen and kerosene which together
    were capable of producing 7.9 million pounds of thrust. Giant Saturn V
    rockets ultimately hurled nine Apollo missions to the Moon and back
    again with six landing on the lunar surface. The first landing mission,
    Apollo 11, achieved Kennedy's goal on July 20, 1969.

    Watch: the November 11 Transit of Mercury from Earth or from Space.
    Tomorrow's picture: WISE Young Stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Nov 10 00:17:56 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 10

    A Mercury Transit Sequence
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dominique Dierick

    Explanation: Tomorrow -- Monday -- Mercury will cross the face of the
    Sun, as seen from Earth. Called a transit, the last time this happened
    was in 2016. Because the plane of Mercury's orbit is not exactly
    coincident with the plane of Earth's orbit, Mercury usually appears to
    pass over or under the Sun. The featured time-lapse sequence,
    superimposed on a single frame, was taken from a balcony in Belgium
    shows the entire transit of 2003 May 7. That solar crossing lasted over
    five hours, so that the above 23 images were taken roughly 15 minutes
    apart. The north pole of the Sun, the Earth's orbit, and Mercury's
    orbit, although all different, all occur in directions slightly above
    the left of the image. Near the center and on the far right, sunspots
    are visible. After Monday, the next transit of Mercury will occur in
    2032.

    Watch: the November 11 Transit of Mercury from Earth or from Space.
    Tomorrow's picture: inverted moon bumps
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Nov 11 00:36:30 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 11

    Lunar Craters Langrenus and Petavius
    Image Credit & Copyright: Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau

    Explanation: The history of the Moon is partly written in its craters.
    Pictured here is a lunar panorama taken from Earth featuring the large
    craters Langrenus, toward the left, and Petavius, toward the right. The
    craters formed in separate impacts. Langrenus spans about 130 km, has a
    terraced rim, and sports a central peak rising about 3 km. Petavius is
    slightly larger with a 180 km diameter and has a distinctive fracture
    that runs out from its center. Although it is known that Petravius
    crater is about 3.9 billion years old, the origin of its large fracture
    is unknown. The craters are best visible a few days after a new Moon,
    when shadows most greatly accentuate vertical walls and hills. The
    featured image is a composite of the best of thousands of
    high-resolution, infrared, video images taken through a small
    telescope. Although mountains on Earth will likely erode into soil over
    a billion years, lunar craters Langrenus and Petavius will likely
    survive many billions more years, possibly until the Sun expands and
    engulfs both the Earth and Moon.

    Watch: the November 11 Transit of Mercury from Earth or from Space.
    Tomorrow's picture: spiraling sideways
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Nov 12 00:57:08 2019
    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Nov 13 00:53:50 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 13

    Mercury in Silhouette
    Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Wise

    Explanation: The small, dark, round spot in this solar close up is
    planet Mercury. In the high resolution telescopic image, a colorized
    stack of 61 sharp video frames, a turbulent array of photospheric
    convection cells tile the bright solar surface. Mercury's more regular
    silhouette still stands out though. Of course, only inner planets
    Mercury and Venus can transit the Sun to appear in silhouette when
    viewed from planet Earth. For this November 11, 2019 transit of
    Mercury, the innermost planet's silhouette was a mere 1/200th the solar
    diameter. So even under clear daytime skies it was difficult to see
    without the aid of a safe solar telescope. Following its transit in
    2016, this was Mercury's 4th of 14 transits across the solar disk in
    the 21st century. The next transit of Mercury will be on November 13,
    2032.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in the Sun
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Nov 14 01:19:26 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 14

    Mercury and the Quiet Sun
    Image Credit & Copyright: John Chumack

    Explanation: On November 11, 2019 the Sun was mostly quiet,
    experiencing a minimum in its 11 year cycle of activity. In fact, the
    only spot visible was actually planet Mercury, making a leisurely 5 1/2
    hour transit in front of the calm solar disk. About 1/200th the
    apparent diameter of the Sun, the silhouette of the solar system's
    inner most planet is near center in this sharp, full Sun snapshot.
    Taken with a hydrogen alpha filter and safe solar telescope, the image
    also captures prominences around the solar limb, the glowing plasma
    trapped in arcing magnetic fields. Of course, only inner planets
    Mercury and Venus can transit the Sun to appear in silhouette when
    viewed from planet Earth. Following its transit in 2016, this was
    Mercury's 4th of 14 transits across the solar disk in the 21st century.
    The next transit of Mercury will be on November 13, 2032.

    Tomorrow's picture: star streams and galaxies
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Nov 15 00:17:40 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 15

    M16 and the Eagle Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh

    Explanation: A star cluster around 2 million years young surrounded by
    natal clouds of dust and glowing gas, M16 is also known as The Eagle
    Nebula. This beautifully detailed portrait of the region was made with
    groundbased narrow and broadband image data. It includes cosmic
    sculptures made famous in Hubble Space Telescope close-ups of the
    starforming complex. Described as elephant trunks or Pillars of
    Creation, dense, dusty columns rising near the center are light-years
    in length but are gravitationally contracting to form stars. Energetic
    radiation from the cluster stars erodes material near the tips,
    eventually exposing the embedded new stars. Extending from the ridge of
    bright emission at lower left is another dusty starforming column known
    as the Fairy of Eagle Nebula. M16 lies about 7,000 light-years away, an
    easy target for binoculars or small telescopes in a nebula rich part of
    the sky toward the split constellation Serpens Cauda (the tail of the
    snake).

    Tomorrow's picture: star streams and galaxies
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Nov 16 00:10:00 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 16

    The Star Streams of NGC 5907
    Image Credit & Copyright: R Jay Gabany (Blackbird Observatory) -
    collaboration; D.Martinez-Delgado(IAC, MPIA),
    J.Penarrubia (U.Victoria) I. Trujillo (IAC) S.Majewski (U.Virginia),
    M.Pohlen (Cardiff)

    Explanation: Grand tidal streams of stars seem to surround galaxy NGC
    5907. The arcing structures form tenuous loops extending more than
    150,000 light-years from the narrow, edge-on spiral, also known as the
    Splinter or Knife Edge Galaxy. Recorded only in very deep exposures,
    the streams likely represent the ghostly trail of a dwarf galaxy -
    debris left along the orbit of a smaller satellite galaxy that was
    gradually torn apart and merged with NGC 5907 over four billion years
    ago. Ultimately this remarkable discovery image, from a small robotic
    observatory in New Mexico, supports the cosmological scenario in which
    large spiral galaxies, including our own Milky Way, were formed by the
    accretion of smaller ones. NGC 5907 lies about 40 million light-years
    distant in the northern constellation Draco.

    Tomorrow's picture: WISE young stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Nov 17 01:28:50 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 17

    Young Stars in the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, WISE

    Explanation: How do stars form? To help find out, astronomers created
    this tantalizing false-color composition of dust clouds and embedded
    newborn stars in infrared wavelengths with WISE, the Wide-field
    Infrared Survey Explorer. The cosmic canvas features one of the closest
    star forming regions, part of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex some 400
    light-years distant near the southern edge of the pronounceable
    constellation Ophiuchus. After forming along a large cloud of cold
    molecular hydrogen gas, young stars heat the surrounding dust to
    produce the infrared glow. Stars in the process of formation, called
    young stellar objects or YSOs, are embedded in the compact pinkish
    nebulae seen here, but are otherwise hidden from the prying eyes of
    optical telescopes. An exploration of the region in penetrating
    infrared light has detected emerging and newly formed stars whose
    average age is estimated to be a mere 300,000 years. That's extremely
    young compared to the Sun's age of 5 billion years. The prominent
    reddish nebula at the lower right surrounding the star Sigma Scorpii is
    a reflection nebula produced by dust scattering starlight. This view
    from WISE, released in 2012, spans almost 2 degrees and covers about 14
    light-years at the estimated distance of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud.

    Tomorrow's picture: distant flyby
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Nov 18 00:31:00 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 18

    Passing Asteroid Arrokoth
    Video Credit: NASA, JHU APL, SwRI

    Explanation: What would it look like to pass asteroid Arrokoth? The
    robotic New Horizons spacecraft zoomed past Arrokoth in January, 3.5
    years after the spacecraft passed Pluto. If this object's name doesn't
    sound familiar, that may be because the distant, double-lobed,
    Kuiper-belt object was unofficially dubbed Ultima Thule until recently
    receiving its official name: 486958 Arrokoth. The featured black and
    white video animates images of Arrokoth taken by New Horizons at
    different angles as it zoomed by. The video clearly shows Arrokoth's
    two lobes, and even hints that the larger lobe is significantly
    flattened. New Horizons found that Arrokoth is different from any known
    asteroid in the inner Solar System and is likely composed of two joined
    planetesimals -- the building blocks of planets as they existed
    billions of years ago. New Horizons continues to speed out of our Solar
    System gaining about three additional Earth-Sun separations every year.

    Tomorrow's picture: light the galaxy
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Nov 19 01:20:30 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 19

    Milky Way over Uruguayan Lighthouse
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mauricio Salazar

    Explanation: Can a lighthouse illuminate a galaxy? No, but in the
    featured image, gaps in light emanating from the Jose Ignacio
    Lighthouse in Uruguay appear to match up nicely, although only
    momentarily and coincidently, with dark dust lanes of our Milky Way
    Galaxy. The bright dot on the right is the planet Jupiter. The central
    band of the Milky Way Galaxy is actually the central spiral disk seen
    from within the disk. The Milky Way band is not easily visible through
    city lights but can be quite spectacular to see in dark skies. The
    featured picture is actually the addition of ten consecutive images
    taken by the same camera from the same location. The images were well
    planned to exclude direct light from the famous lighthouse.

    Tomorrow's picture: perturbed galaxies
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Nov 20 00:23:08 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 20

    Arp 273: Battling Galaxies from Hubble
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Copyright: Rudy Pohl

    Explanation: What's happening to these spiral galaxies? Although
    details remain uncertain, there sure seems to be a titanic battle going
    on. The upper galaxy is labelled UGC 1810 by itself, but together with
    its collisional partners is known as Arp 273. The overall shape of the
    UGC 1810 -- in particular its blue outer ring -- is likely a result of
    wild and violent gravitational interactions. The blue color of the
    outer ring at the top is caused by massive stars that are blue hot and
    have formed only in the past few million years. The inner part of the
    upper galaxy -- itself an older spiral galaxy -- appears redder and
    threaded with cool filamentary dust. A few bright stars appear well in
    the foreground, unrelated to colliding galaxies, while several
    far-distant galaxies are visible in the background. Arp 273 lies about
    300 million light years away toward the constellation of Andromeda.
    Quite likely, UGC 1810 will devour its galactic sidekicks over the next
    billion years and settle into a classic spiral form.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Nov 21 00:42:50 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 21

    Simeis 147: Supernova Remnant
    Image Credit & Copyright: David Lindemann

    Explanation: It's easy to get lost following the intricate looping
    filaments in this detailed image of supernova remnant Simeis 147. Also
    cataloged as Sharpless 2-240 it goes by the popular nickname, the
    Spaghetti Nebula. Seen toward the boundary of the constellations Taurus
    and Auriga, it covers nearly 3 degrees or 6 full moons on the sky.
    That's about 150 light-years at the stellar debris cloud's estimated
    distance of 3,000 light-years. This composite includes image data taken
    through narrow-band filters where reddish emission from ionized
    hydrogen atoms and doubly ionized oxygen atoms in faint blue-green hues
    trace the shocked, glowing gas. The supernova remnant has an estimated
    age of about 40,000 years, meaning light from the massive stellar
    explosion first reached Earth 40,000 years ago. But the expanding
    remnant is not the only aftermath. The cosmic catastrophe also left
    behind a spinning neutron star or pulsar, all that remains of the
    original star's core.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Nov 22 00:41:26 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 22

    Orion Rising
    Image Credit & Copyright: Vitalij Kopa

    Explanation: Looking toward the east in the early hours of a September
    morning this single exposure made with tripod and camera captured a
    simple visual experience. Rising above the tree-lined slope are
    familiar stars in planet Earth's northern night and the constellation
    Orion the Hunter. Brighter stars marking the celestial Hunter's
    shoulder (Betelgeuse), foot (Rigel), belt, and sword are clearly
    reflected in the calm waters from northern Latvia's Vitrupe river. Of
    course, winter is coming to planet Earth's northern hemisphere. By then
    Orion and this beautiful starry vista will be seen rising in early
    evening skies.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Nov 23 00:19:40 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 23

    Apollo 12 and Surveyor 3 Stereo View
    Image Credit: NASA, Apollo 12, Alan Bean - Stereo Image Copyright:
    Kevin Frank

    Explanation: Put on your red/blue glasses and gaze across the western
    Ocean of Storms on the surface of the Moon. The 3D view features Apollo
    12 astronaut Pete Conrad visiting the Surveyor 3 spacecraft 50 years
    ago in November of 1969. Surveyor 3 had landed at the site on the
    inside slope of a small crater about 2 1/2 years earlier in April of
    1967. Visible on the horizon beyond the far crater wall, Apollo 12's
    Lunar Module Intrepid touched down less than 200 meters (650 feet)
    away, easy moonwalking distance from the robotic Surveyor spacecraft.
    The stereo image was carefully created from two separate pictures
    (AS12-48-7133, AS12-48-7134) taken on the lunar surface. They depict
    the scene from only slightly different viewpoints, approximating the
    separation between human eyes.

    Tomorrow's picture: glasses off
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Nov 24 00:27:34 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 24

    Apollo 12: Self-Portrait
    Image Credit: NASA, Apollo 12, Charles Conrad

    Explanation: Is this image art? 50 years ago, Apollo 12
    astronaut-photographer Charles "Pete" Conrad recorded this masterpiece
    while documenting colleague Alan Bean's lunar soil collection
    activities on Oceanus Procellarum. The featured image is dramatic and
    stark. The harsh environment of the Moon's Ocean of Storms is echoed in
    Bean's helmet, a perfectly composed reflection of Conrad and the lunar
    horizon. Works of photojournalists originally intent on recording the
    human condition on planet Earth, such as Lewis W. Hine's images from
    New York City in the early 20th century, or Margaret Bourke-White's
    magazine photography are widely regarded as art. Similarly many
    documentary astronomy and space images might also be appreciated for
    their artistic and esthetic appeal.

    Tomorrow's picture: a bat glow
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Nov 25 00:30:48 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 25

    NGC 6995: The Bat Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Josep Drudis

    Explanation: Do you see the bat? It haunts this cosmic close-up of the
    eastern Veil Nebula. The Veil Nebula itself is a large supernova
    remnant, the expanding debris cloud from the death explosion of a
    massive star. While the Veil is roughly circular in shape and covers
    nearly 3 degrees on the sky toward the constellation of the Swan
    (Cygnus), the Bat Nebula, NGC 6995, spans only 1/2 degree, about the
    apparent size of the Moon. That translates to 12 light-years at the
    Veil's estimated distance, a reassuring 1,400 light-years from planet
    Earth. In the composite of image data recorded through broad and narrow
    band filters, emission from hydrogen atoms in the remnant is shown in
    red with strong emission from oxygen and nitrogen atoms shown in hues
    of blue. Of course, in the western part of the Veil lies another
    seasonal apparition: the Witch's Broom Nebula.

    Tomorrow's picture: galaxy-sized ring
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Nov 26 02:27:56 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 26

    Venus and Jupiter on the Horizon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Casado (TWAN)

    Explanation: What are those two bright objects on the horizon? Venus
    and Jupiter. The two brightest planets in the night sky passed very
    close together -- angularly -- just two days ago. In real space, they
    were just about as far apart as usual, since Jupiter (on the right)
    orbits the Sun around seven times farther out than Venus. The planetary
    duo were captured together two days ago in a picturesque sunset sky
    from Llers, Catalonia, Spain between a tree and the astrophotographer's
    daughter. These two planets will continue to stand out in the evening
    sky, toward the west, for the next few days, with a sliver of a
    crescent Moon and a fainter Saturn also visible nearby. As November
    ends, Jupiter will sink lower into the sunset horizon with each
    subsequent night, while Venus will rise higher. The next Jupiter-Venus
    conjunction will occur in early 2021.

    Tomorrow's picture: ringing in a new galaxy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Nov 27 02:57:36 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 27

    Hoag's Object: A Nearly Perfect Ring Galaxy
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing: Benoit Blanco

    Explanation: Is this one galaxy or two? This question came to light in
    1950 when astronomer Arthur Hoag chanced upon this unusual
    extragalactic object. On the outside is a ring dominated by bright blue
    stars, while near the center lies a ball of much redder stars that are
    likely much older. Between the two is a gap that appears almost
    completely dark. How Hoag's Object formed, including its nearly
    perfectly round ring of stars and gas, remains unknown. Genesis
    hypotheses include a galaxy collision billions of years ago and the
    gravitational effect of a central bar that has since vanished. The
    featured photo was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and recently
    reprocessed using an artificially intelligent de-noising algorithm.
    Observations in radio waves indicate that Hoag's Object has not
    accreted a smaller galaxy in the past billion years. Hoag's Object
    spans about 100,000 light years and lies about 600 million light years
    away toward the constellation of the Snake (Serpens). Many galaxies far
    in the distance are visible toward the right, while coincidentally,
    visible in the gap at about seven o'clock, is another but more distant
    ring galaxy.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Nov 28 00:37:10 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 28

    Moon and Planets at Twilight
    Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horálek

    Explanation: This week's ongoing conjunction of Venus and Jupiter may
    have whetted your appetite for skygazing. Tonight is the main course
    though. On November 28, a young crescent Moon will join them posing
    next to the two bright planets above the western horizon at twilight.
    Much like tonight's visual feast, this night skyscape shows a young
    lunar crescent and brilliant Venus in the western evening twilight on
    October 29. The celestial beacons are setting over distant mountains
    and the Minya monastery, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan,
    China, planet Earth. Then Mercury, not Jupiter, was a celestial
    companion to Venus and the Moon. The fleeting innermost planet is just
    visible here in the bright twilight, below and left of Venus and near
    the center of the frame. Tomorrow, November 29, the crescent Moon will
    also help you spot planet Saturn for desert.

    Tomorrow's picture: extreme shrimp cocktails
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Nov 29 00:33:40 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 29

    Galileo's Europa Remastered
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SETI Institute, Cynthia Phillips,
    Marty Valenti

    Explanation: Looping through the Jovian system in the late 1990s, the
    Galileo spacecraft recorded stunning views of Europa and uncovered
    evidence that the moon's icy surface likely hides a deep, global ocean.
    Galileo's Europa image data has been remastered here, using improved
    new calibrations to produce a color image approximating what the human
    eye might see. Europa's long curving fractures hint at the subsurface
    liquid water. The tidal flexing the large moon experiences in its
    elliptical orbit around Jupiter supplies the energy to keep the ocean
    liquid. But more tantalizing is the possibility that even in the
    absence of sunlight that process could also supply the energy to
    support life, making Europa one of the best places to look for life
    beyond Earth. What kind of life could thrive in a deep, dark,
    subsurface ocean? Consider planet Earth's own extreme shrimp.

    Tomorrow's picture: red planet star trails
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Nov 30 01:14:54 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 November 30

    Star Trails for a Red Planet
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dengyi Huang

    Explanation: Does Mars have a north star? In long exposures of Earth's
    night sky, star trails make concentric arcs around the north celestial
    pole, the direction of our fair planet's axis of rotation. Bright star
    Polaris is presently the Earth's North Star, close on the sky to
    Earth's north celestial pole. But long exposures on Mars show star
    trails too, concentric arcs about a celestial pole determined by Mars'
    axis of rotation. Tilted like planet Earth's, the martian axis of
    rotation points in a different direction in space though. It points to
    a place on the sky between stars in Cygnus and Cepheus with no bright
    star comparable to Earth's north star Polaris nearby. So even though
    this ruddy, weathered landscape is remarkably reminiscent of terrain in
    images from the martian surface, the view must be from planet Earth,
    with north star Polaris near the center of concentric star trails. The
    landforms in the foreground are found in Qinghai Province in
    northwestern China.

    Tomorrow's picture: blue starburst
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Dec 1 01:37:40 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 1

    Starburst Galaxy M94 from Hubble
    Image Credit & Copyright: ESA/Hubble & NASA

    Explanation: Why does this galaxy have a ring of bright blue stars?
    Beautiful island universe Messier 94 lies a mere 15 million light-years
    distant in the northern constellation of the Hunting Dogs (Canes
    Venatici). A popular target for Earth-based astronomers, the face-on
    spiral galaxy is about 30,000 light-years across, with spiral arms
    sweeping through the outskirts of its broad disk. But this Hubble Space
    Telescope field of view spans about 7,000 light-years across M94's
    central region. The featured close-up highlights the galaxy's compact,
    bright nucleus, prominent inner dust lanes, and the remarkable bluish
    ring of young massive stars. The ring stars are all likely less than 10
    million years old, indicating that M94 is a starburst galaxy that is
    experiencing an epoch of rapid star formation. The circular ripple of
    blue stars is likely a wave propagating outward, having been triggered
    by the gravity and rotation of a oval matter distributions. Because M94
    is relatively nearby, astronomers can better explore details of its
    starburst ring.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 2,000+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: running mercury
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Dec 3 00:22:52 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 3

    M27: The Dumbbell Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Steve Mazlin

    Explanation: Is this what will become of our Sun? Quite possibly. The
    first hint of our Sun's future was discovered inadvertently in 1764. At
    that time, Charles Messier was compiling a list of diffuse objects not
    to be confused with comets. The 27th object on Messier's list, now
    known as M27 or the Dumbbell Nebula, is a planetary nebula, the type of
    nebula our Sun will produce when nuclear fusion stops in its core. M27
    is one of the brightest planetary nebulae on the sky, and can be seen
    toward the constellation of the Fox (Vulpecula) with binoculars. It
    takes light about 1000 years to reach us from M27, featured here in
    colors emitted by hydrogen and oxygen. Understanding the physics and
    significance of M27 was well beyond 18th century science. Even today,
    many things remain mysterious about bipolar planetary nebula like M27,
    including the physical mechanism that expels a low-mass star's gaseous
    outer-envelope, leaving an X-ray hot white dwarf.

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    Tomorrow's picture: electric night
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Dec 4 00:06:12 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 4

    Electric Night
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ivan Pedretti

    Explanation: It may appear, at first, like the Galaxy is producing the
    lightning, but really it's the Earth. The featured nighttime landscape
    was taken from a southern tip of the Italian Island of Sardinia in
    early June. The foreground rocks and shrubs are near the famous Capo
    Spartivento Lighthouse, and the camera is pointed south toward Algeria
    in Africa. In the distance, across the Mediterranean Sea, a
    thunderstorm is threatening, with several electric lightning strokes
    caught together during this 25-second wide-angle exposure. Much farther
    in the distance, strewn about the sky, are hundreds of stars in the
    neighborhood of our Sun in the Milky Way Galaxy. Furthest away, and
    slanting down from the upper left, are billions of stars that together
    compose the central band of our Milky Way.

    Free Lecture: APOD editor to speak in NYC on January 3
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Dec 6 00:12:22 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 6

    Pleiades to Hyades
    Image Credit & Copyright: Amir H. Abolfath (TWAN)

    Explanation: This cosmic vista stretches almost 20 degrees from top to
    bottom, across the dusty constellation Taurus. It begins at the
    Pleiades and ends at the Hyades, two star clusters recognized since
    antiquity in Earth's night sky. At top, the compact Pleiades star
    cluster is about 400 light-years away. The lovely grouping of young
    cluster stars shine through dusty clouds that scatter blue starlight.
    At bottom, the V-shaped Hyades cluster looks more spread out in
    comparison and lies much closer, 150 light-years away. The Hyades
    cluster stars seem anchored by bright Aldebaran, a red giant star with
    a yellowish appearance. But Aldebaran actually lies only 65 light-years
    distant and just by chance along the line of sight to the Hyades
    cluster. Faint and darkly obscuring dust clouds found near the edge of
    the Taurus Molecular Cloud are also evident throughout the celestial
    scene. The wide field of view includes the dark nebula Barnard 22 at
    left with youthful star T Tauri and Hind's variable nebula just above
    Aldebaran in the frame.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 7 00:53:26 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 7

    Lines of Time
    Image Credit & Copyright: Anton Komlev

    Explanation: In time stars trace lines through the night sky on a
    rotating planet. Taken over two hours or more, these digitally added
    consecutive exposures were made with a camera and wide angle lens fixed
    to a tripod near Orel farm, Primorsky Krai, Russia, planet Earth. The
    stars trail in concentric arcs around the planet's south celestial pole
    below the scene's horizon, and north celestial pole off the frame at
    the upper right. Combined, the many short exposures also bring out the
    pretty star colours. Bluish trails are from stars hotter than Earth's
    Sun, while yellowish trails are from cooler stars. A long time ago this
    tree blossomed, but now reveals the passage of time in the wrinkled and
    weathered lines of its remains.

    Tomorrow's picture: lines in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Dec 8 00:13:18 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 8

    Geminid Meteors over Chile
    Image Credit & Copyright: Yuri Beletsky (Carnegie Las Campanas
    Observatory, TWAN)

    Explanation: Are meteors streaming out from a point in the sky? Yes, in
    a way. When the Earth crosses a stream of Sun-orbiting meteors, these
    meteors appear to come from the direction of the stream -- with the
    directional point called the radiant. An example occurs every
    mid-December for the Geminids meteor shower, as apparent in the
    featured image. Recorded near the shower's peak in 2013, the featured
    skyscape captures Gemini's shooting stars in a four-hour composite from
    the dark skies of the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. In the
    foreground the 2.5-meter du Pont Telescope is visible as well as the
    1-meter SWOPE telescope. The skies beyond the meteors are highlighted
    by Jupiter, seen as the bright spot near the image center, the central
    band of our Milky Way Galaxy, seen vertically on the image left, and
    the pinkish Orion Nebula on the far left. Dust swept up from the orbit
    of active asteroid 3200 Phaethon, Gemini's meteors enter the atmosphere
    traveling at about 22 kilometers per second. The 2019 Geminid meteor
    shower peaks again this coming weekend.

    Tomorrow's picture: the sun sideways
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Dec 8 03:18:38 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 8

    Geminid Meteors over Chile
    Image Credit & Copyright: Yuri Beletsky (Carnegie Las Campanas
    Observatory, TWAN)

    Explanation: Are meteors streaming out from a point in the sky? Yes, in
    a way. When the Earth crosses a stream of Sun-orbiting meteors, these
    meteors appear to come from the direction of the stream -- with the
    directional point called the radiant. An example occurs every
    mid-December for the Geminids meteor shower, as apparent in the
    featured image. Recorded near the shower's peak in 2013, the featured
    skyscape captures Gemini's shooting stars in a four-hour composite from
    the dark skies of the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. In the
    foreground the 2.5-meter du Pont Telescope is visible as well as the
    1-meter SWOPE telescope. The skies beyond the meteors are highlighted
    by Jupiter, seen as the bright spot near the image center, the central
    band of our Milky Way Galaxy, seen vertically on the image left, and
    the pinkish Orion Nebula on the far left. Dust swept up from the orbit
    of active asteroid 3200 Phaethon, Gemini's meteors enter the atmosphere
    traveling at about 22 kilometers per second. The 2019 Geminid meteor
    shower peaks again this coming weekend.

    Tomorrow's picture: the sun sideways
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Dec 9 01:19:24 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 9

    Looking Sideways from the Parker Solar Probe
    Video Credit: NASA, JHUAPL, Naval Research Lab, Parker Solar Probe

    Explanation: Everybody sees the Sun. Nobody's been there. Starting in
    2018 though, NASA launched the robotic Parker Solar Probe (PSP) to
    investigate regions near to the Sun for the first time. The PSP's
    looping orbit brings it yet closer to the Sun each time around -- every
    few months. The featured time-lapse video shows the view looking
    sideways from behind PSP's Sun shield during its first approach to the
    Sun a year ago -- to about half the orbit of Mercury. The PSP's Wide
    Field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR) cameras took the images over nine
    days, but they are digitally compressed here into about 14 seconds. The
    waving solar corona is visible on the far left, with stars, planets,
    and even the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy streaming by in the
    background as the PSP orbits the Sun. PSP has found the solar
    neighborhood to be surprisingly complex and to include switchbacks --
    times when the Sun's magnetic field briefly reverses itself. The Sun is
    not only Earth's dominant energy source, its variable solar wind
    compresses Earth's atmosphere, triggers auroras, affects power grids,
    and can even damage orbiting communication satellites.

    Tomorrow's picture: satellite swarm
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Dec 10 01:04:42 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 10

    Starlink Satellite Trails over Brazil
    Image Credit & Copyright: Egon Filter

    Explanation: What are those streaks over the horizon? New Starlink
    satellites reflecting sunlight. SpaceX launched 60 Starlink
    communication satellites in May and 60 more in November. These
    satellites and thousands more are planned by communications companies
    in the next few years that may make streaks like these relatively
    common. Concern has been voiced by many in the astronomical community
    about how reflections from these satellites may affect future
    observations into space. In the pictured composite of 33 exposures,
    parallel streaks from Starlink satellites are visible over southern
    Brazil. Sunflowers dot the foreground, while a bright meteor was caught
    by chance on the upper right. Satellite reflections are not new -- the
    constellation of 66 first-generation Iridium satellites launched
    starting 20 years ago produced some flares so bright that they could be
    seen during the day. Most of these old Iridium satellites, however,
    have been de-orbited over the past few years.

    Infinite Loop: Create an APOD Station in your classroom or Science
    Center.
    Tomorrow's picture: supernova firefox
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Dec 11 00:49:42 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 11

    N63A: Supernova Remnant in Visible and X-ray
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, Chandra; Processing & License: Judy
    Schmidt

    Explanation: What has this supernova left behind? As little as 2,000
    years ago, light from a massive stellar explosion in the Large
    Magellanic Cloud (LMC) first reached planet Earth. The LMC is a close
    galactic neighbor of our Milky Way Galaxy and the rampaging explosion
    front is now seen moving out - destroying or displacing ambient gas
    clouds while leaving behind relatively dense knots of gas and dust.
    What remains is one of the largest supernova remnants in the LMC: N63A.
    Many of the surviving dense knots have been themselves compressed and
    may further contract to form new stars. Some of the resulting stars may
    then explode in a supernova, continuing the cycle. Featured here is a
    combined image of N63A in the X-ray from the Chandra Space Telescope
    and in visible light by Hubble. The prominent knot of gas and dust on
    the upper right -- informally dubbed the Firefox -- is very bright in
    visible light, while the larger supernova remnant shines most brightly
    in X-rays. N63A spans over 25 light years and lies about 150,000 light
    years away toward the southern constellation of Dorado.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Dec 12 00:37:48 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 12

    Decorating the Sky
    Image Credit & Copyright: Leonardo Julio (Astronomia Pampeana)

    Explanation: Bright stars, clouds of dust and glowing nebulae decorate
    this cosmic scene, a skyscape just north of Orion's belt. Close to the
    plane of our Milky Way galaxy, the wide field view spans about 5.5
    degrees. Striking bluish M78, a reflection nebula, is on the right.
    M78's tint is due to dust preferentially reflecting the blue light of
    hot, young stars. In colorful contrast, the red sash of glowing
    hydrogen gas sweeping through the center is part of the region's faint
    but extensive emission nebula known as Barnard's Loop. At lower left, a
    dark dust cloud forms a prominent silhouette cataloged as LDN 1622.
    While M78 and the complex Barnard's Loop are some 1,500 light-years
    away, LDN 1622 is likely to be much closer, only about 500 light-years
    distant from our fair planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Dec 13 00:30:48 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 13

    Full Moon Geminids
    Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Casado (TWAN)

    Explanation: The dependable annual Geminid meteor shower will be near
    its peak tonight (December 13/14) and before tomorrow's dawn. As Earth
    crosses through the dusty trail of active asteroid 3200 Phaethon the
    meteors will flash through the sky from the shower's radiant in Gemini.
    Gemini will be pretty easy for skygazers to find too as it won't be far
    from a nearly full waning gibbous Moon. You don't have look at the
    shower's radiant to see meteors though. The almost full moonlight won't
    hide the brightest of the Geminids from view either, but it will
    substantially reduce the rate of visible meteors for those who are
    counting. In fact, the 2019 Geminids should look a lot like the 2016
    meteor shower This composite image from the 2016 Geminids aligns
    individual short exposures to capture many of the brighter Geminid
    meteors, inspite of a Full Moon shining near the constellation of the
    Twins. Along the horizon are the Teide Observatory's Solar Laboratory
    (right) and the Teide volcano on the Canary Island of Tenerife.

    Tomorrow's picture: moonlight weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 14 01:12:06 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 14

    Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (UCLA) et al.

    Explanation: From somewhere else in the Milky Way galaxy, Comet
    2I/Borisov is just visiting the Solar System. Discovered by Crimean
    amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov on August 30, 2019, the first known
    interstellar comet is captured in these two recent Hubble Space
    Telescope images. On the left, a distant background galaxy near the
    line-of-sight to Borisov is blurred as Hubble tracked the speeding
    comet and dust tail about 327 million kilometers from Earth. At right,
    2I/Borisov appears shortly after perihelion, it's closest approach to
    Sun. Borisov's closest approach to our fair planet, a distance of about
    290 million kilometers, will come on December 28. Even though Hubble's
    sharp images don't resolve the comet's nucleus, they do lead to
    estimates of less than 1 kilometer for its diameter.

    Tomorrow's picture: cloudy day
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Dec 15 00:55:40 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 15

    Mammatus Clouds over Nebraska
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jorn Olsen Photography

    Explanation: When do cloud bottoms appear like bubbles? Normally, cloud
    bottoms are flat. This is because moist warm air that rises and cools
    will condense into water droplets at a specific temperature, which
    usually corresponds to a very specific height. As water droplets grow,
    an opaque cloud forms. Under some conditions, however, cloud pockets
    can develop that contain large droplets of water or ice that fall into
    clear air as they evaporate. Such pockets may occur in turbulent air
    near a thunderstorm. Resulting mammatus clouds can appear especially
    dramatic if sunlit from the side. The mammatus clouds pictured here
    were photographed over Hastings, Nebraska during 2004 June.

    Tomorrow's picture: magnetic spiral
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Dec 16 00:37:12 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 16

    The Magnetic Fields of Spiral Galaxy M77
    Image Credit: NASA, SOFIA, HAWC+; JPL-Caltech, Roma Tre. U.; ESA,
    Hubble, NuSTAR, SDSS

    Explanation: Can magnetic fields help tell us how spiral galaxies form
    and evolve? To find out, the HAWC+ instrument on NASA's airborne (747)
    SOFIA observatory observed nearby spiral galaxy M77. HAWC+ maps
    magnetism by observing polarized infrared light emitted by elongated
    dust grains rotating in alignment with the local magnetic field. The
    HAWC+ image shows that magnetic fields do appear to trace the spiral
    arms in the inner regions of M77, arms that likely highlight density
    waves in the inflowing gas, dust and stars caused by the gravity of the
    galaxy's oval shape. The featured picture superposes the HAWC+ image
    over diffuse X-ray emission mapped by NASA's NuSTAR satellite and
    visible light images taken by Hubble and the SDSS. M77 is located about
    47 million light years away toward the constellation of the Sea Monster
    (Cetus).

    Tomorrow's picture: red and dusty
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Dec 17 00:53:32 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 17

    The Horsehead Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson & Martin Pugh, SSRO, PROMPT,
    CTIO, NSF

    Explanation: Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, a magnificent
    interstellar dust cloud by chance has assumed this recognizable shape.
    Fittingly named the Horsehead Nebula, it is some 1,500 light-years
    distant, embedded in the vast Orion cloud complex. About five
    light-years "tall", the dark cloud is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is
    visible only because its obscuring dust is silhouetted against the
    glowing red emission nebula IC 434. Stars are forming within the dark
    cloud. Contrasting blue reflection nebula NGC 2023, surrounding a hot,
    young star, is at the lower left of the full image. The featured
    gorgeous color image combines both narrowband and broadband images
    recorded using several different telescopes.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Dec 18 02:06:42 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 18

    A Hotspot Map of Neutron Star J0030's Surface
    Image Credit: NASA, NICER, GSFC's CI Lab

    Explanation: What do neutron stars look like? Previously these
    city-sized stars were too small and too far away to resolve. Recently,
    however, the first maps of the locations and sizes of hotspots on a
    neutron star's surface have been made by carefully modeling how the
    rapid spin makes the star's X-ray brightness rise and fall. Based on a
    leading model, an illustrative map of pulsar J0030+0451's hotspots is
    pictured, with the rest of the star's surface filled in with a false
    patchy blue. J0030 spins once every 0.0049 seconds and is located about
    1000 light years away. The map was computed from data taken by NASA's
    Neutron star Interior Composition ExploreR (NICER) X-ray telescope
    attached to the International Space Station. The computed locations of
    these hotspots is surprising and not well understood. Because the
    gravitational lensing effect of neutron stars is so strong, J0300
    displays more than half of its surface toward the Earth. Studying the
    appearance of pulsars like J0030 allows accurate estimates of the
    neutron star's mass, radius, and the internal physics that keeps the
    star from imploding into a black hole.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Dec 19 00:10:50 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 19

    Apollo 17's Moonship
    Image Credit: Apollo 17, NASA, (Image Reprocessing: Andy Saunders)

    Explanation: Awkward and angular looking, Apollo 17's lunar module
    Challenger was designed for flight in the near vacuum of space.
    Digitally enhanced and reprocessed, this picture taken from Apollo 17's
    command module America shows Challenger's ascent stage in lunar orbit.
    Small reaction control thrusters are at the sides of the moonship with
    the bell of the ascent rocket engine underneath. The hatch allowing
    access to the lunar surface is seen at the front, with a round radar
    antenna at the top. Mission commander Gene Cernan is clearly visible
    through the triangular window. This spaceship performed gracefully,
    landing on the Moon and returning the Apollo astronauts to the orbiting
    command module in December of 1972. So where is Challenger now? Its
    descent stage remains at the Apollo 17 landing site in the
    Taurus-Littrow valley. The ascent stage pictured was intentionally
    crashed nearby after being jettisoned from the command module prior to
    the astronauts' return to planet Earth. Apollo 17's mission came to an
    end 47 years ago today. It was the sixth and last time astronauts
    landed on the Moon.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Dec 20 00:33:12 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 20

    Late Afternoon on Mars
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Marco Di Lorenzo

    Explanation: Shadows grow long near sunset in this wide panoramic view
    from the Curiosity rover on Mars. Made with Curiosity's navcam, the
    scene covers about 200 degrees from north through east to south (left
    to right), stitched together from frames taken by the Mars rover on sol
    2616. That's just Earth date December 16. Curiosity is perched on top
    of a plateau on Western Butte. The distant northern rim of Gale crater
    is visible along the left. Near center is Central Butte, already
    visited by Curiosity. On the right, the shadow of the rover seems to
    stretch toward the base of Aeolis Mons (Mount Sharp), a future
    destination. The monochrome navcam frames have been colorized to
    approximate the colors of the late martian afternoon.

    Tomorrow's picture: solstice to solstice
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 21 00:52:50 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 21

    Solstice to Solstice Solargraph Timelapse
    Image Credit & Copyright: Sam Cornwell

    Explanation: The 2019 December Solstice, on the first day of winter in
    planet Earth's northern hemisphere and summer in the south, is at 4:19
    Universal Time December 22. That's December 21 for North America,
    though. Celebrate with a timelapse animation of the Sun's seasonal
    progression through the sky. It was made with solargraph images from an
    ingenious array of 27 pinhole cameras. The first frame from the
    Solarcan camera matrix was recorded near December 21, 2018. The last
    frame in the series finished near June 21, 2019, the northern summer
    solstice. All 27 camera exposures were started at the same time, with a
    camera covered and removed from the array once a week. Viewed
    consecutively the pinhole camera pictures accumulate the traces of the
    Sun's daily path from winter (bottom) to summer (top) solstice. Traces
    of the Sun's path are reflected by the foreground Williestruther Loch,
    in the Scottish Borders. Just select the image or follow this link to
    play the entire 27 frame (gif) timelapse.

    Tomorrow's picture: a year of sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Dec 23 01:01:32 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 23

    Places for OSIRIS-REx to Touch Asteroid Bennu
    Video Credit: NASA, GSFC, U. Arizona, SVS, OSIRIS-REx

    Explanation: Where is the best place to collect a surface sample from
    asteroid Bennu? Launched in 2016, NASA sent the robotic Origins,
    Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith
    Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) to investigate the 500-meter-across asteroid
    101955 Bennu. After mapping the near-Earth asteroid's dark surface,
    OSIRIS-REx will next touch Bennu's surface in 2020 August to collect a
    surface sample. The featured 23-second time-lapse video shows four
    candidate locations for the touch, from which NASA chose just one
    earlier this month. NASA chose the Nightingale near Bennu's northern
    hemisphere as the primary touch-down spot because of its relative
    flatness, lack of boulders, and apparent abundance of fine-grained
    sand. Location Osprey is the backup. NASA plans to return soil samples
    for Bennu to Earth in 2023 for a detailed analysis.

    Free Presentation: APOD Editor to show best astronomy images of 2019 --
    and the decade -- in NYC on January 3
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Dec 24 00:07:28 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 24

    A Northern Winter Sky Panorama
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tomas Slovinsky

    Explanation: What stars shine in Earth's northern hemisphere during
    winter? The featured image highlights a number of bright stars visible
    earlier this month. The image is a 360-degree horizontal-composite
    panorama of 66 vertical frames taken consecutively with the same camera
    and from the same location at about 2:30 am. Famous stars visible in
    the picture include Castor & Pollux toward the southeast on the left,
    Sirius just over the horizon toward the south, Capella just over the
    arch of the Milky Way Galaxy toward the west, and Polaris toward the
    north on the right. Captured by coincidence is a meteor on the far
    left. In the foreground is the Museum of the Orava Village in Zuberec,
    Slovakia. This village recreates rural life in the region hundreds of
    years ago, while the image captures a timeless sky surely familar to
    village residents, a sky also shared with northern residents around the
    world.

    Free Download: 2020 APOD Calendar
    Tomorrow's picture: sun ring
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Dec 25 00:09:40 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 25

    An Annular Solar Eclipse over New Mexico
    Image Credit & Copyright: Colleen Pinski

    Explanation: What is this person doing? In 2012 an annular eclipse of
    the Sun was visible over a narrow path that crossed the northern
    Pacific Ocean and several western US states. In an annular solar
    eclipse, the Moon is too far from the Earth to block out the entire
    Sun, leaving the Sun peeking out over the Moon's disk in a ring of
    fire. To capture this unusual solar event, an industrious photographer
    drove from Arizona to New Mexico to find just the right vista. After
    setting up and just as the eclipsed Sun was setting over a ridge about
    0.5 kilometers away, a person unknowingly walked right into the shot.
    Although grateful for the unexpected human element, the photographer
    never learned the identity of the silhouetted interloper. It appears
    likely, though, that the person is holding a circular device that would
    enable them to get their own view of the eclipse. The shot was taken at
    sunset on 2012 May 20 at 7:36 pm local time from a park near
    Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Tomorrow another annular solar eclipse
    will become visible, this time along a thin path starting in Saudi
    Arabia and going through southern India, Singapore, and Guam. However,
    almost all of Asia with a clear sky will be able to see, tomorrow, at
    the least, a partial solar eclipse.

    Free Download: 2020 APOD Calendar
    Tomorrow's picture: hexagon sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Dec 26 01:19:10 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 26

    The Northern Winter Hexagon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horálek

    Explanation: December's New Moon brought a solar eclipse to some for
    the holiday season. It also gave beautiful dark night skies to
    skygazers around the globe, like this moonless northern winter night.
    In the scene, bright stars of the Winter Hexagon along the Milky Way
    are rising. Cosy mountain cabins in the snowy foreground are near the
    village of Oravska Lesna, Slovakia. The shining celestial beacons
    marking the well-known asterism are Aldebaran, Capella, Pollux (and
    Castor), Procyon, Rigel, and Sirius. This winter nightscape also
    reveals faint nebulae in Orion, and the lovely Pleiades star cluster.
    Slide your cursor over the image to trace the winter hexagon, or just
    follow this link.

    Tomorrow's picture: a beautiful Trifid
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Dec 27 00:34:54 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 27

    A Partial Solar Eclipse Sequence Reflected
    Image Credit & Copyright: Majid Ghohroodi

    Explanation: What's happened to the Sun? Yesterday, if you were in the
    right place at the right time, you could see the Sun rise partially
    eclipsed by the Moon. The unusual sight was captured in dramatic
    fashion in the featured image not only directly, in a sequence of six
    images, but also in reflection from Soltan Salt Lake in Iran. The
    almost-white Sun appears dimmer and redder near the horizon primarily
    because Earth's atmosphere preferentially scatters away more blue
    light. Yesterday's partial solar eclipse appeared in the sky over much
    of Asia and Australia, but those with a clear enough sky in a thin band
    across the Earth's surface were treated to a more complete annular
    solar eclipse -- where the Moon appears completely surrounded by the
    Sun in what is known as a ring of fire. The next annular solar eclipse
    will occur in 2020 June.

    Notable Images Submitted to APOD: The Partial Solar Eclipse of 2019
    December
    Tomorrow's picture: triangle galaxy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 28 00:23:38 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 28

    A Distorted Sunrise Eclipse
    Image Credit & Copyright: Elias Chasiotis

    Explanation: Yes, but have you ever seen a sunrise like this? Here,
    after initial cloudiness, the Sun appeared to rise in two pieces and
    during partial eclipse, causing the photographer to describe it as the
    most stunning sunrise of his life. The dark circle near the top of the
    atmospherically-reddened Sun is the Moon -- but so is the dark peak
    just below it. This is because along the way, the Earth's atmosphere
    had an inversion layer of unusually warm air which acted like a
    gigantic lens and created a second image. For a normal sunrise or
    sunset, this rare phenomenon of atmospheric optics is known as the
    Etrucan vase effect. The featured picture was captured two mornings ago
    from Al Wakrah, Qatar. Some observers in a narrow band of Earth to the
    east were able to see a full annular solar eclipse -- where the Moon
    appears completely surrounded by the background Sun in a ring of fire.
    The next solar eclipse, also an annular eclipse, will occur in 2020
    June.

    Notable Images Submitted to APOD: The Partial Solar Eclipse of 2019
    December
    Tomorrow's picture: Why Saturn's rings disappear
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Dec 29 02:55:06 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 29

    Cassini Spacecraft Crosses Saturn's Ring Plane
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, JPL, ISS, Cassini Imaging Team; Processing:
    Fernando Garcia Navarro

    Explanation: If this is Saturn, where are the rings? When Saturn's
    "appendages" disappeared in 1612, Galileo did not understand why. Later
    that century, it became understood that Saturn's unusual protrusions
    were rings and that when the Earth crosses the ring plane, the edge-on
    rings will appear to disappear. This is because Saturn's rings are
    confined to a plane many times thinner, in proportion, than a razor
    blade. In modern times, the robot Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn
    frequently crossed Saturn's ring plane during its mission to Saturn,
    from 2004 to 2017. A series of plane crossing images from 2005 February
    was dug out of the vast online Cassini raw image archive by interested
    Spanish amateur Fernando Garcia Navarro. Pictured here, digitally
    cropped and set in representative colors, is the striking result.
    Saturn's thin ring plane appears in blue, bands and clouds in Saturn's
    upper atmosphere appear in gold. Details of Saturn's rings can be seen
    in the high dark shadows across the top of this image, taken back in
    2005. The moons Dione and Enceladus appear as bumps in the rings.

    Free Presentation: APOD Editor to show best astronomy images of 2019 --
    and the decade -- in NYC on January 3
    Tomorrow's picture: nebulae triple play
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Dec 30 01:07:00 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 30

    Messier 20 and 21
    Image Credit & Copyright: Stanislav Volskiy, Chilescope Team

    Explanation: The beautiful Trifid Nebula, also known as Messier 20, is
    easy to find with a small telescope in the nebula rich constellation
    Sagittarius. About 5,000 light-years away, the colorful study in cosmic
    contrasts shares this well-composed, nearly 1 degree wide field with
    open star cluster Messier 21 (top left). Trisected by dust lanes the
    Trifid itself is about 40 light-years across and a mere 300,000 years
    old. That makes it one of the youngest star forming regions in our sky,
    with newborn and embryonic stars embedded in its natal dust and gas
    clouds. Estimates of the distance to open star cluster M21 are similar
    to M20's, but though they share this gorgeous telescopic skyscape there
    is no apparent connection between the two. In fact, M21's stars are
    much older, about 8 million years old.

    Tomorrow's picture: M31's little sister
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Dec 31 02:32:38 2019
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2019 December 31

    M33: The Triangulum Galaxy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Rui Liao

    Explanation: The small, northern constellation Triangulum harbors this
    magnificent face-on spiral galaxy, M33. Its popular names include the
    Pinwheel Galaxy or just the Triangulum Galaxy. M33 is over 50,000
    light-years in diameter, third largest in the Local Group of galaxies
    after the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), and our own Milky Way. About 3
    million light-years from the Milky Way, M33 is itself thought to be a
    satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy and astronomers in these two galaxies
    would likely have spectacular views of each other's grand spiral star
    systems. As for the view from planet Earth, this sharp image shows off
    M33's blue star clusters and pinkish star forming regions along the
    galaxy's loosely wound spiral arms. In fact, the cavernous NGC 604 is
    the brightest star forming region, seen here at about the 7 o'clock
    position from the galaxy center. Like M31, M33's population of
    well-measured variable stars have helped make this nearby spiral a
    cosmic yardstick for establishing the distance scale of the Universe.

    Tomorrow's picture: a new decade
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jan 1 00:19:12 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 1

    Betelgeuse Imagined
    Illustration Credit: ESO, L. Calcada

    Explanation: Why is Betelgeuse fading? No one knows. Betelgeuse, one of
    the brightest and most recognized stars in the night sky, is only half
    as bright as it used to be only five months ago. Such variability is
    likely just normal behavior for this famously variable supergiant, but
    the recent dimming has rekindled discussion on how long it may be
    before Betelgeuse does go supernova. Known for its red color,
    Betelgeuse is one of the few stars to be resolved by modern telescopes,
    although only barely. The featured artist's illustration imagines how
    Betelgeuse might look up close. Betelgeuse is thought to have a complex
    and tumultuous surface that frequently throws impressive flares. Were
    it to replace the Sun (not recommended), its surface would extend out
    near the orbit of Jupiter, while gas plumes would bubble out past
    Neptune. Since Betelgeuse is about 700 light years away, its eventual
    supernova will not endanger life on Earth even though its brightness
    may rival that of a full Moon. Astronomers -- both amateur and
    professional -- will surely continue to monitor Betelgeuse as this new
    decade unfolds.

    Free Presentation: APOD Editor to show best astronomy images of 2019 --
    and the decade -- in NYC on January 3
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jan 2 00:09:10 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 2

    The Fainting of Betelgeuse
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jimmy Westlake (Colorado Mountain College)

    Explanation: Begirt with many a blazing star, Orion the Hunter is one
    of the most recognizable constellations. In this night skyscape the
    Hunter's stars rise in the northern hemisphere's winter sky on December
    30, 2019, tangled in bare trees near Newnan, Georgia, USA. Red super
    giant star Betelgeuse stands out in yellowish hues at Orion's shoulder
    left of center, but it no longer so strongly rivals the blue supergiant
    star Rigel at the Hunter's foot. In fact, skygazers around planet Earth
    can see a strikingly fainter Betelgeuse now, its brightness fading by
    more than half in the final months of 2019. Betelgeuse has long been
    known to be a variable star, changing its brightness in multiple cycles
    with approximate short and long term periods of hundreds of days to
    many years. The star is now close to its faintest since photometric
    measurements in 1926/27, likely due in part to a near coincidence in
    the minimum of short and long term cycles. Betelgeuse is also
    recognized as a nearby red supergiant star that will end its life in a
    core collapse supernova explosion sometime in the next 1,000 years,
    though that cosmic cataclysm will take place a safe 700 light-years or
    so from our fair planet.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 3 00:59:40 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 3

    Quadrantids over the Great Wall
    Image Credit & Copyright: Cheng Luo

    Explanation: Named for a forgotten constellation, the Quadrantid Meteor
    Shower is an annual event for planet Earth's northern hemisphere
    skygazers The shower's radiant on the sky lies within the old,
    astronomically obsolete constellation Quadrans Muralis. That location
    is not far from the Big Dipper, at the boundaries of the modern
    constellations Bootes and Draco. With the radiant out of the frame at
    the upper right, Quadrantid meteors streak through this night skyscape
    composed of digital frames recorded in the hours around the shower's
    peak on January 4, 2013. The last quarter moon illuminates rugged
    terrain and a section of the Great Wall in Hebei Province, China. A
    likely source of the dust stream that produces Quadrantid meteors was
    identified in 2003 as an asteroid. As usual, in 2020 the shower is
    expected to peak briefly on the night of January 3/4. Meteor fans in
    North America can anticpate a good show to celebrate the new year in
    moonless skies before tomorrow's dawn.

    Free Presentation: APOD Editor to show best astronomy images of 2019 --
    and the decade -->tonight in NYC.
    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jan 4 01:27:28 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 4

    Aurora Slathers Up the Sky
    Image Credit: Jack Fischer, Expedition 52, NASA

    Explanation: Like salsa verde on your favorite burrito, a green aurora
    slathers up the sky in this 2017 June 25 snapshot from the
    International Space Station. About 400 kilometers (250 miles) above
    Earth, the orbiting station is itself within the upper realm of the
    auroral displays. Aurorae have the signature colors of excited
    molecules and atoms at the low densities found at extreme altitudes.
    Emission from atomic oxygen dominates this view. The tantalizing glow
    is green at lower altitudes, but rarer reddish bands extend above the
    space station's horizon. The orbital scene was captured while passing
    over a point south and east of Australia, with stars above the horizon
    at the right belonging to the constellation Canis Major, Orion's big
    dog. Sirius, alpha star of Canis Major, is the brightest star near the
    Earth's limb.

    Tomorrow's picture: sauce serene
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jan 5 01:03:28 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 5

    A Starry Night of Iceland
    Image Credit: Stephane Vetter (Nuits sacrees)

    Explanation: On some nights, the sky is the best show in town. On this
    night, the sky was not only the best show in town, but a composite
    image of the sky won an international competition for landscape
    astrophotography. The featured winning image was taken in 2011 over
    Jkulsrln, the largest glacial lake in Iceland. The photographer
    combined six exposures to capture not only two green auroral rings, but
    their reflections off the serene lake. Visible in the distant
    background sky is the band of our Milky Way Galaxy and the Andromeda
    galaxy. A powerful coronal mass ejection from the Sun caused auroras to
    be seen as far south as Wisconsin, USA. As the Sun progresses away from
    its current low in surface activity toward a solar maximum a few years
    away, many more spectacular images of aurora are expected.

    Tomorrow's picture: jupiter tumult
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 6 00:23:16 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 6

    Tumultuous Clouds of Jupiter
    Image Credit & License: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Processing: Kevin
    M. Gill

    Explanation: Some cloud patterns on Jupiter are quite complex. The
    featured tumultuous clouds were captured in May by NASA's robotic Juno
    spacecraft currently orbiting our Solar System's largest planet. The
    image was taken when Juno was only about 15,000 kilometers over
    Jupiter's cloud tops, so close that less than half of the giant planet
    is visible. The rough white clouds on the far right are high altitude
    clouds known as pop-up clouds. Juno's mission, now extended into 2021,
    is to study Jupiter in new ways. Among many other things, Juno has been
    measuring Jupiter's gravitational field, finding surprising evidence
    that Jupiter may be mostly a liquid.

    Tomorrow's picture: star flame
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 7 00:23:08 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 7

    IC 405: The Flaming Star Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Eric Coles and Mel Helm

    Explanation: Rippling dust and gas lanes give the Flaming Star Nebula
    its name. The orange and purple colors of the nebula are present in
    different regions and are created by different processes. The bright
    star AE Aurigae, visible toward the image left, is so hot it is blue,
    emitting light so energetic it knocks electrons away from surrounding
    gas. When a proton recaptures an electron, red light is frequently
    emitted (depicted here in orange). The purple region's color is a mix
    of this red light and blue light emitted by AE Aurigae but reflected to
    us by surrounding dust. The two regions are referred to as emission
    nebula and reflection nebula, respectively. Pictured here in the Hubble
    color palette, the Flaming Star Nebula, officially known as IC 405,
    lies about 1500 light years distant, spans about 5 light years, and is
    visible with a small telescope toward the constellation of the
    Charioteer (Auriga).

    Tomorrow's picture: galaxies in the river
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jan 8 00:31:46 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 8

    Galaxies in the River
    Image Credit & Copyright: Star Shadows Remote Observatory, PROMPT, CTIO

    Explanation: Large galaxies grow by eating small ones. Even our own
    galaxy engages in a sort of galactic cannibalism, absorbing small
    galaxies that are too close and are captured by the Milky Way's
    gravity. In fact, the practice is common in the universe and
    illustrated by this striking pair of interacting galaxies from the
    banks of the southern constellation Eridanus, The River. Located over
    50 million light years away, the large, distorted spiral NGC 1532 is
    seen locked in a gravitational struggle with dwarf galaxy NGC 1531
    (right of center), a struggle the smaller galaxy will eventually lose.
    Seen edge-on, spiral NGC 1532 spans about 100,000 light-years. Nicely
    detailed in this sharp image, the NGC 1532/1531 pair is thought to be
    similar to the well-studied system of face-on spiral and small
    companion known as M51.

    Tomorrow's picture: happy perihelion
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jan 9 00:35:52 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 9

    Perihelion to Aphelion
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ian Griffin (Otago Museum)

    Explanation: Perihelion for 2020, the point in Earth's elliptical orbit
    when it is closest to the Sun, occurred on January 5th. The distance
    from the Sun doesn't determine the seasons, though. Those are governed
    by the tilt of Earth's axis of rotation, so January is still winter in
    the north and summer in southern hemisphere. But it does mean that on
    January 5 the Sun was at its largest apparent size. This composite
    neatly compares two pictures of the Sun, both taken from planet Earth
    with the same telescope and camera. The left half was captured on the
    date of the 2020 perihelion. The right was recorded only a week before
    the July 4 date of the 2019 aphelion, the farthest point in Earth's
    orbit. Otherwise difficult to notice, the change in the Sun's apparent
    diameter between perihelion and aphelion amounts to a little over 3
    percent. The 2020 perihelion and the preceding 2019 aphelion correspond
    to the closest and farthest perihelion and aphelion of the 21st
    century.

    Tomorrow's picture: clouds like pearls
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    > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 10 00:58:20 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 10

    Nacreous Clouds over Sweden
    Image Credit & Copyright: P-M Hedén (Clear Skies, TWAN)

    Explanation: Vivid and lustrous, wafting iridescent waves of color
    filled this mountain and skyscape near Tanndalen, Sweden on January 3.
    Known as nacreous clouds or mother-of-pearl clouds, they are rare. This
    northern winter season they have been making unforgettable appearances
    at high latitudes, though. A type of polar stratospheric cloud, they
    form when unusually cold temperatures in the usually cloudless lower
    stratosphere form ice crystals. Still sunlit at altitudes of around 15
    to 25 kilometers the clouds can diffract sunlight after sunset and
    before the dawn.

    Tomorrow's picture: and beyond
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jan 11 00:03:18 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 11

    NGC 602 and Beyond
    Image Credit: X-ray: Chandra: NASA/CXC/Univ.Potsdam/L.Oskinova et al;
    Optical: Hubble: NASA/STScI; Infrared: Spitzer: NASA/JPL-Caltech

    Explanation: Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a
    satellite galaxy some 200 thousand light-years distant, lies 5 million
    year young star cluster NGC 602. Surrounded by natal gas and dust, NGC
    602 is featured in this stunning Hubble image of the region, augmented
    by images in the X-ray by Chandra, and in the infrared by Spitzer.
    Fantastic ridges and swept back shapes strongly suggest that energetic
    radiation and shock waves from NGC 602's massive young stars have
    eroded the dusty material and triggered a progression of star formation
    moving away from the cluster's center. At the estimated distance of the
    Small Magellanic Cloud, the Picture spans about 200 light-years, but a
    tantalizing assortment of background galaxies are also visible in this
    sharp multi-colored view. The background galaxies are hundreds of
    millions of light-years or more beyond NGC 602.

    Tomorrow's picture: blue corona
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jan 12 00:55:48 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 12

    Stars and Dust in Corona Australis
    Image Credit & Copyright: CHART32 Team, Processing - Johannes Schedler

    Explanation: Cosmic dust clouds and young, energetic stars inhabit this
    telescopic vista, less than 500 light-years away toward the northern
    boundary of Corona Australis, the Southern Crown. The dust clouds
    effectively block light from more distant background stars in the Milky
    Way. But the striking complex of reflection nebulae cataloged as NGC
    6726, 6727, and IC 4812 produce a characteristic blue color as light
    from the region's young hot stars is reflected by the cosmic dust. The
    dust also obscures from view stars still in the process of formation.
    At the left, smaller yellowish nebula NGC 6729 bends around young
    variable star R Coronae Australis. Just below it, glowing arcs and
    loops shocked by outflows from embedded newborn stars are identified as
    Herbig-Haro objects. On the sky this field of view spans about 1
    degree. That corresponds to almost 9 light-years at the estimated
    distance of the nearby star forming region.

    Video: Best of APOD 2019 for the Night Sky Network
    Tomorrow's picture: desert eclipse
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 13 00:17:00 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 13

    A Desert Eclipse
    Image Credit & Copyright: Maxime Daviron

    Explanation: A good place to see a ring-of-fire eclipse, it seemed,
    would be from a desert. In a desert, there should be relatively few
    obscuring clouds and trees. Therefore late last December a group of
    photographers traveled to the United Arab Emirates and Rub al-Khali,
    the largest continuous sand desert in world, to capture clear images of
    an unusual eclipse that would be passing over. A ring-of-fire eclipse
    is an annular eclipse that occurs when the Moon is far enough away on
    its elliptical orbit around the Earth so that it appears too small,
    angularly, to cover the entire Sun. At the maximum of an annular
    eclipse, the edges of the Sun can be seen all around the edges of the
    Moon, so that the Moon appears to be a dark spot that covers most --
    but not all -- of the Sun. This particular eclipse, they knew, would
    peak soon after sunrise. After seeking out such a dry and barren place,
    it turned out that some of the most interesting eclipse images actually
    included a tree in the foreground, because, in addition to the sand
    dunes, the tree gave the surreal background a contrasting sense of
    normalcy, scale, and texture.

    Explore the Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: venusian volcano
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 14 00:28:02 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 14

    Evidence of an Active Volcano on Venus
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, ESA, Venus Express: VIRTIS, USRA, LPI

    Explanation: Are volcanoes still active on Venus? More volcanoes are
    known on Venus than Earth, but when Venusian volcanoes last erupted is
    not directly known. Evidence bolstering very recent volcanism on Venus
    has recently been uncovered, though, right here on Earth. Lab results
    showed that images of surface lava would become dim in the infrared in
    only months in the dense Venusian atmosphere, a dimming not seen in
    ESA's Venus Express images. Venus Express entered orbit around Venus in
    2006 and remained in contact with Earth until 2014. Therefore, the
    infrared glow (shown in false-color red) recorded by Venus Express for
    Idunn Mons and featured here on a NASA Magellan image indicates that
    this volcano erupted very recently -- and is still active today.
    Understanding the volcanics of Venus might lead to insight about the
    volcanics on Earth, as well as elsewhere in our Solar System.

    New: APOD now available in Turkish from Turkey
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jan 15 00:19:00 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 15

    Iridescent Clouds over Sweden
    Image Credit & Copyright: Goran Strand

    Explanation: Why would these clouds multi-colored? A relatively rare
    phenomenon in clouds known as iridescence can bring up unusual colors
    vividly or even a whole spectrum of colors simultaneously. These polar
    stratospheric clouds clouds, also known as nacreous and mother-of-pearl
    clouds, are formed of small water droplets of nearly uniform size. When
    the Sun is in the right position and, typically, hidden from direct
    view, these thin clouds can be seen significantly diffracting sunlight
    in a nearly coherent manner, with different colors being deflected by
    different amounts. Therefore, different colors will come to the
    observer from slightly different directions. Many clouds start with
    uniform regions that could show iridescence but quickly become too
    thick, too mixed, or too angularly far from the Sun to exhibit striking
    colors. The featured image and an accompanying video were taken late
    last year over Ostersund, Sweden.

    Follow APOD in English on: Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, or Twitter
    Tomorrow's picture: a stellar galaxy
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jan 16 00:13:08 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 16

    NGC 247 and Friends
    Image Credit & Copyright: Acquisition - Eric Benson, Processing -
    Dietmar Hager

    Explanation: About 70,000 light-years across, NGC 247 is a spiral
    galaxy smaller than our Milky Way. Measured to be only 11 million
    light-years distant it is nearby though. Tilted nearly edge-on as seen
    from our perspective, it dominates this telescopic field of view toward
    the southern constellation Cetus. The pronounced void on one side of
    the galaxy's disk recalls for some its popular name, the Needle's Eye
    galaxy. Many background galaxies are visible in this sharp galaxy
    portrait, including the remarkable string of four galaxies just below
    and left of NGC 247 known as Burbidge's Chain. Burbidge's Chain
    galaxies are about 300 million light-years distant. NGC 247 itself is
    part of the Sculptor Group of galaxies along with the shiny spiral NGC
    253.

    Tomorrow's picture: in stereo
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 17 01:20:10 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 17

    Apollo 17: A Stereo View from Lunar Orbit
    Gene Cernan, Apollo 17, NASA; Anaglyph by Patrick Vantuyne

    Explanation: Get out your red/blue glasses and check out this awesome
    stereo view of another world. The scene was recorded by Apollo 17
    mission commander Eugene Cernan on December 11, 1972, one orbit before
    descending to land on the Moon. The stereo anaglyph was assembled from
    two photographs (AS17-147-22465, AS17-147-22466) captured from his
    vantage point on board the Lunar Module Challenger as he and Dr.
    Harrison Schmitt flew over Apollo 17's landing site in the
    Taurus-Littrow Valley. The broad, sunlit face of the mountain dubbed
    South Massif rises near the center of the frame, above the dark floor
    of Taurus-Littrow to its left. Beyond the mountains, toward the lunar
    limb, lies the Moon's Mare Serenitatis. Piloted by Ron Evans, the
    Command Module America is visible in orbit in the foreground against
    the South Massif's peak.

    Tomorrow's picture: and beyond
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jan 18 03:07:46 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 18

    An Almost Eclipse of the Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gyorgy Soponyai

    Explanation: This composited series of images follows the Moon on
    January 10, the first Full Moon of 2020, in Hungarian skies. The lunar
    disk is in mid-eclipse at the center of the sequence though. It looks
    only slightly darker there as it passes through the light outer shadow
    or penumbra of planet Earth. In fact during this penumbral lunar
    eclipse the Moon almost crossed into the northern edge of Earth's dark
    central shadow or umbra. Subtle and hard to see, this penumbral lunar
    eclipse was the first of four lunar eclipses in 2020, all of which will
    be penumbral lunar eclipses.

    Tomorrow's picture: cosmic crustacean
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 20 00:15:46 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 20

    Quadrantid Meteors through Orion
    Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horálek

    Explanation: Why are these meteor trails nearly parallel? Because they
    were all shed by the same space rock and so can be traced back to the
    same direction on the sky: the radiant of the Quadrantid Meteor Shower.
    This direction used to be toward the old constellation of Quadrans
    Muralis, hence the name Quadrantids, but when the International
    Astronomical Union formulated its list of modern constellations in
    1922, this constellation did not make the list. Even though the meteors
    are now considered to originate from the recognized constellation of
    Bootes, the old name stuck. Regardless of the designation, every
    January the Earth moves through a dust stream and bits of this dust
    glow as meteors as they heat up in Earth's atmosphere. The featured
    image composite was taken on January 4 with a picturesque snowy
    Slovakian landscape in the foreground, and a deep-exposure sky
    prominently featuring the constellation Orion in the background. The
    red star Betelgeuse appears unusually dim -- its fading over the past
    few months is being tracked by astronomers.

    Teachers: APOD in the Classroom
    Tomorrow's picture: sun sounds
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 21 05:07:24 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 21

    Parker: Sounds of the Solar Wind
    Video Credit: NASA, JHUAPL, Naval Research Lab, Parker Solar Probe;
    Processing: Avi Solomon

    Explanation: What does the solar wind sound like? A wind of fast moving
    particles blows out from our Sun, and although space transmits sound
    poorly, particle impact and variable-field data from NASA's near-Sun
    Parker Solar Probe is being translated into sound. The disarming audio
    track of the featured video recounts several of these reverberations,
    including spooky-sounding Langmuir Waves (heard first),
    hurricane-sounding Whistler Mode Waves (heard next), and
    hard-to-describe Dispersive Chirping Waves (heard last). Also
    impressive is the video's time-lapse visual track which shows Parker's
    view to the side of its sun shield, and where the planets Earth,
    Jupiter, Mercury and Venus appear in succession, interspersed with
    bursts of powerful cosmic rays impacting the imager. The nature of the
    solar wind near Mercury is surprisingly different from near the Earth,
    and much study is underway to better understand the differences.

    Discovery + Outreach: Graduate student research position open for APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: nearest star cluster
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jan 22 00:10:34 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 22

    The Hyades Star Cluster
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jose Mtanous

    Explanation: It is the closest cluster of stars to the Sun. The Hyades
    open cluster is bright enough to have been remarked on even thousands
    of years ago, yet is not as bright or compact as the nearby Pleiades
    (M45) star cluster. Pictured here is a particularly deep image of the
    Hyades which has brings out vivid star colors and faint coincidental
    nebulas. The brightest star in the field is yellow Aldebaran, the eye
    of the bull toward the constellation of Taurus. Aldebaran, at 65
    light-years away, is now known to be unrelated to the Hyades cluster,
    which lies about 150 light-years away. The central Hyades stars are
    spread out over about 15 light-years. Formed about 625 million years
    ago, the Hyades likely shares a common origin with the Beehive cluster
    (M44), a naked-eye open star cluster toward the constellation of
    Cancer, based on M44's motion through space and remarkably similar age.

    Tomorrow's picture: roaming the halo
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jan 23 00:58:56 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 23

    Globular Star Cluster NGC 6752
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jose Joaquin Perez

    Explanation: Some 13,000 light-years away toward the southern
    constellation Pavo, the globular star cluster NGC 6752 roams the halo
    of our Milky Way galaxy. Over 10 billion years old, NGC 6752 follows
    clusters Omega Centauri and 47 Tucanae as the third brightest globular
    in planet Earth's night sky. It holds over 100 thousand stars in a
    sphere about 100 light-years in diameter. Telescopic explorations of
    the NGC 6752 have found that a remarkable fraction of the stars near
    the cluster's core, are multiple star systems. They also reveal the
    presence of blue straggle stars, stars which appear to be too young and
    massive to exist in a cluster whose stars are all expected to be at
    least twice as old as the Sun. The blue stragglers are thought to be
    formed by star mergers and collisions in the dense stellar environment
    at the cluster's core. This sharp color composite also features the
    cluster's ancient red giant stars in yellowish hues. (Note: The bright,
    spiky blue star at 11 o'clock from the cluster center is a foreground
    star along the line-of-sight to NGC 6752)

    Tomorrow's picture: shadow play
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 24 00:55:34 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 24

    Into the Shadow
    Image Credit & Copyright: Laszlo Francsics

    Explanation: On January 21, 2019 moonwatchers on planet Earth saw a
    total lunar eclipse. In 35 frames this composite image follows the Moon
    that night as it crossed into Earth's dark umbral shadow. Taken 3
    minutes apart, they almost melt together in a continuous screen that
    captures the dark colors within the shadow itself and the northern
    curve of the shadow's edge. Sunlight scattered by the atmosphere into
    the shadow causes the lunar surface to appear reddened during totality
    (left), but close to the umbra's edge, the limb of the eclipsed Moon
    shows a remarkable blue hue. The blue eclipsed moonlight originates as
    rays of sunlight pass through layers high in Earth's upper
    stratosphere, colored by ozone that scatters red light and transmits
    blue. The Moon's next crossing into Earth's umbral shadow, will be on
    May 26, 2021.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jan 25 01:55:44 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 25

    Rubin's Galaxy
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, B. Holwerda (University of Louisville)

    Explanation: In this Hubble Space Telescope image the bright, spiky
    stars lie in the foreground toward the heroic northern constellation
    Perseus and well within our own Milky Way galaxy. In sharp focus beyond
    is UGC 2885, a giant spiral galaxy about 232 million light-years
    distant. Some 800,000 light-years across compared to the Milky Way's
    diameter of 100,000 light-years or so, it has around 1 trillion stars.
    That's about 10 times as many stars as the Milky Way. Part of a current
    investigation to understand how galaxies can grow to such enormous
    sizes, UGC 2885 was also part of astronomer Vera Rubin's pioneering
    study of the rotation of spiral galaxies. Her work was the first to
    convincingly demonstrate the dominating presence of dark matter in our
    universe.

    Tomorrow's picture: Rubin's ridge
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jan 26 00:57:40 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 26

    Hills, Ridges, and Tracks on Mars
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS; Processing & Copyright: Thomas
    Appere

    Explanation: Sometimes, even rovers on Mars stop to admire the scenery.
    Just late last November the Curiosity rover on Mars paused to
    photograph its impressive surroundings. One thing to admire, straight
    ahead, was Central Butte, an unusual flat hill studied by Curiosity
    just a few days before this image was taken. To its right was distant
    Mount Sharp, the five-kilometer central peak of entire Gale crater, the
    interior of which Curiosity is exploring. Mount Sharp, covered in
    sulfates, appears quite bright in this colorized, red-filtered image.
    To the far left, shrouded in a very dark shadow, was the south slope of
    Vera Rubin ridge, an elevation explored previously by Curiosity.
    Between the ridge and butte were tracks left by Curiosity's wheels as
    they rolled forward, out of the scene. In the image foreground is, of
    course, humanity's current eyes on Mars: the complex robotic rover
    Curiosity itself. Later this year, if all goes well, NASA will have
    another rover -- and more eyes -- on Mars. Today you can help determine
    the name of this rover yourself, but tomorrow is the last day to cast
    your vote.

    Help Name the Mars 2020 Rover: Vote here!
    Tomorrow's picture: evaporating comet
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 27 01:40:36 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 27

    Comet CG Evaporates
    Image Credit & License: ESA, Rosetta, NAVCAM

    Explanation: Where do comet tails come from? There are no obvious
    places on the nuclei of comets from which the jets that create comet
    tails emanate. One of the best images of emerging jets is shown in the
    featured picture, taken in 2015 by ESA's robotic Rosetta spacecraft
    that orbited Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (Comet CG) from 2014 to
    2016. The picture shows plumes of gas and dust escaping numerous places
    from Comet CG's nucleus as it neared the Sun and heated up. The comet
    has two prominent lobes, the larger one spanning about 4 kilometers,
    and a smaller 2.5-kilometer lobe connected by a narrow neck. Analyses
    indicate that evaporation must be taking place well inside the comet's
    surface to create the jets of dust and ice that we see emitted through
    the surface. Comet CG (also known as Comet 67P) loses in jets about a
    meter of radius during each of its 6.44-year orbits around the Sun, a
    rate at which will completely destroy the comet in only thousands of
    years. In 2016, Rosetta's mission ended with a controlled impact onto
    Comet CG's surface.

    Outreach Astronomers: Future APOD writers sought.
    Tomorrow's picture: a tad spacey
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 28 00:58:36 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 28

    Star Formation in the Tadpole Nebula
    Image Credit: WISE, IRSA, NASA; Processing & Copyright: Francesco
    Antonucci

    Explanation: What's all of the commotion in the Tadpole Nebula? Star
    formation. Dusty emission in the Tadpole Nebula, IC 410, lies about
    12,000 light-years away in the northern constellation of the Charioteer
    (Auriga). The cloud of glowing gas is over 100 light-years across,
    sculpted by stellar winds and radiation from embedded open star cluster
    NGC 1893. Formed in the interstellar cloud a mere 4 million years ago,
    bright newly formed cluster stars are seen all around the star-forming
    nebula. Notable near the image center are two relatively dense
    streamers of material trailing away from the nebula's central regions.
    Potentially sites of ongoing star formation in IC 410, these cosmic
    tadpole shapes are about 10 light-years long. The featured image was
    taken in infrared light by NASA's Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer
    (WISE) satellite.

    Discovery + Outreach: Graduate student research position open for APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: steaming galaxy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jan 29 00:26:50 2020

    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 29

    Milky Way over Yellowstone
    Image Credit & Copyright: Lori Jacobs

    Explanation: The Milky Way was not created by an evaporating lake. The
    pool of vivid blue water, about 10 meters across, is known as Silex
    Spring and is located in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, USA.
    Steam rises off the spring, heated by a magma chamber deep underneath
    known as the Yellowstone hotspot. The steam blurs the image of Venus,
    making it seem unusually large. Unrelated and far in the distance, the
    central band of our Milky Way Galaxy rises high overhead, a band lit by
    billions of stars. The featured picture is a 3-image panorama taken
    last August. If the Yellowstone hotspot causes another supervolcanic
    eruption as it did 640,000 years ago, a large part of North America
    would be affected.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jan 30 00:48:30 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 30

    Two Clusters and a Comet
    Image Credit & Copyright: Rolando Ligustri (CARA Project, CAST)

    Explanation: This lovely starfield spans some four full moons (about 2
    degrees) across the heroic northern constellation of Perseus. In
    telescopic exposures made during the nights of January 24, 26, and 28
    it holds the famous pair of open or galactic star clusters h and Chi
    Persei with comet PanSTARRS (C/2017 T2) captured each night as it swept
    left to right across the field of view. Also cataloged as NGC 869
    (right) and NGC 884, both star clusters are about 7,000 light-years
    away and contain stars much younger and hotter than the Sun. Separated
    by only a few hundred light-years, the clusters are both 13 million
    years young based on the ages of their individual stars, evidence that
    they were likely a product of the same star-forming region. Discovered
    in 2017 while still beyond the orbit of Saturn, Comet PanSTARRs is a
    new visitor to the inner solar system and just over 13 light-minutes
    from planet Earth. Always a rewarding sight in binoculars, the Double
    Cluster is even visible to the unaided eye from dark locations. C/2017
    T2 could remain a telescopic comet though. One of the brightest comets
    anticipated in 2020 it makes its closest approach to the Sun in early
    May.

    Tomorrow's picture: Goldilocks and the Three Stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 31 00:18:58 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 January 31

    Goldilocks Zones and Stars
    Infographic Credit: NASA ESA, Z. Levy (STScI)

    Explanation: The Goldilocks zone is the habitable zone around a star
    where it's not too hot and not too cold for liquid water to exist on
    the surface of orbiting planets. This intriguing infographic includes
    relative sizes of those zones for yellow G stars like the Sun, along
    with orange K dwarf stars and red M dwarf stars, both cooler and
    fainter than the Sun. M stars (top) have small, close-in Goldilocks
    zones. They are also seen to live long (100 billion years or so) and
    are very abundant, making up about 73 percent of the stars in the Milky
    Way. Still, they have very active magnetic fields and may produce too
    much radiation harmful to life, with an estimated X-ray irradiance 400
    times the quiet Sun. Sun-like G stars (bottom) have large Goldilocks
    zones and are relatively calm, with low amounts of harmful radiation.
    But they only account for 6 percent of Milky Way stars and are much
    shorter lived. In the search for habitable planets, K dwarf stars could
    be just right, though. Not too rare they have 40 billion year
    lifetimes, much longer than the Sun. With a relatively wide habitable
    zone they produce only modest amounts of harmful radiation. These
    Goldilocks stars account for about 13 percent of the stars of the Milky
    Way.

    Tomorrow's picture: Apollo 14 Earthrise
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Feb 1 00:25:04 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 1

    Apollo 14 Heads for Home
    Image Credit Apollo 14, NASA, JSC, ASU (Image Reprocessing: Andy
    Saunders)

    Explanation: When leaving lunar orbit in February 1971, the crew of
    Apollo 14 watched this Earthrise from their command module Kittyhawk.
    With Earth's sunlit crescent just peaking over the lunar horizon, the
    cratered terrain in the foreground is along the lunar farside. Of
    course, while orbiting the Moon, the crew could watch Earth rise and
    set, but the Earth hung stationary in the sky over Fra Mauro Base,
    their landing site on the lunar surface. Rock samples brought back by
    the Apollo 14 mission included a 20 pound rock nicknamed Big Bertha,
    later determined to contain a likely fragment of a meteorite from
    planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: shocking infrared
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Feb 2 00:39:56 2020

    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 2

    Zeta Oph: Runaway Star
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Spitzer Space Telescope

    Explanation: Like a ship plowing through cosmic seas, runaway star Zeta
    Ophiuchi produces the arcing interstellar bow wave or bow shock seen in
    this stunning infrared portrait. In the false-color view, bluish Zeta
    Oph, a star about 20 times more massive than the Sun, lies near the
    center of the frame, moving toward the left at 24 kilometers per
    second. Its strong stellar wind precedes it, compressing and heating
    the dusty interstellar material and shaping the curved shock front.
    What set this star in motion? Zeta Oph was likely once a member of a
    binary star system, its companion star was more massive and hence
    shorter lived. When the companion exploded as a supernova
    catastrophically losing mass, Zeta Oph was flung out of the system.
    About 460 light-years away, Zeta Oph is 65,000 times more luminous than
    the Sun and would be one of the brighter stars in the sky if it weren't
    surrounded by obscuring dust. The image spans about 1.5 degrees or 12
    light-years at the estimated distance of Zeta Ophiuchi. Last week, NASA
    placed the Spitzer Space Telescope in safe mode, ending its 16
    successful years of studying our universe.

    News: NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope Ends Mission of Astronomical
    Discovery
    Tomorrow's picture: sun bubbling
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Feb 3 00:17:04 2020

    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 3

    Solar Granules at Record High Resolution
    Image Credit: NSO, NSF, AURA, Inouye Solar Telescope

    Explanation: Why does the Sun's surface keep changing? The help find
    out, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) has built the Daniel K.
    Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii, USA. The Inouye telescope has a
    larger mirror that enables the capturing of images of higher
    resolution, at a faster rate, and in more colors than ever before.
    Featured are recently-released first-light images taken over 10 minutes
    and combined into a 5-second time-lapse video. The video captures an
    area on the Sun roughly the size of our Earth, features granules
    roughly the size of a country, and resolves features as small as
    30-kilometers across. Granule centers are bright due to the upwelling
    hot solar plasma, while granule edges are dim due to the cooled plasma
    falling back. Some regions between granules edges are very bright as
    they are curious magnetic windows into a deep and hotter solar
    interior. How the Sun's magnetic field keeps changing, channeling
    energy, and affecting the distant Earth, among many other topics, will
    be studied for years to come using data from the new Inouye telescope.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 2,100+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: grand canyon night sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Feb 4 00:12:42 2020

    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 4

    A Sunset Night Sky over the Grand Canyon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Q. Fugate

    Explanation: Seeing mountain peaks glow red from inside the Grand
    Canyon was one of the most incredible sunset experiences of this
    amateur photographer's life. They appeared even more incredible later,
    when digitally combined with an exposure of the night sky -- taken by
    the same camera and from the same location -- an hour later. The two
    images were taken last August from the 220 Mile Canyon campsite on the
    Colorado River, Colorado, USA. The peaks glow red because they were lit
    by an usually red sunset. Later, high above, the band of the Milky Way
    Galaxy angled dramatically down, filled with stars, nebula, and dark
    clouds of dust. To the Milky Way's left is the planet Saturn, while to
    the right is the brighter Jupiter. Although Jupiter and Saturn are now
    hard to see, Venus will be visible and quite bright to the west in
    clear skies, just after sunset, for the next two months.

    Astrophotography with Your Computer: NASA's Astrophoto Challenges
    Tomorrow's picture: many moon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Feb 5 03:28:36 2020

    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 5

    Lunar Eclipse Perspectives
    Image Credit: F. Pichardo, G. Hogan, P. Horálek, F. Hemmerich, S.
    Schraebler, L. Hašpl, R. Eder;
    Processing & Copyright : Matipon Tangmatitham; Text: Matipon
    Tangmatitham (NARIT)

    Explanation: Do we all see the same Moon? Yes, but we all see it
    differently. One difference is the apparent location of the Moon
    against background stars -- an effect known as parallax. We humans use
    the parallax between our eyes to judge depth. To see lunar parallax,
    though, we need eyes placed at a much greater separations -- hundreds
    to thousands of kilometers apart. Another difference is that observers
    around the Earth all see a slightly different face of our spherical
    Moon -- an effect known as libration. The featured image is a composite
    of many views across the Earth, as submitted to APOD, of the total
    lunar eclipse of 2019 January 21. These images are projected against
    the same background stars to illustrate both effects. The accurate
    superposition of these images was made possible by a serendipitous
    meteorite impact on the Moon during the lunar eclipse, labeled here
    L1-21J -- guaranteeing that these submitted images were all taken
    within a split second.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Feb 6 00:03:00 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 6

    Southern Moonscape
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tom Glenn

    Explanation: The Moon's south pole is near the top of this detailed
    telescopic view. Looking across the rugged southern lunar highlands it
    was captured from southern California, planet Earth. At the Moon's
    third quarter phase the lunar terminator, the sunset shadow line, is
    approaching from the left. The scene's foreshortened perspective
    heightens the impression of a dense field of craters and makes the
    craters themselves appear more oval shaped close to the lunar limb.
    Below and left of center is sharp-walled crater Tycho, 85 kilometers in
    diameter. Young Tycho's central peak is still in sunlight, but casts a
    long shadow across the crater floor. The large prominent crater to the
    south (above) Tycho is Clavius. Nearly 231 kilometers in diameter its
    walls and floor are pocked with smaller, more recent, overlaying impact
    craters. Mountains visible along the lunar limb at the top can rise
    about 6 kilometers or so above the surrounding terrain.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Feb 7 02:50:02 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 7

    NGC 7331 Close Up
    Image Credit & License: ESA/Hubble & NASA/D. Milisavljevic (Purdue
    University)

    Explanation: Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 7331 is often touted as
    an analog to our own Milky Way. About 50 million light-years distant in
    the northern constellation Pegasus, NGC 7331 was recognized early on as
    a spiral nebula and is actually one of the brighter galaxies not
    included in Charles Messier's famous 18th century catalog. Since the
    galaxy's disk is inclined to our line-of-sight, long telescopic
    exposures often result in an image that evokes a strong sense of depth.
    In this Hubble Space Telescope close-up, the galaxy's magnificent
    spiral arms feature dark obscuring dust lanes, bright bluish clusters
    of massive young stars, and the telltale reddish glow of active star
    forming regions. The bright yellowish central regions harbor
    populations of older, cooler stars. Like the Milky Way, a supermassive
    black hole lies at the core of spiral galaxy NGC 7331.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Feb 8 02:57:30 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 8

    Cosmic Clouds in the Unicorn
    Image Credit & Copyright: Bray Falls

    Explanation: Interstellar clouds of hydrogen gas and dust abound in
    this gorgeous skyscape. The 3 degree wide field of view stretches
    through the faint but fanciful constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn. A
    star forming region cataloged as NGC 2264 is centered, a complex jumble
    of cosmic gas, dust and stars about 2,700 light-years distant. It mixes
    reddish emission nebulae excited by energetic light from newborn stars
    with dark dust clouds. Where the otherwise obscuring dust clouds lie
    close to hot, young stars they also reflect starlight, forming blue
    reflection nebulae. A few light-years across, a simple sculpted shape
    known as the Cone Nebula is near center. Outlined by the red glow of
    hydrogen gas, the cone points toward the left and bright, blue-white S
    Monocerotis. Itself a multiple system of massive, hot stars S Mon is
    adjacent to bluish reflection nebulae and the convoluted Fox Fur
    nebula. Expansive dark markings on the sky are silhouetted by a larger
    region of fainter emission with yellowish open star cluster Trumpler 5
    near the top of the frame. The curious compact cometary shape right of
    center is known as Hubble's Variable Nebula.

    Tomorrow's picture: closer to home
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Feb 9 00:51:56 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 9

    To Fly Free in Space
    Image Credit: NASA, STS-41B

    Explanation: What would it be like to fly free in space? At about 100
    meters from the cargo bay of the space shuttle Challenger, Bruce
    McCandless II was living the dream -- floating farther out than anyone
    had ever been before. Guided by a Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU),
    astronaut McCandless, pictured, was floating free in space. McCandless
    and fellow NASA astronaut Robert Stewart were the first to experience
    such an "untethered space walk" during Space Shuttle mission 41-B in
    1984. The MMU worked by shooting jets of nitrogen and was used to help
    deploy and retrieve satellites. With a mass over 140 kilograms, an MMU
    is heavy on Earth, but, like everything, is weightless when drifting in
    orbit. The MMU was later replaced with the SAFER backpack propulsion
    unit.

    Tomorrow's picture: eclipsing camel
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Feb 10 00:13:48 2020

    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 10

    Solar Eclipse over the UAE
    Image Credit & Copyright: Joshua Cripps

    Explanation: What's happening behind that camel? A partial eclipse of
    the Sun. About six and a half weeks ago, the Moon passed completely in
    front of the Sun as seen from a narrow band on the Earth. Despite
    (surely) many camels being located in this narrow band, only one found
    itself stationed between this camera, the distant Moon, and the even
    more distant Sun. To create this impressive superposition, though, took
    a well-planned trip to the United Arab Emirates, careful alignments,
    and accurate timings on the day of the eclipse. Although the resulting
    featured image shows a partially eclipsed Sun rising, the Moon went on
    to appear completely engulfed by the Sun in an annular eclipse known as
    a ring of fire. Forward scattering of sunlight, dominated by quantum
    mechanical diffraction, gives the camel hair and rope fray an unusual
    glow. The next solar eclipse is also an annular eclipse and will occur
    this coming June.

    Tomorrow's picture: sky divide
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Feb 11 03:29:36 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 11

    Launch of the Solar Orbiter
    Image Credit & Copyright: Derek Demeter (Emil Buehler Planetarium)

    Explanation: How does weather on the Sun affect humanity? To help find
    out, the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA have just launched the
    Solar Orbiter. This Sun-circling robotic spaceship will monitor the
    Sun's changing light, solar wind, and magnetic field not only from the
    usual perspective of Earth but also from above and below the Sun.
    Pictured, a long duration exposure of the launch of the Solar Orbiter
    shows the graceful arc of the bright engines of United Launch
    Alliance's Atlas V rocket as they lifted the satellite off the Earth.
    Over the next few years, the Solar Orbiter will use the gravity of
    Earth and Venus to veer out of the plane of the planets and closer to
    the Sun than Mercury. Violent weather on the Sun, including solar
    flares and coronal mass ejections, has shown the ability to interfere
    with power grids on the Earth and communications satellites in Earth
    orbit. The Solar Orbiter is expected to coordinate observations with
    the also Sun-orbiting Parker Solar Probe launched in 2018.

    Solar Orbiter to Space: Watch the Launch
    Tomorrow's picture: sky divide
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Feb 12 00:33:26 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 12

    Star Trails of the North and South
    Image Credit & Copyright: Saeid Parchini

    Explanation: What divides the north from the south? It all has to do
    with the spin of the Earth. On Earth's surface, the equator is the
    dividing line, but on Earth's sky, the dividing line is the Celestial
    Equator -- the equator's projection onto the sky. You likely can't see
    the Earth's equator around you, but anyone with a clear night sky can
    find the Celestial Equator by watching stars move. Just locate the
    dividing line between stars that arc north and stars that arc south.
    Were you on Earth's equator, the Celestial Equator would go straight up
    and down. In general, the angle between the Celestial Equator and the
    vertical is your latitude. The featured image combines 325 photos
    taken every 30 seconds over 162 minutes. Taken soon after sunset
    earlier this month, moonlight illuminates a snowy and desolate scene in
    northwest Iran. The bright streak behind the lone tree is the planet
    Venus setting.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Feb 13 00:15:44 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 13

    Spitzer's Trifid
    Image Credit: J. Rho (SSC/Caltech), JPL-Caltech, NASA

    Explanation: The Trifid Nebula, also known as Messier 20, is easy to
    find with a small telescope. About 30 light-years across and 5,500
    light-years distant it's a popular stop for cosmic tourists in the
    nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. As its name suggests, visible
    light pictures show the nebula divided into three parts by dark,
    obscuring dust lanes. But this penetrating infrared image reveals the
    Trifid's filaments of glowing dust clouds and newborn stars. The
    spectacular false-color view is courtesy of the Spitzer Space
    Telescope. Astronomers have used the infrared image data to count
    newborn and embryonic stars which otherwise can lie hidden in the natal
    dust and gas clouds of this intriguing stellar nursery. Launched in
    2003, Spitzer explored the infrared Universe from an Earth-trailing
    solar orbit until its science operations were brought to a close
    earlier this year, on January 30.

    Tomorrow's picture: pale blue
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Feb 14 00:19:38 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 14

    The Pale Blue Dot
    Image Credit: Voyager Project, NASA, JPL-Caltech

    Explanation: On Valentine's Day in 1990, cruising four billion miles
    from the Sun, the Voyager 1 spacecraft looked back one last time to
    make the first ever Solar System family portrait. The portrait consists
    of the Sun and six planets in a 60 frame mosaic made from a vantage
    point 32 degrees above the ecliptic plane. Planet Earth was captured
    within a single pixel in this single frame. It's the pale blue dot
    within the sunbeam just right of center in this reprocessed version of
    the now famous view from Voyager. Astronomer Carl Sagan originated the
    idea of using Voyager's camera to look back toward home from a distant
    perspective. Thirty years later, on this Valentine's day, look again at
    the pale blue dot.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Feb 15 00:18:32 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 15

    Carina Nebula Close Up
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, ESO, Amateur Data; Processing &
    Copyright: Robert Gendler & Roberto Colombari

    Explanation: A jewel of the southern sky, the Great Carina Nebula, also
    known as NGC 3372, spans over 300 light-years, one of our galaxy's
    largest star forming regions. Like the smaller, more northerly Great
    Orion Nebula, the Carina Nebula is easily visible to the unaided eye,
    though at a distance of 7,500 light-years it is some 5 times farther
    away. This gorgeous telescopic close-up reveals remarkable details of
    the region's central glowing filaments of interstellar gas and
    obscuring cosmic dust clouds in a field of view nearly 20 light-years
    across. The Carina Nebula is home to young, extremely massive stars,
    including the still enigmatic and violently variable Eta Carinae, a
    star system with well over 100 times the mass of the Sun. In the
    processed composite of space and ground-based image data a dusty,
    two-lobed Homunculus Nebula appears to surround Eta Carinae itself just
    below and left of center. While Eta Carinae is likely on the verge of a
    supernova explosion, X-ray images indicate that the Great Carina Nebula
    has been a veritable supernova factory.

    Tomorrow's picture: planetary nebula portrait
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Feb 16 00:12:14 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 16

    NGC 2392: Double-Shelled Planetary Nebula
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, Chandra; Processing & License: Judy
    Schmidt

    Explanation: To some, this huge nebula resembles a person's head
    surrounded by a parka hood. In 1787, astronomer William Herschel
    discovered this unusual planetary nebula: NGC 2392. More recently, the
    Hubble Space Telescope imaged the nebula in visible light, while the
    nebula was also imaged in X-rays by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The
    featured combined visible-X ray image, shows X-rays emitted by central
    hot gas in pink. The nebula displays gas clouds so complex they are not
    fully understood. NGC 2392 is a double-shelled planetary nebula, with
    the more distant gas having composed the outer layers of a Sun-like
    star only 10,000 years ago. The outer shell contains unusual light-year
    long orange filaments. The inner filaments visible are being ejected by
    strong wind of particles from the central star. The NGC 2392 Nebula
    spans about 1/3 of a light year and lies in our Milky Way Galaxy, about
    3,000 light years distant, toward the constellation of the Twins
    (Gemini).

    Tomorrow's picture: fade to red
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Feb 17 00:08:42 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 17

    The Changing Surface of Fading Betelgeuse
    Image Credit: ESO, M. Montargès et al.

    Explanation: Besides fading, is Betelgeuse changing its appearance?
    Yes. The famous red supergiant star in the familiar constellation of
    Orion is so large that telescopes on Earth can actually resolve its
    surface -- although just barely. The two featured images taken with the
    European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope show how the
    star's surface appeared during the beginning and end of last year. The
    earlier image shows Betelgeuse having a much more uniform brightness
    than the later one, while the lower half of Betelgeuse became
    significantly dimmer than the top. Now during the first five months of
    2019 amateur observations show Betelgeuse actually got slightly
    brighter, while in the last five months the star dimmed dramatically.
    Such variability is likely just normal behavior for this famously
    variable supergiant, but the recent dimming has rekindled discussion on
    how long it may be before Betelgeuse does go supernova. Since
    Betelgeuse is about 700 light years away, its eventual supernova --
    probably thousands of years in the future -- will likely be an amazing
    night-sky spectacle, but will not endanger life on Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: hunter stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Feb 18 00:29:08 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 18

    Orion over the Central Bohemian Highlands
    Image Credit & Copyright: Vojtěch Bauer

    Explanation: Do you recognize this constellation? Setting past the
    Central Bohemian Highlands in the Czech Republic is Orion, one of the
    most identifiable star groupings on the sky and an icon familiar to
    humanity for over 30,000 years. Orion has looked pretty much the same
    during this time and should continue to look the same for many
    thousands of years into the future. Prominent Orion is high in the sky
    at sunset this time of year, a recurring sign of (modern) winter in
    Earth's northern hemisphere and summer in the south. The featured
    picture is a composite of over thirty images taken from the same
    location and during the same night last month. Below and slightly to
    the left of Orion's three-star belt is the Orion Nebula, while four of
    the bright stars surrounding the belt are, clockwise, Sirius (far left,
    blue), Betelgeuse (top, orange, unusually faint), Aldebaran (far
    right), and Rigel (below). As future weeks progress, Orion will set
    increasingly earlier.

    Infinite Random Loop: Create an APOD Station in your classroom or
    Science Center.
    Tomorrow's picture: fastest galaxy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Feb 19 00:17:18 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 19

    UGC 12591: The Fastest Rotating Galaxy Known
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Copyright: Leo Shatz

    Explanation: Why does this galaxy spin so fast? To start, even
    identifying which type of galaxy UGC 12591 is difficult -- featured on
    the lower left, it has dark dust lanes like a spiral galaxy but a large
    diffuse bulge of stars like a lenticular. Surprisingly observations
    show that UGC 12591 spins at about 480 km/sec, almost twice as fast as
    our Milky Way, and the fastest rotation rate yet measured. The mass
    needed to hold together a galaxy spinning this fast is several times
    the mass of our Milky Way Galaxy. Progenitor scenarios for UGC 12591
    include slow growth by accreting ambient matter, or rapid growth
    through a recent galaxy collision or collisions -- future observations
    may tell. The light we see today from UGC 12591 left about 400 million
    years ago, when trees were first developing on Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Feb 20 00:17:16 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 20

    Trifecta at Twilight
    Image Credit & Copyright: Paul Schmit, Gary Schmit

    Explanation: On February 18, as civil twilight began in northern New
    Mexico skies, the International Space Station, a waning crescent Moon,
    and planet Mars for a moment shared this well-planned single field of
    view. From the photographer's location the sky had just begun to grow
    light, but the space station orbiting 400 kilometers above the Earth
    was already bathed in the morning sunlight. At 6:25am local time it
    took less than a second to cross in front of the lunar disk moving
    right to left in the composited successive frames. At the time, Mars
    itself had already emerged from behind the Moon following its much
    anticipated lunar occultation. The yellowish glow of the Red Planet is
    still in the frame at the upper right, beyond the Moon's dark edge.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Feb 21 00:01:28 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 21

    LDN 1622: Dark Nebula in Orion
    Image Credit & Copyright: Min Xie

    Explanation: The silhouette of an intriguing dark nebula inhabits this
    cosmic scene. Lynds' Dark Nebula (LDN) 1622 appears against a faint
    background of glowing hydrogen gas only visible in long telescopic
    exposures of the region. In contrast, the brighter reflection nebula
    vdB 62 is more easily seen, just above and right of center. LDN 1622
    lies near the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, close on the sky to
    Barnard's Loop, a large cloud surrounding the rich complex of emission
    nebulae found in the Belt and Sword of Orion. With swept-back outlines,
    the obscuring dust of LDN 1622 is thought to lie at a similar distance,
    perhaps 1,500 light-years away. At that distance, this 1 degree wide
    field of view would span about 30 light-years. Young stars do lie
    hidden within the dark expanse and have been revealed in Spitzer Space
    telescope infrared images. Still, the foreboding visual appearance of
    LDN 1622 inspires its popular name, the Boogeyman Nebula.

    Tomorrow's picture: Central Centaurus A
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Feb 22 00:09:34 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 22

    Central Centaurus A
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage (STScI/ AURA)-ESA/Hubble
    Collaboration

    Explanation: A mere 11 million light-years away, Centaurus A is the
    closest active galaxy to planet Earth. Also known as NGC 5128, the
    peculiar elliptical galaxy is over 60,000 light-years across. A region
    spanning about 8,500 light-years, including the galaxy's center (upper
    left), is framed in this sharp Hubble Space telescope close-up.
    Centaurus A is apparently the result of a collision of two otherwise
    normal galaxies resulting in a violent jumble of star forming regions,
    massive star clusters, and imposing dark dust lanes. Near the galaxy's
    center, left over cosmic debris is steadily being consumed by a central
    black hole with a billion times the mass of the Sun. As in other active
    galaxies, that process likely generates the radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray
    energy radiated by Centaurus A.

    Tomorrow's picture: simulated Universe
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Feb 23 00:36:02 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 23

    Illustris Simulation of the Universe
    Video Credit: Illustris Collaboration, NASA, PRACE, XSEDE, MIT, Harvard
    CfA;
    Music: The Poisoned Princess (Media Right Productions)

    Explanation: How did we get here? Click play, sit back, and watch. A
    computer simulation of the evolution of the universe provides insight
    into how galaxies formed and perspectives into humanity's place in the
    universe. The Illustris project exhausted 20 million CPU hours in 2014
    following 12 billion resolution elements spanning a cube 35 million
    light years on a side as it evolved over 13 billion years. The
    simulation tracks matter into the formation of a wide variety of galaxy
    types. As the virtual universe evolves, some of the matter expanding
    with the universe soon gravitationally condenses to form filaments,
    galaxies, and clusters of galaxies. The featured video takes the
    perspective of a virtual camera circling part of this changing
    universe, first showing the evolution of dark matter, then hydrogen gas
    coded by temperature (0:45), then heavy elements such as helium and
    carbon (1:30), and then back to dark matter (2:07). On the lower left
    the time since the Big Bang is listed, while on the lower right the
    type of matter being shown is listed. Explosions (0:50) depict
    galaxy-center supermassive black holes expelling bubbles of hot gas.
    Interesting discrepancies between Illustris and the real universe have
    been studied, including why the simulation produced an overabundance of
    old stars.

    Tomorrow's picture: lunar portal
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Feb 24 09:05:18 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 24

    Moon Corona, Halo, and Arcs over Manitoba
    Image Credit & Copyright: Brent Mckean

    Explanation: Yes, but could you get to work on time if the Moon looked
    like this? As the photographer was preparing to drive to work,
    refraction, reflection, and even diffraction of moonlight from millions
    of falling ice crystals turned the familiar icon of our Moon into a
    menagerie of other-worldly halos and arcs. The featured scene was
    captured with three combined exposures two weeks ago on a cold winter
    morning in Manitoba, Canada. The colorful rings are a corona caused by
    quantum diffraction by small drops of water or ice near the direction
    of the Moon. Outside of that, a 22-degree halo was created by moonlight
    refracting through six-sided cylindrical ice crystals. To the sides are
    moon dogs, caused by light refracting through thin, flat, six-sided ice
    platelets as they flittered toward the ground. Visible at the top and
    bottom of the 22-degree halo are upper and lower tangent arcs, created
    by moonlight refracting through nearly horizontal hexagonal ice
    cylinders. A few minutes later, from a field just off the road to work,
    the halo and arcs had disappeared, the sky had returned to normal --
    with the exception of a single faint moon dog.

    Tomorrow's picture: Jupiter-sized magnet
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Feb 25 00:18:32 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 25

    Jupiter's Magnetic Field from Juno
    Video Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Harvard U., K. Moore et al.

    Explanation: How similar is Jupiter's magnetic field to Earth's? NASA's
    robotic Juno spacecraft has found that Jupiter's magnetic field is
    surprisingly complex, so that the Jovian world does not have single
    magnetic poles like our Earth. A snapshot of Jupiter's magnetic field
    at one moment in time, as animated from Juno data, appears in the
    featured video. Red and blue colors depict cloud-top regions of strong
    positive (south) and negative (north) magnetic fields, respectively.
    Surrounding the planet are imagined lines of constant magnetic field
    strength. The first sequence of the animated video starts off by
    showing what appears to be a relatively normal dipole field, but soon a
    magnetic region now known as the Great Blue Spot rotates into view,
    which is not directly aligned with Jupiter's rotation poles. Further,
    in the second sequence, the illustrative animation takes us over one of
    Jupiter's spin poles where red magnetic hotspots are revealed to be
    extended and sometimes even annular. A better understanding of
    Jupiter's magnetic field may give clues toward a better understanding
    of Earth's enigmatic planetary magnetism.

    Tomorrow's picture: planet lost
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Feb 26 00:40:36 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 26

    NGST-10b: Discovery of a Doomed Planet
    Illustration Credit: ESA, C. Carreau; Text: Alex R. Howe (NASA/USRA,
    Science Meets Fiction Blog)

    Explanation: This hot jupiter is doomed. Hot jupiters are giant planets
    like Jupiter that orbit much closer to their parent stars than Mercury
    does to our Sun. But some hot jupiters are more extreme than others.
    NGTS-10b, illustrated generically, is the closest and fastest-orbiting
    giant planet yet discovered, circling its home star in only 18 hours.
    NGTS-10b is a little larger than Jupiter, but it orbits less than two
    times the diameter of its parent star away from the star’s surface.
    When a planet orbits this close, it is expected to spiral inward,
    pulled down by tidal forces to be eventually ripped apart by the star’s
    gravity. NGTS-10b, discovered by researchers at the University of
    Warwick, is named after the ESO’s Next Generation Transit Survey, which
    detected the imperiled planet when it passed in front of its star,
    blocking some of the light. Although the violent demise of NGTS-10b
    will happen eventually, we don't yet know when.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Feb 27 00:47:46 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 27

    Two Hemisphere Night Sky
    Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horálek/ESO, Juan Carlos Casado/IAC
    (TWAN)

    Explanation: The Sun is hidden by a horizon that runs across the middle
    in this two hemisphere view of Earth's night sky. The digitally
    stitched mosaics were recorded from corresponding latitudes, one 29
    degrees north and one 29 degrees south of the planet's equator. On top
    is the northern view from the IAC observatory at La Palma taken in
    February 2020. Below is a well-matched southern scene from the ESO La
    Silla Observatory recorded in April 2016. In this projection, the Milky
    Way runs almost vertically above and below the horizon. Its dark clouds
    and and bright nebulae are prominent near the galactic center in the
    lower half of the frame. In the upper half, brilliant Venus is immersed
    in zodiacal light. Sunlight faintly scattered by interplanetary dust,
    the zodiacal light traces the Solar System's ecliptic plane in a
    complete circle through the starry sky. Large telescope domes bulge
    along the inverted horizon from La Silla while at La Palma,
    multi-mirror Magic telescopes stand above center. Explore this two
    hemisphere night sky and you can also find the Andromeda Galaxy and the
    Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Feb 28 00:10:18 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 28

    South Celestial Rocket Launch
    Image Credit & Copyright: Brendan Gully

    Explanation: At sunset on December 6 a Rocket Lab Electron rocket was
    launched from a rotating planet. With multiple small satellites on
    board it departed on a mission to low Earth orbit dubbed Running Out of
    Fingers from Mahia Peninsula on New Zealand's north island. The firey
    trace of the Electron's graceful launch arc is toward the south in this
    southern sea and skyscape. Drifting vapor trails and rocket exhaust
    plumes catch the sunlight even as the sky grows dark though, the
    setting Sun still shinning at altitude along the rocket's trajectory.
    Fixed to a tripod, the camera's perspective nearly aligns the peak of
    the rocket arc with the South Celestial Pole, but no bright star marks
    that location in the southern hemisphere's evening sky. Still, it's
    easy to find at the center of the star trail arcs in the timelapse
    composite.

    Tomorrow's picture: DOY 60
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Feb 29 00:05:56 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 February 29

    Julius Caesar and Leap Days
    Image Credit & License: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc., Wikimedia

    Explanation: In 46 BC Julius Caesar reformed the calendar system. Based
    on advice by astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria, the Julian calendar
    included one leap day every four years to account for the fact that an
    Earth year is slightly more than 365 days long. In modern terms, the
    time it takes for the planet to orbit the Sun once is 365.24219 mean
    solar days. So if calendar years contained exactly 365 days they would
    drift from the Earth's year by about 1 day every 4 years and eventually
    July (named for Julius Caesar himself) would occur during the northern
    hemisphere winter. By adopting a leap year with an extra day every four
    years, the Julian calendar year would drift much less. In 1582 Pope
    Gregory XIII provided the further fine-tuning that leap days should not
    occur in years ending in 00, unless divisible by 400. This Gregorian
    Calendar system is the one in wide use today. Of course, tidal friction
    in the Earth-Moon system slows Earth's rotation and gradually lengthens
    the day by about 14 milliseconds per century. That means that leap days
    like today will not be necessary ... about 4 million years from now.

    Tomorrow's picture: a hole in Mars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Mar 1 00:57:28 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 1

    A Hole in Mars
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL, U. Arizona

    Explanation: What created this unusual hole in Mars? The hole was
    discovered by chance in 2011 on images of the dusty slopes of Mars'
    Pavonis Mons volcano taken by the HiRISE instrument aboard the robotic
    Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter currently circling Mars. The hole, shown in
    representative color, appears to be an opening to an underground
    cavern, partly illuminated on the image right. Analysis of this and
    follow-up images revealed the opening to be about 35 meters across,
    while the interior shadow angle indicates that the underlying cavern is
    roughly 20 meters deep. Why there is a circular crater surrounding this
    hole remains a topic of speculation, as is the full extent of the
    underlying cavern. Holes such as this are of particular interest
    because their interior caves are relatively protected from the harsh
    surface of Mars, making them relatively good candidates to contain
    Martian life. These pits are therefore prime targets for possible
    future spacecraft, robots, and even human interplanetary explorers.

    Tomorrow's picture: big dolphin
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Mar 2 00:36:32 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 2

    Sharpless-308: The Dolphin Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Chilesope 2, Pleaides Astrophotography Team
    (Peking U.)

    Explanation: Blown by fast winds from a hot, massive star, this cosmic
    bubble is much larger than the dolphin it appears to be. Cataloged as
    Sharpless 2-308 it lies some 5,200 light-years away toward the
    constellation of the Big Dog (Canis Major) and covers slightly more of
    the sky than a Full Moon. That corresponds to a diameter of 60
    light-years at its estimated distance. The massive star that created
    the bubble, a Wolf-Rayet star, is the bright one near the center of the
    nebula. Wolf-Rayet stars have over 20 times the mass of the Sun and are
    thought to be in a brief, pre-supernova phase of massive star
    evolution. Fast winds from this Wolf-Rayet star create the
    bubble-shaped nebula as they sweep up slower moving material from an
    earlier phase of evolution. The windblown nebula has an age of about
    70,000 years. Relatively faint emission captured in the featured
    expansive image is dominated by the glow of ionized oxygen atoms mapped
    to a blue hue.

    Tomorrow's picture: around the moon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Mar 3 01:17:58 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 3

    Apollo 13 Views of the Moon
    Video Credit: NASA, LRO; Data Visualization: Ernie Wright (USRA); Video
    Production & Editing: David Ladd (USRA);
    Music: Visions of Grandeur, Universal Production Music, Fredrick
    Wiedmann

    Explanation: What if the only way to get back to Earth was to go around
    the far side of the Moon? Such was the dilemma of the Apollo 13 Crew in
    1970 as they tried to return home in their unexpectedly damaged
    spacecraft. With the Moon in the middle, their perilous journey
    substituted spectacular views of the lunar farside for radio contact
    with NASA's Mission Control. These views have now been digitally
    recreated from detailed images of the Moon taken by the robotic Lunar
    Reconnaissance Orbiter. The featured video starts by showing Earth
    disappear behind a dark lunar limb, while eight minutes later the Sun
    rises around the opposite side of the Moon and begins to illuminate the
    Moon's unusual and spectacularly cratered surface. Radio contact was
    only re-established several minutes after that, as a crescent Earth
    rose into view. With the gravity of the Moon and the advice of many
    industrious NASA engineers and scientists, a few days later Apollo 13
    opened its parachutes over the Pacific Ocean and landed safely back on
    Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: galaxies dance
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Mar 4 01:23:10 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 4

    The Slow Dance of Galaxies NGC 5394 and 5395
    Image Credit: Gemini, NSF, OIR Lab, AURA; Text: Ryan Tanner (NASA/USRA)

    Explanation: If you like slow dances, then this may be one for you. A
    single turn in this dance takes several hundred million years. Two
    galaxies, NGC 5394 and NGC 5395, slowly whirl about each other in a
    gravitational interaction that sets off a flourish of sparks in the
    form of new stars. The featured image, taken with the Gemini North
    8-meter telescope on Maunakea, Hawaii, USA, combines four different
    colors. Emission from hydrogen gas, colored red, marks stellar
    nurseries where new stars drive the evolution of the galaxies. Also
    visible are dark dust lanes that mark gas that will eventually become
    stellar nurseries. If you look carefully you will see many more
    galaxies in the background, some involved in their own slow cosmic
    dances.

    APOD across world languages: Arabic, Catalan, Chinese (Beijing),
    Chinese (Taiwan), Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Farsi, French,
    French, German, Hebrew, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Montenegrin,
    Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovenian, Spanish and Ukrainian
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Mar 5 00:18:06 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 5

    The Light, the Dark, and the Dusty
    Image Credit & Copyright: Casey Good

    Explanation: This colorful skyscape spans about four full moons across
    nebula rich starfields along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy in the
    royal northern constellation Cepheus. Near the edge of the region's
    massive molecular cloud some 2,400 light-years away, bright reddish
    emission region Sharpless (Sh) 155 is left of center, also known as the
    Cave Nebula. About 10 light-years across the cosmic cave's bright walls
    of gas are ionized by ultraviolet light from the hot young stars around
    it. Dusty blue reflection nebulae, like vdB 155 at lower right, and
    dense obscuring clouds of dust also abound on the interstellar canvas.
    Astronomical explorations have revealed other dramatic signs of star
    formation, including the bright red fleck of Herbig-Haro (HH) 168.
    Below center in the frame, the Herbig-Haro object emission is generated
    by energetic jets from a newborn star.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Mar 6 01:09:42 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 6

    Mars Panorama from Curiosity
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS

    Explanation: The Mars Rover named Curiosity recorded high-resolution,
    360 degree views of its location on Mars late last year. The panoramic
    scene was stitched from over 1,000 images from Curiosity's Mast camera
    or Mastcam. In this version, captured with Mastcam's medium angle lens,
    the rover's deck and robotic arm are in the foreground, stretched and
    distorted by the extreme wide perspective. Just beyond the rover are
    regions of clay rich rock, evidence for an ancient watery environment,
    with a clear view toward more distant martian ridges and buttes. Gale
    crater wall runs across the center (toward the north) in the background
    over 30 kilometers in the distance. The upper reaches of Mt. Sharp are
    at the far right. Images to construct the panorama were recorded over 4
    consecutive sols between local noon and 2pm to provide consistent
    lighting. Zoom in to the panoramic scene and you can easily spot the
    shadow casting sundial mounted on rover's deck (right). In July NASA
    plans to launch a new rover to Mars named Perseverance.

    Tomorrow's picture: under the stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Mar 7 00:14:48 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 7

    Pic du Midi Panorama
    Image Credit & Copyright: Patrick Lécureuil

    Explanation: A surreal night skyscape, this panorama stitched from 12
    photos looks to the west at an evening winter sky over Pic du Midi
    Observatory, Pyrenees Mountains, Planet Earth. Telescope domes and a
    tall communications tower inhabit the rugged foreground. On the right,
    lights from Tarbes, France about 35 kilometers away impinge on the
    designated dark sky site though, but more distant terrestrial lights
    seen toward the left are from cities in Spain. Stars and nebulae of the
    northern winter's Milky Way arc through the sky above. Known to the
    planet's night skygazers, the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters still
    hang over the western horizon near center. Captured in mid February the
    familiar stars of the constellation Orion are to the left and include
    the no longer fainting star Betelgeuse.

    Tomorrow's picture: stellar winds
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Mar 8 00:27:52 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 8

    Wolf-Rayet Star 124: Stellar Wind Machine
    Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, NASA, ESA; Processing & License:
    Judy Schmidt

    Explanation: Some stars explode in slow motion. Rare, massive
    Wolf-Rayet stars are so tumultuous and hot that they are slowly
    disintegrating right before our telescopes. Glowing gas globs each
    typically over 30 times more massive than the Earth are being expelled
    by violent stellar winds. Wolf-Rayet star WR 124, visible near the
    featured image center spanning six light years across, is thus creating
    the surrounding nebula known as M1-67. Details of why this star has
    been slowly blowing itself apart over the past 20,000 years remains a
    topic of research. WR 124 lies 15,000 light-years away towards the
    constellation of the Arrow (Sagitta). The fate of any given Wolf-Rayet
    star likely depends on how massive it is, but many are thought to end
    their lives with spectacular explosions such as supernovas or gamma-ray
    bursts.

    Tomorrow's picture: light after sunset
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Mar 9 00:15:32 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 9

    Milky Way and Zodiacal Light over Chile
    Image Credit & Copyright: Roman PonÄ
    a (ht: Masaryk U.)

    Explanation: What is the band of light connecting the ground to the
    Milky Way? Zodiacal light -- a stream of dust that orbits the Sun in
    the inner Solar System. It is most easily seen just before sunrise,
    where it has been called a false dawn, or just after sunset. The origin
    of zodiacal dust remains a topic of research, but is hypothesized to
    result from asteroid collisions and comet tails. The featured
    wide-angle image shows the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy arching
    across the top, while the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite
    galaxy to our Milky Way, is visible on the far left. The image is a
    combination of over 30 exposures taken last July near La Serena among
    the mountains of Chile. During the next two months, zodiacal light can
    appear quite prominent in northern skies just after sunset.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: cone of stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Mar 10 06:32:08 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 10

    Wide Field: Fox Fur, Unicorn, and Christmas Tree
    Image Credit & Copyright: Greg Gurdak

    Explanation: What do the following things have in common: a cone, the
    fur of a fox, and a Christmas tree? Answer: they all occur in the
    constellation of the unicorn (Monoceros). Pictured as a star forming
    region and cataloged as NGC 2264, the complex jumble of cosmic gas and
    dust is about 2,700 light-years distant and mixes reddish emission
    nebulae excited by energetic light from newborn stars with dark
    interstellar dust clouds. Where the otherwise obscuring dust clouds lie
    close to the hot, young stars they also reflect starlight, forming blue
    reflection nebulae. The featured wide-field image spans over three
    times the diameter of a full moon, covering over 100 light-years at the
    distance of NGC 2264. Its cast of cosmic characters includes the Fox
    Fur Nebula, whose convoluted pelt lies just to the lower right of the
    image center, bright variable star S Mon visible just above the Fox
    Fur, and the Cone Nebula just to the left. Given their distribution,
    the stars of NGC 2264 are also known as the Christmas Tree star
    cluster.

    Tomorrow's picture: extreme boom
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Mar 11 00:02:08 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 11

    An Extreme Black Hole Outburst
    Image Credit: X-ray: Chandra: NASA/CXC/NRL/S. Giacintucci, et al.,
    XMM-Newton: ESA/XMM-Newton; Radio: NCRA/TIFR/GMRT; Infrared:
    2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF; Text: Michael F. Corcoran (NASA,
    Catholic U., HEAPOW)

    Explanation: Astronomers believe they have now found the most powerful
    example of a black hole outburst yet seen in our Universe. The
    composite, false-color featured image is of a cluster of galaxies in
    the constellation of Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer. The composite
    includes X-ray images (from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and
    XMM-Newton) in purple, and a radio image (from India's Giant Metrewave
    Radio Telescope) in blue (along with an infrared image of the galaxies
    and stars in the field in white for good measure). The dashed line
    marks the border of a cavity blown out by the supermassive black hole
    which lurks at the center of the galaxy marked by the cross. Radio
    emission fills this cavity. This big blowout is believed to be due to
    the black hole eating too much and experiencing a transient bout of
    "black hole nausea", which resulted in the ejection of a powerful radio
    jet blasting into intergalactic space. The amount of energy needed to
    blow this cavity is equivalent to about 10 billion supernova
    explosions.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Mar 12 00:24:38 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 12

    Falcon 9 Boostback
    Image Credit & Copyright: John Kraus

    Explanation: Short star trails appear in this single 84 second long
    exposure, taken on March 6 from a rotating planet. The remarkable scene
    also captures the flight of a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo
    spacecraft over Cape Canaveral Air Force Station shortly after launch,
    on a resupply mission bound for the International Space Station.
    Beginning its return to a landing zone about 9 kilometers from the
    launch site, the Falcon 9 first stage boostback burn arcs toward the
    top of the frame. The second stage continues toward low Earth orbit
    though, its own fiery arc traced below the first stage boostback burn
    from the camera's perspective, along with expanding exhaust plumes from
    the two stages. This Dragon spacecraft was a veteran of two previous
    resupply missions. Successfully returning to the landing zone, this
    Falcon 9 first stage had flown before too. Its second landing marked
    the 50th landing of a SpaceX orbital class rocket booster.

    Tomorrow's picture: an awesome starry night
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Mar 13 00:13:58 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 13

    Starry Night by Jean-Francois Millet
    Digital Reproduction Credit: Yale University Art Gallery - Text: Letty
    Bonnell

    Explanation: A dramatic nocturnal landscape from around 1850, this oil
    painting is the work of French artist Jean-Francois Millet. In the dark
    and atmospheric night sky are shooting stars, known too as meteors,
    above a landscape showing a path through the faintly lit countryside
    that leads toward trees and a cart in silhouette on the horizon. Millet
    was raised in a farming family in Normandy and is known for his
    paintings of rural scenes and peasant life. This Starry Night was
    painted after the artist moved to Barbizon, about 30 kilometers
    southeast of any 19th century light pollution from Paris. Millet wrote
    to his brother at this time, "If only you knew how beautiful the night
    is ... the calm and grandeur of it are so awesome that I find that I
    actually feel overwhelmed." Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh was an
    admirer of Millet's work, and later also painted two dramatic starry
    nights.

    Tomorrow's picture: pi in the sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Mar 14 00:19:22 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 14

    Moonrise and Mountain Shadow
    Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel Lopez (El Cielo de Canarias)

    Explanation: What phase of the Moon is 3.14 radians from the Sun? The
    Full Moon, of course. Even though the Moon might look full for several
    days, the Moon is truly at its full phase when it is 3.14 radians (aka
    180 degrees) from the Sun in ecliptic longitude. That's opposite the
    Sun in planet Earth's sky. Rising as the Sun set on March 9, only an
    hour or so after the moment of its full phase, this orange tinted and
    slightly flattened Moon still looked full. It was photographed opposite
    the setting Sun from Teide National Park on the Canary Island of
    Tenerife. Also opposite the setting Sun, seen from near the Teide
    volcano peak about 3,500 meters above sea level, is the mountain's
    rising triangular shadow extending into Earth's dense atmosphere. Below
    the distant ridge line on the left are the white telescope domes of
    Teide Observatory

    Tomorrow's picture: comet blizzard
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Mar 15 00:34:16 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 15

    The Snows of Churyumov-Gerasimenko
    Images Credit: ESA, Rosetta, MPS, OSIRIS;
    UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA;
    Animation: Jacint Roger Perez

    Explanation: You couldn't really be caught in this blizzard while
    standing by a cliff on Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Orbiting the comet --
    frequently abbreviated as 67P or CG -- in June of 2016, the Rosetta
    spacecraft's narrow angle camera did record streaks of dust and ice
    particles -- similar to snow -- as they drifted across the field of
    view near the camera and above the comet's surface. Some of the bright
    specks in the scene, however, are likely due to a rain of energetic
    charged particles or cosmic rays hitting the camera, and the dense
    background of stars in the direction of the constellation of the Big
    Dog (Canis Major). In the featured video, these background stars are
    easy to spot trailing from top to bottom. The stunning movie was
    constructed from 33 consecutive images taken over 25 minutes while
    Rosetta cruised some 13 kilometers from the comet's nucleus.

    Tomorrow's picture: almost saturn
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Mar 16 00:24:34 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 16

    A Moon Dressed Like Saturn
    Image Credit & Copyright: Francisco Sojuel

    Explanation: Why does Saturn appear so big? It doesn't -- what is
    pictured are foreground clouds on Earth crossing in front of the Moon.
    The Moon shows a slight crescent phase with most of its surface visible
    by reflected Earthlight known as ashen glow. The Sun directly
    illuminates the brightly lit lunar crescent from the bottom, which
    means that the Sun must be below the horizon and so the image was taken
    before sunrise. This double take-inducing picture was captured on 2019
    December 24, two days before the Moon slid in front of the Sun to
    create a solar eclipse. In the foreground, lights from small Guatemalan
    towns are visible behind the huge volcano Pacaya.

    Follow APOD in English on: Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, or Twitter
    Tomorrow's picture: galaxy swirl
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Mar 17 00:16:40 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 17

    M77: Spiral Galaxy with an Active Center
    Image Credit: Hubble, NASA, ESA; Processing & License: Judy Schmidt

    Explanation: What's happening in the center of nearby spiral galaxy
    M77? The face-on galaxy lies a mere 47 million light-years away toward
    the constellation of the Sea Monster (Cetus). At that estimated
    distance, this gorgeous island universe is about 100 thousand
    light-years across. Also known as NGC 1068, its compact and very bright
    core is well studied by astronomers exploring the mysteries of
    supermassive black holes in active Seyfert galaxies. M77 and its active
    core glows bright at x-ray, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and radio
    wavelengths. The featured sharp image of M77 was taken by the Hubble
    Space Telescope and is dominated by the (visible) red light emitted by
    hydrogen. The image shows details of the spiral's winding spiral arms
    as traced by obscuring dust clouds, and red-tinted star forming regions
    close in to the galaxy's luminous core.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 2,100+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: amazing rays
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Mar 18 00:29:20 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 18

    Anticrepuscular Rays over Florida
    Image Credit & Copyright: Bryan Goff

    Explanation: What's happening behind those clouds? Although the scene
    may appear somehow supernatural, nothing more unusual is occurring than
    a Sun setting on the other side of the sky. Pictured here are
    anticrepuscular rays. To understand them, start by picturing common
    crepuscular rays that are seen any time that sunlight pours though
    scattered clouds. Now although sunlight indeed travels along straight
    lines, the projections of these lines onto the spherical sky are great
    circles. Therefore, the crepuscular rays from a setting (or rising) sun
    will appear to re-converge on the other side of the sky. At the
    anti-solar point 180 degrees around from the Sun, they are referred to
    as anticrepuscular rays. Featured here is a particularly striking
    display of anticrepuscular rays photographed in 2016 over Dry Tortugas
    National Park in Florida, USA.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Mar 19 01:03:32 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 19

    M13: The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules
    Image Credit & Copyright: Eric Coles and Mel Helm

    Explanation: In 1716, English astronomer Edmond Halley noted, "This is
    but a little Patch, but it shews itself to the naked Eye, when the Sky
    is serene and the Moon absent." Of course, M13 is now less modestly
    recognized as the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, one of the
    brightest globular star clusters in the northern sky. Sharp telescopic
    views like this one reveal the spectacular cluster's hundreds of
    thousands of stars. At a distance of 25,000 light-years, the cluster
    stars crowd into a region 150 light-years in diameter. Approaching the
    cluster core upwards of 100 stars could be contained in a cube just 3
    light-years on a side. For comparison, the closest star to the Sun is
    over 4 light-years away. The remarkable range of brightness recorded in
    this image follows stars into the dense cluster core and reveals three
    subtle dark lanes forming the apparent shape of a propeller just below
    and slightly left of center. Distant background galaxies in the
    medium-wide field of view include NGC 6207 at the upper left.

    Tomorrow's picture: when night/day = 1
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Mar 20 00:30:32 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 20

    Morning, Planets, Moon and Montreal
    Image Credit & Copyright: Arnaud Mariat

    Explanation: Dawn's early light came to Montreal, northern planet
    Earth, on March 18, the day before the vernal equinox. At the end of
    that nearly equal night the Moon stands above a dense constellation of
    urban lights in this serene city and skyscape. Of course the Moon's
    waning crescent faces toward the rising Sun. Skygazers could easily
    spot bright Jupiter just above the Moon, close on the sky to a fainter
    Mars. Saturn, a telescopic favorite, is just a pinprick of light below
    and farther left of the closer conjunction of Moon, Jupiter and Mars.
    Near the ecliptic, even Mercury is rising along a line extended to the
    horizon from Jupiter and Saturn. The elusive inner planet is very close
    to the horizon though, and not quite visible in this morning's sky.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Mar 21 00:12:12 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 21

    Comet ATLAS and the Mighty Galaxies
    Image Credit & Copyright: Rolando Ligustri (CARA Project, CAST)

    Explanation: Comet ATLAS C/2019 Y4 was discovered by the NASA funded
    Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, the last comet discovery
    reported in 2019. Now growing brighter in northern night skies, the
    comet's pretty greenish coma is at the upper left of this telescopic
    skyview captured from a remotely operated observatory in New Mexico on
    March 18. At lower right are M81 and M82, well-known as large,
    gravitationally interacting galaxies. Seen through faint dust clouds
    above the Milky Way, the galaxy pair lies about 12 million light-years
    distant, toward the constellation Ursa Major. In bound Comet ATLAS is
    about 9 light-minutes from Earth, still beyond the orbit of Mars. The
    comet's elongated orbit is similar to orbit of the Great Comet of 1844
    though, a trajectory that will return this comet to the inner Solar
    System in about 6,000 years. Comet ATLAS will reach a perihelion or
    closest approach to the Sun on May 31 inside the orbit of Mercury and
    may become a naked-eye comet in the coming days.

    Tomorrow's picture: moon down
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Mar 22 00:15:30 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 22

    Moon Setting Behind Teide Volcano
    Video Credit & Copyright: Daniel L<pez (El Cielo de Canarias); Music:
    Piano della Moon (Dan Silva)

    Explanation: These people are not in danger. What is coming down from
    the left is just the Moon, far in the distance. Luna appears so large
    here because she is being photographed through a telescopic lens. What
    is moving is mostly the Earth, whose spin causes the Moon to slowly
    disappear behind Mount Teide, a volcano in the Canary Islands off the
    northwest coast of Africa. The people pictured are 16 kilometers away
    and many are facing the camera because they are watching the Sun rise
    behind the photographer. It is not a coincidence that a full moon rises
    just when the Sun sets because the Sun is always on the opposite side
    of the sky from a full moon. The featured video was made two years ago
    during the full Milk Moon. The video is not time-lapse -- this was
    really how fast the Moon was setting.

    Free Video Lectures: Introductory Astronomy
    Tomorrow's picture: clusters & dust
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Mar 23 00:25:00 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 23

    From the Pleiades to the Eridanus Loop
    Image Credit & Copyright: Hirofumi Okubo

    Explanation: If you stare at an interesting patch of sky long enough,
    will it look different? In the case of Pleiades and Hyades star
    clusters -- and surrounding regions -- the answer is: yes, pretty
    different. Long duration camera exposures reveal an intricate network
    of interwoven interstellar dust and gas that was previously invisible
    not only to the eye but to lower exposure images. In the featured wide
    and deep mosaic, the dust stands out spectacularly, with the familiar
    Pleaides star cluster visible as the blue patch near the top of the
    image. Blue is the color of the Pleiades' most massive stars, whose
    distinctive light reflects from nearby fine dust. On the upper left is
    the Hyades star cluster surrounding the bright, orange, foreground-star
    Aldebaran. Red glowing emission nebula highlight the bottom of the
    image, including the curving vertical red ribbon known as the Eridanus
    Loop. The pervasive dust clouds appear typically in light brown and are
    dotted with unrelated stars.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: black hole shredder
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Mar 24 00:08:08 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 24

    A Black Hole Disrupts a Passing Star
    Illustration Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech

    Explanation: What happens to a star that goes near a black hole? If the
    star directly impacts a massive black hole, then the star falls in
    completely -- and everything vanishes. More likely, though, the star
    goes close enough to have the black hole's gravity pull away the outer
    layers of the star, or disrupt the star. Then most of the star's gas
    does not fall into the black hole. These stellar tidal disruption
    events can be as bright as a supernova, and an increasing amount of
    them are being discovered by automated sky surveys. In the featured
    artist's illustration, a star has just passed a massive black hole and
    sheds gas that continues to orbit. The inner edge of a disk of gas and
    dust surrounding the black hole is heated by the disruption event and
    may glow long after the star is gone.

    Tomorrow's picture: star wings
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Mar 25 07:26:56 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 25

    Star Forming Region S106
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive; Processing & Copyright:
    Utkarsh Mishra

    Explanation: Massive star IRS 4 is beginning to spread its wings. Born
    only about 100,000 years ago, material streaming out from this newborn
    star has formed the nebula dubbed Sharpless 2-106 Nebula (S106),
    featured here. A large disk of dust and gas orbiting Infrared Source 4
    (IRS 4), visible in brown near the image center, gives the nebula an
    hourglass or butterfly shape. S106 gas near IRS 4 acts as an emission
    nebula as it emits light after being ionized, while dust far from IRS 4
    reflects light from the central star and so acts as a reflection
    nebula. Detailed inspection of a relevant infrared image of S106 reveal
    hundreds of low-mass brown dwarf stars lurking in the nebula's gas.
    S106 spans about 2 light-years and lies about 2000 light-years away
    toward the constellation of the Swan (Cygnus).

    Tomorrow's picture: Andromeda Station
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Mar 26 01:42:52 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 26

    Andromeda Station
    Composite Image Credit & Copyright: Ralf Rohner

    Explanation: This surreal picture isn't from a special effects sci-fi
    movie. It is a digital composite of frames of the real Andromeda
    Galaxy, also known as M31, rising over a real mountain. Exposures
    tracking the galaxy and background stars have been digitally combined
    with separate exposures of the foreground terrain. All background and
    foreground exposures were made back to back with the same camera and
    telephoto lens on the same night from the same location. In the
    "Deepscape" combination they produce a stunning image that reveals a
    range of brightness and color that your eye can't quite see on its own.
    Still, it does look like you could ride a cable car up this mountain
    and get off at the station right next to Andromeda. But at 2.5 million
    light-years from Earth the big beautiful spiral galaxy really is a
    little out of reach as a destination. Don't worry, though. Just wait 5
    billion years and the Andromeda Galaxy will come to you. This Andromeda
    Station is better known as Weisshorn, the highest peak of the ski area
    in Arosa, Switzerland.

    Tomorrow's picture: a little drop of galaxy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Mar 27 00:26:48 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 27

    A Little Drop of Galaxy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Massimo Tamajo

    Explanation: A drop of water seems to hold an entire galaxy in this
    creative macro-astrophotograph. In the imaginative work of cosmic
    nature photography a close-up lens was used to image a previously made
    picture of a galaxy, viewed through a water drop suspended from a stem.
    A favorite of many telescope-wielding astroimagers, the galaxy is the
    Andromeda Galaxy, also known as M31. About 100,000 light-years across
    that majestic galaxy's spiral arms and dust lanes are curved and
    distorted in the image contained in the centimeter-sized droplet.
    Andromeda is some 2.5 million light-years distant, but this project was
    still carried out while spending time indoors.

    Tomorrow's picture: a light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Mar 28 00:36:54 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 28

    Stars Trail over Ragusa
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gianni Tumino

    Explanation: In trying times, stars still trail in the night. Taken on
    March 14, this night skyscape was made by combining 230 exposures each
    15 seconds long to follow the stars' circular paths. The camera was
    fixed to a tripod on an isolated terrace near the center of Ragusa,
    Italy, on the island of Sicily. But the night sky was shared around the
    rotating planet. A friend to celestial navigators and
    astrophotographers alike Polaris, the north star, makes the short
    bright trail near the center of the concentric celestial arcs.

    Tomorrow's picture: Orion, Orion, Orion
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Mar 29 00:32:08 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 29

    A 212-Hour Exposure of Orion
    Image Credit & Copyright: Stanislav Volskiy, Rollover Annotation: Judy
    Schmidt

    Explanation: The constellation of Orion is much more than three stars
    in a row. It is a direction in space that is rich with impressive
    nebulas. To better appreciate this well-known swath of sky, an
    extremely long exposure was taken over many clear nights in 2013 and
    2014. After 212 hours of camera time and an additional year of
    processing, the featured 1400-exposure collage spanning over 40 times
    the angular diameter of the Moon emerged. Of the many interesting
    details that have become visible, one that particularly draws the eye
    is Barnard's Loop, the bright red circular filament arcing down from
    the middle. The Rosette Nebula is not the giant red nebula near the top
    of the image -- that is a larger but lesser known nebula known as
    Lambda Orionis. The Rosette Nebula is visible, though: it is the red
    and white nebula on the upper left. The bright orange star just above
    the frame center is Betelgeuse, while the bright blue star on the lower
    right is Rigel. Other famous nebulas visible include the Witch Head
    Nebula, the Flame Nebula, the Fox Fur Nebula, and, if you know just
    where to look, the comparatively small Horsehead Nebula. About those
    famous three stars that cross the belt of Orion the Hunter -- in this
    busy frame they can be hard to locate, but a discerning eye will find
    them just below and to the right of the image center.

    Tomorrow's picture: shadow saturn
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Mar 30 00:27:20 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 30

    The Colors of Saturn from Cassini
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, JPL, ISS, Cassini Imaging Team; Processing &
    License: Judy Schmidt

    Explanation: What creates Saturn's colors? The featured picture of
    Saturn only slightly exaggerates what a human would see if hovering
    close to the giant ringed world. The image was taken in 2005 by the
    robot Cassini spacecraft that orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017. Here
    Saturn's majestic rings appear directly only as a curved line,
    appearing brown, in part, from its infrared glow. The rings best show
    their complex structure in the dark shadows they create across the
    upper part of the planet. The northern hemisphere of Saturn can appear
    partly blue for the same reason that Earth's skies can appear blue --
    molecules in the cloudless portions of both planet's atmospheres are
    better at scattering blue light than red. When looking deep into
    Saturn's clouds, however, the natural gold hue of Saturn's clouds
    becomes dominant. It is not known why southern Saturn does not show the
    same blue hue -- one hypothesis holds that clouds are higher there. It
    is also not known why some of Saturn's clouds are colored gold.

    Activities: NASA Science at Home
    Tomorrow's picture: galaxy center
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Mar 31 00:27:08 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 March 31

    The Galactic Center from Radio to X-ray
    Image Credit: X-Ray: NASA, CXC, UMass, D. Wang et al.; Radio: NRF,
    SARAO, MeerKAT

    Explanation: In how many ways does the center of our Galaxy glow? This
    enigmatic region, about 26,000 light years away toward the
    constellation of the Archer (Sagittarius), glows in every type of light
    that we can see. In the featured image, high-energy X-ray emission
    captured by NASA's orbiting Chandra X-Ray Observatory appears in green
    and blue, while low-energy radio emission captured by SARAO's
    ground-based MeerKAT telescope array is colored red. Just on the right
    of the colorful central region lies Sagittarius A (Sag A), a strong
    radio source that coincides with Sag A*, our Galaxy's central
    supermassive black hole. Hot gas surrounds Sag A, as well as a series
    of parallel radio filaments known as the Arc, seen just left of the
    image center. Numerous unusual single radio filaments are visible
    around the image. Many stars orbit in and around Sag A, as well as
    numerous small black holes and dense stellar cores known as neutron
    stars and white dwarfs. The Milky Way's central supermassive black hole
    is currently being imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope.

    Activities: NASA Science at Home
    Tomorrow's picture: edible asteroid?
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Apr 1 00:34:18 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 1
    See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
    resolution version available.

    Asteroid or Potato?
    Image Credit: Jack Sutton

    Explanation: Is this asteroid Arrokoth or a potato? Perhaps, after all
    the data was beamed back to Earth from NASA's robotic New Horizons
    spacecraft, the featured high resolution image of asteroid Arrokoth was
    constructed. Perhaps, alternatively, the featured image is of a potato.
    Let's consider some facts. Arrokoth is the most distant asteroid ever
    visited and a surviving remnant of the early years of our Solar System.
    A potato is a root vegetable that you can eat. Happy April Fool's Day
    from the folks at APOD! Although asteroid Arrokoth may look like a
    potato, in fact very much like the featured potato, Arrokoth (formerly
    known as Ultima Thule) is about 200,000 times wider and much harder to
    eat.

    Activities: NASA Science at Home
    Tomorrow's picture: tubers in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Apr 2 03:39:34 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 2

    Venus and the Pleiades in April
    Digital Illustration Credit & Copyright: Fred Espenak (Bifrost
    Astronomical Observatory)

    Explanation: Venus is currently the brilliant evening star. Shared
    around world, in tonight's sky Venus will begin to wander across the
    face of the lovely Pleiades star cluster. This digital sky map
    illustrates the path of the inner planet as the beautiful conjunction
    evolves, showing its position on the sky over the next few days. The
    field of view shown is appropriate for binocular equipped skygazers but
    the star cluster and planet are easily seen with the naked-eye. As
    viewed from our fair planet, Venus passed in front of the stars of the
    Seven Sisters 8 years ago, and will again 8 years hence. In fact,
    orbiting the Sun 13 Venus years are almost equal to 8 years on planet
    Earth. So we can expect our sister planet to visit nearly the same
    place in our sky every 8 years.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Apr 3 00:31:30 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 3

    The Traffic in Taurus
    Image Credit & Copyright: Lionel Majzik

    Explanation: There's a traffic jam in Taurus lately. On April 1, this
    celestial frame from slightly hazy skies over Tapiobicske, Hungary
    recorded an impressive pile up toward the zodiacal constellation of the
    Bull and the Solar System's ecliptic plane. Streaking right to left the
    International Space Station speeds across the bottom of the telescopic
    field of view. Wandering about as far from the Sun in planet Earth's
    skies as it can get, inner planet Venus is bright and approaching much
    slower, overexposed at the right. Bystanding at the upper left are the
    sister stars of the Pleiades. No one has been injured in the close
    encounter though, because it really isn't very close. Continuously
    occupied since November 2000, the space station orbits some 400
    kilometers above the planet's surface. Venus, currently the brilliant
    evening star, is almost 2/3 of an astronomical unit away. A more
    permanent resident of Taurus, the Pleiades star cluster is 400
    light-years distant.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Apr 4 01:29:52 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 4

    Venus and the Sisters
    Image Credit & Copyright: Fred Espenak (Bifrost Astronomical
    Observatory)

    Explanation: After wandering about as far from the Sun on the sky as
    Venus can get, the brilliant evening star is crossing paths with the
    sister stars of the Pleiades cluster. Look west after sunset and you
    can share the ongoing conjunction with skygazers around the world.
    Taken on April 2, this celestial group photo captures the view from
    Portal, Arizona, USA. Even bright naked-eye Pleiades stars prove to be
    much fainter than Venus though. Apparent in deeper telescopic images,
    the cluster's dusty surroundings and familiar bluish reflection nebulae
    aren't quite visible, while brighter Venus itself is almost
    overwhelming in the single exposure. And while Venus and the Sisters do
    look a little star-crossed, their spiky appearance is the diffraction
    pattern caused by multiple leaves in the aperture of the telephoto
    lens. The last similar conjunction of Venus and Pleiades occurred
    nearly 8 years ago.

    Tomorrow's picture: color the universe
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Apr 5 00:25:40 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 5

    Color the Universe
    Image Credit: Unknown

    Explanation: Wouldn't it be fun to color in the universe? If you think
    so, please accept this famous astronomical illustration as a
    preliminary substitute. You, your friends, your parents or children,
    can print it out or even color it digitally. While coloring, you might
    be interested to know that even though this illustration has appeared
    in numerous places over the past 100 years, the actual artist remains
    unknown. Furthermore, the work has no accepted name -- can you think of
    a good one? The illustration, first appearing in a book by Camille
    Flammarion in 1888, is used frequently to show that humanity's present
    concepts are susceptible to being supplanted by greater truths.

    Tomorrow's picture: hubble spiral
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Apr 6 00:12:00 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 6

    NGC 1672: Barred Spiral Galaxy from Hubble
    Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, NASA, ESA; Processing & Copyright:
    Daniel Nobre

    Explanation: Many spiral galaxies have bars across their centers. Even
    our own Milky Way Galaxy is thought to have a modest central bar.
    Prominently barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672, featured here, was captured
    in spectacular detail in an image taken by the orbiting Hubble Space
    Telescope. Visible are dark filamentary dust lanes, young clusters of
    bright blue stars, red emission nebulas of glowing hydrogen gas, a long
    bright bar of stars across the center, and a bright active nucleus that
    likely houses a supermassive black hole. Light takes about 60 million
    years to reach us from NGC 1672, which spans about 75,000 light years
    across. NGC 1672, which appears toward the constellation of the
    Dolphinfish (Dorado), has been studied to find out how a spiral bar
    contributes to star formation in a galaxy's central regions.

    Notable APOD Submissions: Gallery of Venus passing in front of the
    Pleiades
    Tomorrow's picture: northerly
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Apr 7 00:28:48 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 7

    A Path North
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mario Konang

    Explanation: What happens if you keep going north? The direction north
    on the Earth, the place on your horizon below the northern spin pole of
    the Earth -- around which other stars appear to slowly swirl, will
    remain the same. This spin-pole-of-the-north will never move from its
    fixed location on the sky -- night or day -- and its height will always
    match your latitude. The further north you go, the higher the north
    spin pole will appear. Eventually, if you can reach the Earth's North
    Pole, the stars will circle a point directly over your head. Pictured,
    a four-hour long stack of images shows stars trailing in circles around
    this north celestial pole. The bright star near the north celestial
    pole is Polaris, known as the North Star. The bright path was created
    by the astrophotographer's headlamp as he zigzagged up a hill just over
    a week ago in Lower Saxony, Germany. The astrophotographer can be seen,
    at times, in shadow. Actually, the Earth has two spin poles -- and much
    the same would happen if you started below the Earth's equator and went
    south.

    Tomorrow's picture: contrasting skies
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Apr 9 00:07:10 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 9

    A Flow of Time
    Image Credit & Copyright: Paul Schmit

    Explanation: This surreal timelapse, landscape, panorama spans predawn,
    blue hour, and sunrise skies. Close to the start of planet Earth's
    northern hemisphere spring, the flow of time was captured between 4:30
    and 7:00 am from a location overlooking northern New Mexico's Rio
    Grande Valley. In tracked images of the night sky just before twilight
    begins, the Milky Way is cast across the southern (right) edge of the
    panoramic frame. Toward the east, a range of short and long exposures
    resolves the changing brightness as the Sun rises over the distant
    peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. In between, exposures made
    during the spring morning's tantalizing blue hour are used to blend the
    night sky and sunrise over the high desert landscape.

    Tomorrow's picture: a full moon of northern spring
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Apr 10 00:17:22 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 10

    Full Moon of Spring
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN)

    Explanation: From home this Full Moon looked bright. Around our fair
    planet it rose as the Sun set on April 7/8, the first Full Moon after
    the vernal equinox and the start of northern hemisphere spring. April's
    full lunar phase was also near perigee, the closest point in the Moon's
    elliptical orbit. In fact, it was nearer perigee than any other Full
    Moon of 2020 making it the brightest Full Moon of the year. To create
    the visual experience a range of exposures were blended to capture the
    emerging foreground foliage and bright lunar disk. The hopefull image
    of spring was recorded from a home garden in skies over Chongqing,
    China.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Apr 11 00:03:12 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 11

    Venus and the Pleiades in April
    Image Credit & Copyright: Antonio Finazzi

    Explanation: Shared around world in early April skies Venus, our
    brilliant evening star, wandered across the face of the lovely Pleiades
    star cluster. This timelapse image follows the path of the inner planet
    during the beautiful conjunction showing its daily approach to the
    stars of the Seven Sisters. From a composite of tracked exposures made
    with a telephoto lens, the field of view is also appropriate for
    binocular equipped skygazers. While the star cluster and planet were
    easily seen with the naked-eye, the spiky appearance of our sister
    planet in the picture is the result of a diffraction pattern produced
    by the camera's lens. All images were taken from a home garden in
    Chiuduno, Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy, fortunate in good weather and clear
    spring nights.

    Notable APOD Submissions: Gallery of Venus passing in front of the
    Pleiades
    Tomorrow's picture: a horse of a different color
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Apr 12 00:16:48 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 12

    The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared from Hubble
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

    Explanation: While drifting through the cosmos, a magnificent
    interstellar dust cloud became sculpted by stellar winds and radiation
    to assume a recognizable shape. Fittingly named the Horsehead Nebula,
    it is embedded in the vast and complex Orion Nebula (M42). A
    potentially rewarding but difficult object to view personally with a
    small telescope, the above gorgeously detailed image was taken in 2013
    in infrared light by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope in honor of
    the 23rd anniversary of Hubble's launch. The dark molecular cloud,
    roughly 1,500 light years distant, is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is
    seen above primarily because it is backlit by the nearby massive star
    Sigma Orionis. The Horsehead Nebula will slowly shift its apparent
    shape over the next few million years and will eventually be destroyed
    by the high energy starlight.

    April: (AWB's) Global Astronomy Month
    Tomorrow's picture: strangely placed stone
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Apr 13 00:10:12 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 13

    A Sailing Stone across Death Valley
    Image Credit: Keith Burke

    Explanation: How did this big rock end up on this strange terrain? One
    of the more unusual places here on Earth occurs inside Death Valley,
    California, USA. There a dried lakebed named Racetrack Playa exists
    that is almost perfectly flat, with the odd exception of some very
    large stones, one of which is pictured here in April of 2019 beneath a
    dark, Milky-Way filled sky. Now the flatness and texture of large playa
    like Racetrack are fascinating but not scientifically puzzling -- they
    are caused by mud flowing, drying, and cracking after a heavy rain.
    Only recently, however, has a viable scientific hypothesis been given
    to explain how heavy sailing stones end up near the middle of such a
    large flat surface. Unfortunately, as frequently happens in science, a
    seemingly surreal problem ends up having a relatively mundane solution.
    It turns out that in winter thin ice sheets form, and winds push ice
    sections laden with even heavy rocks across the temporarily slick playa
    when sunlight melts the ice.

    Tomorrow's picture: garbled galaxy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Apr 14 00:08:04 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 14

    NGC 253: The Silver Coin Galaxy
    Image Credit: NOAJ: Subaru, NASA & ESA: Hubble, ESO: VLT & Danish
    1.5-m;
    Processing & Copyright: Robert Gendler & Roberto Colombari

    Explanation: NGC 253 is one of the brightest spiral galaxies visible,
    but also one of the dustiest. Dubbed the Silver Coin for its appearance
    in smalltelescopes, it is more formally known as the Sculptor Galaxy
    for its location within the boundaries of the southern constellation
    Sculptor. Discovered in 1783 by mathematician and astronomer Caroline
    Herschel, the dusty island universe lies a mere 10 million light-years
    away. About 70 thousand light-years across, NGC 253, pictured, is the
    largest member of the Sculptor Group of Galaxies, the nearest to our
    own Local Group of galaxies. In addition to its spiral dust lanes,
    tendrils of dust seem to be rising from a galactic disk laced with
    young star clusters and star forming regions in this sharp color image.
    The high dust content accompanies frantic star formation, earning NGC
    253 the designation of a starburst galaxy. NGC 253 is also known to be
    a strong source of high-energy x-rays and gamma rays, likely due to
    massive black holes near the galaxy's center. Take a trip through
    extragalactic space in this short video flyby of NGC 253.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 2,100+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: triple play MVP
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Apr 15 00:39:30 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 15

    A Cosmic Triangle
    Image Credit & Copyright: Scott Aspinall

    Explanation: It was an astronomical triple play. Setting on the left,
    just after sunset near the end of last month, was our Moon -- showing a
    bright crescent phase. Setting on the right was Venus, the brightest
    planet in the evening sky last month -- and this month, too. With a
    small telescope, you could tell that Venus' phase was half, meaning
    that only half of the planet, as visible from Earth, was exposed to
    direct sunlight and brightly lit. High above and much further in the
    distance was the Pleiades star cluster. Although the Moon and Venus
    move with respect to the background stars, the Pleiades do not --
    because they are background stars. In the beginning of this month,
    Venus appeared to move right in front of the Pleiades, a rare event
    that happens only once every eight years. The featured image captured
    this cosmic triangle with a series of exposures taken from the same
    camera over 70 minutes near Avonlea, Saskatchewan, Canada. The
    positions of the celestial objects was predicted. The only thing
    unpredicted was the existence of the foreground tree -- and the
    astrophotographer is still unsure what type of tree that is.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Apr 16 01:04:12 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 16

    Comet ATLAS Breaks Up
    Image Credit & Copyright: Milen Minev (Bulgarian Inst. of Astronomy and
    NAO Rozhen), Velimir Popov, Emil Ivanov (Irida Observatory)

    Explanation: Cruising through the inner solar system, Comet ATLAS
    C2019/Y4 has apparently fragmented. Multiple separate condensations
    within its diffuse coma are visible in this telescopic close-up from
    April 12, composed of frames tracking the comet's motion against
    trailing background stars. Discovered at the end of December 2019, this
    comet ATLAS showed a remarkably rapid increase in brightness in late
    March. Northern hemisphere comet watchers held out hope that it would
    become a bright nake-eye comet as it came closer to Earth in late April
    and May. But fragmenting ATLAS is slowly fading in northern skies. The
    breakup of comets is not uncommon though. This comet ATLAS is in an
    orbit similar to the Great Comet of 1844 (C/1844 Y1) and both may be
    fragments of a single larger comet.

    Tomorrow's picture: The Starmill
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Apr 17 00:15:42 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 17

    The Windmill and the Star Trails
    Image Credit & Copyright: Antonio Gonzalez

    Explanation: Stars can't turn these old wooden arms, but it does look
    like they might in this scene from a rotating planet. The well-composed
    night skyscape was recorded from Garafia, a municipality on the island
    of La Palma, Canary Islands, planet Earth. The center of the once
    working windmill, retired since 1953, is lined-up with the north
    celestial pole, the planet's rotation axis projected on to the northern
    sky. From a camera fixed to a tripod, the star trails are a reflection
    of the planet's rotation traced in a digital composite of 39 sequential
    exposures each 25 seconds long. Brought out by highlighting the final
    exposure in the sequence, the stars themselves appear at the ends of
    their short concentric arcs. A faint band of winter's Milky Way and
    even a diffuse glow from our neighboring Andromeda Galaxy also shine in
    the night.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Apr 20 01:05:14 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 20

    IC 2944: The Running Chicken Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Filas

    Explanation: To some, it looks like a giant chicken running across the
    sky. To others, it looks like a gaseous nebula where star formation
    takes place. Cataloged as IC 2944, the Running Chicken Nebula spans
    about 100 light years and lies about 6,000 light years away toward the
    constellation of the Centaur (Centaurus). The featured image, shown in
    scientifically assigned colors, was captured recently in a 12-hour
    exposure. The star cluster Collinder 249 is visible embedded in the
    nebula's glowing gas. Although difficult to discern here, several dark
    molecular clouds with distinct shapes can be found inside the nebula.

    Tomorrow's picture: eye on
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Apr 21 00:22:12 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 21

    Eye on the Milky Way
    Image Credit & Copyright: Miguel Claro (TWAN, Dark Sky Alqueva)

    Explanation: Have you ever had stars in your eyes? It appears that the
    eye on the left does, and moreover it appears to be gazing at even more
    stars. The featured 27-frame mosaic was taken last July from Ojas de
    Salar in the Atacama Desert of Chile. The eye is actually a small
    lagoon captured reflecting the dark night sky as the Milky Way Galaxy
    arched overhead. The seemingly smooth band of the Milky Way is really
    composed of billions of stars, but decorated with filaments of
    light-absorbing dust and red-glowing nebulas. Additionally, both
    Jupiter (slightly left the galactic arch) and Saturn (slightly to the
    right) are visible. The lights of small towns dot the unusual vertical
    horizon. The rocky terrain around the lagoon appears to some more like
    the surface of Mars than our Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: earth day
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Apr 22 00:15:44 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 22

    Planet Earth at Twilight
    Image Credit: ISS Expedition 2 Crew, Gateway to Astronaut Photography
    of Earth, NASA

    Explanation: No sudden, sharp boundary marks the passage of day into
    night in this gorgeous view of ocean and clouds over our fair planet
    Earth. Instead, the shadow line or terminator is diffuse and shows the
    gradual transition to darkness we experience as twilight. With the Sun
    illuminating the scene from the right, the cloud tops reflect gently
    reddened sunlight filtered through the dusty troposphere, the lowest
    layer of the planet's nurturing atmosphere. A clear high altitude
    layer, visible along the dayside's upper edge, scatters blue sunlight
    and fades into the blackness of space. This picture was taken in June
    of 2001 from the International Space Station orbiting at an altitude of
    211 nautical miles. Of course from home, you can check out the Earth
    Now.

    Celebrate: Today is Earth Day
    Tomorrow's picture: Planet Earth at Night
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Apr 23 00:48:20 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 23

    Lyrid Meteor Streak
    Image Credit & Copyright: Zolt Levay

    Explanation: Earth's annual Lyrid Meteor Shower peaked before dawn
    yesterday, as our fair planet plowed through debris from the tail of
    long-period comet Thatcher. In crisp, clear and moonless predawn skies
    over Brown County, Indiana this streak of vaporizing comet dust briefly
    shared a telephoto field of view with stars and nebulae along the Milky
    Way. Alpha star of the constellation Cygnus, Deneb lies near the bright
    meteor's path along with the region's dark interstellar clouds of dust
    and the recognizable glow of the North America nebula (NGC 7000). The
    meteor's streak points back to the shower's radiant, its apparent point
    of origin on the sky. That would be in the constellation Lyra, near
    bright star Vega and off the top edge of the frame.

    Celebrate the Night: International Dark Sky Week
    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Apr 24 00:49:54 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 24

    Around the World at Night
    Video Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN, IDA), Music: Peter Jeremias

    Explanation: Watch this video. In only a minute or so you can explore
    the night skies around planet Earth through a compilation of stunning
    timelapse sequences. The presentation will take you to sites in the
    United States, Germany, Russia, Iran, Nepal, Thailand, Laos and China.
    You might even catch the view from a small island in the southeastern
    Pacific Ocean. But remember that while you're home tonight, the night
    sky will come to you. Look up and celebrate the night during this
    International Dark Sky Week.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Apr 25 00:31:26 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 25

    Hubble's Cosmic Reef
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI

    Explanation: These bright ridges of interstellar gas and dust are
    bathed in energetic starlight. With its sea of young stars, the massive
    star-forming region NGC 2014 has been dubbed the Cosmic Reef. Drifting
    just off shore, the smaller NGC 2020, is an expansive blue-hued
    structure erupting from a single central Wolf-Rayet star, 200,000 times
    brighter than the Sun. The cosmic frame spans some 600 light-years
    within the Large Magellanic Cloud 160,000 light-years away, a satellite
    galaxy of our Milky Way. A magnificent Hubble Space Telescope portrait,
    the image was released this week as part of a celebration to mark
    Hubble's 30th year exploring the Universe from Earth orbit.

    Tomorrow's picture: 100th Anniversary
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Apr 26 00:12:18 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 26

    Edwin Hubble Discovers the Universe
    Image Credit & Copyright: Courtesy Carnegie Institution for Science

    Explanation: How big is our universe? This very question, among others,
    was debated by two leading astronomers 100 years ago today in what has
    become known as astronomy's Great Debate. Many astronomers then
    believed that our Milky Way Galaxy was the entire universe. Many
    others, though, believed that our galaxy was just one of many. In the
    Great Debate, each argument was detailed, but no consensus was reached.
    The answer came over three years later with the detected variation of
    single spot in the Andromeda Nebula, as shown on the original glass
    discovery plate digitally reproduced here. When Edwin Hubble compared
    images, he noticed that this spot varied, and so wrote "VAR!" on the
    plate. The best explanation, Hubble knew, was that this spot was the
    image of a variable star that was very far away. So M31 was really the
    Andromeda Galaxy -- a galaxy possibly similar to our own. The featured
    image may not be pretty, but the variable spot on it opened a door
    through which humanity gazed knowingly, for the first time, into a
    surprisingly vast cosmos.

    Centennial Celebration: Astronomy's Great Debate was 100 Years Ago
    Today
    Tomorrow's picture: Another Great Debate?
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Apr 27 00:41:16 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 27

    Fresh Tiger Stripes on Saturn's Enceladus
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, JPL, SSI, Cassini Imaging Team

    Explanation: How will humanity first learn of extraterrestrial life?
    One possibility is to find it under the icy surface of Saturn's moon
    Enceladus. A reason to think that life may exist there are long
    features -- dubbed tiger stripes -- that are known to be spewing ice
    from the moon's icy interior into space. These surface cracks create
    clouds of fine ice particles over the moon's South Pole and create
    Saturn's mysterious E-ring. Evidence for this has come from the robot
    Cassini spacecraft that orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017. Pictured
    here, a high resolution image of Enceladus is shown from a close flyby.
    The unusual surface tiger stripes are shown in false-color blue. Why
    Enceladus is active remains a mystery, as the neighboring moon Mimas,
    approximately the same size, appears quite dead. A recent analysis of
    ejected ice grains has yielded evidence that complex organic molecules
    exist inside Enceladus. These large carbon-rich molecules bolster --
    but do not prove -- that oceans under Enceladus' surface could contain
    life. Another Solar System moon that might contain underground life is
    Europa.

    Experts Debate: How will humanity first discover ET life?
    Tomorrow's picture: an almost solar system
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Apr 28 00:11:34 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 28

    The Kepler-90 Planetary System
    Illustration Credit: NASA Ames, Wendy Stenzel

    Explanation: Do other stars have planetary systems like our own? Yes --
    one such system is Kepler-90. Cataloged by the Kepler satellite that
    operated from Earth orbit between 2009 and 2018, eight planets were
    discovered, giving Kepler-90 the same number of known planets as our
    Solar System. Similarities between Kepler-90 and our system include a
    G-type star comparable to our Sun, rocky planets comparable to our
    Earth, and large planets comparable in size to Jupiter and Saturn.
    Differences include that all of the known Kepler-90 planets orbit
    relatively close in -- closer than Earth's orbit around the Sun --
    making them possibly too hot to harbor life. However, observations over
    longer time periods may discover cooler planets further out. Kepler-90
    lies about 2,500 light years away, and at magnitude 14 is visible with
    a medium-sized telescope toward the constellation of the Dragon
    (Draco). The exoplanet-finding mission TESS was launched in 2018, while
    missions with exoplanet finding capability planned for launch in the
    next decade include NASA's JWST and WFIRST.

    Experts Debate: How will humanity first discover extraterrestrial life?
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Apr 29 00:30:44 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 29

    The Ion Tail of New Comet SWAN
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gerald Rhemann

    Explanation: Newly discovered Comet SWAN has already developed an
    impressive tail. The comet came in from the outer Solar System and has
    just passed inside the orbit of the Earth. Officially designated C/2020
    F8 (SWAN), this outgassing interplanetary iceberg will pass its closest
    to the Earth on May 13, and closest to the Sun on May 27. The comet was
    first noticed in late March by an astronomy enthusiast looking through
    images taken by NASA's Sun-orbiting SOHO spacecraft, and is named for
    this spacecraft's Solar Wind Anisotropies (SWAN) camera. The featured
    image, taken from the dark skies in Namibia in mid-April, captured
    Comet SWAN's green-glowing coma and unexpectedly long, detailed, and
    blue ion-tail. Although the brightness of comets are notoriously hard
    to predict, some models have Comet SWAN becoming bright enough to see
    with the unaided eye during June.

    Experts Debate: How will humanity first discover extraterrestrial life?
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Apr 30 00:29:12 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 April 30

    Andromeda Island Universe
    Image Credit & Copyright: Yuzhe Xiao

    Explanation: The most distant object easily visible to the unaided eye
    is M31, the great Andromeda Galaxy some two and a half million
    light-years away. But without a telescope, even this immense spiral
    galaxy - spanning over 200,000 light years - appears as a faint,
    nebulous cloud in the constellation Andromeda. In contrast, a bright
    yellow nucleus, dark winding dust lanes, expansive blue spiral arms and
    star clusters are recorded in this stunning telescopic image. While
    even casual skygazers are now inspired by the knowledge that there are
    many distant galaxies like M31, astronomers debated this fundamental
    concept 100 years ago. Were these "spiral nebulae" simply outlying
    components of our own Milky Way Galaxy or were they instead "island
    universes", distant systems of stars comparable to the Milky Way
    itself? This question was central to the famous Shapley-Curtis debate
    of 1920, which was later resolved by observations of M31 in favor of
    Andromeda, island universe.

    Experts Debate: How will humanity first discover extraterrestrial life?
    Tomorrow's picture: galaxies away
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri May 1 00:33:48 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 May 1

    A View Toward M106
    Image Credit & Copyright: Joonhwa Lee

    Explanation: Big, bright, beautiful spiral, Messier 106 dominates this
    cosmic vista. The nearly two degree wide telescopic field of view looks
    toward the well-trained constellation Canes Venatici, near the handle
    of the Big Dipper. Also known as NGC 4258, M106 is about 80,000
    light-years across and 23.5 million light-years away, the largest
    member of the Canes II galaxy group. For a far far away galaxy, the
    distance to M106 is well-known in part because it can be directly
    measured by tracking this galaxy's remarkable maser, or microwave laser
    emission. Very rare but naturally occurring, the maser emission is
    produced by water molecules in molecular clouds orbiting its active
    galactic nucleus. Another prominent spiral galaxy on the scene, viewed
    nearly edge-on, is NGC 4217 below and right of M106. The distance to
    NGC 4217 is much less well-known, estimated to be about 60 million
    light-years, but the bright spiky stars are in the foreground, well
    inside our own Milky Way galaxy. Even the existence of galaxies beyond
    the Milky Way was questioned 100 years ago in astronomy's Great Debate.

    Experts Debate: How will humanity first discover extraterrestrial life?
    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat May 2 00:06:02 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 May 2

    Radio, The Big Ear, and the Wow! Signal
    Image Credit & Copyright: Rick Scott

    Explanation: Since the early days of radio and television we have been
    freely broadcasting signals into space. For some time now, we have been
    listening too. A large radio telescope at Ohio State University known
    as affectionately The Big Ear was one of the first listeners. The Big
    Ear was about the size of three football fields and consisted of an
    immense metal ground plane with two fence-like reflectors, one fixed
    and one tiltable. It relied on the Earth's rotation to help scan the
    sky. This photo, taken by former Big Ear student volunteer Rick Scott,
    looks out across the ground plane toward the fixed reflector with the
    radio frequency receiver horns in the foreground. Starting in 1965, the
    Big Ear was used in an ambitious survey of the radio sky. In the 1970s,
    it became the first telescope to continuously listen for signals from
    extraterrestrial civilizations. For an exciting moment during August
    1977 a very strong, unexpected signal, dubbed the Wow! Signal, was
    detected by the Big Ear. But alas, heard only once, the source of the
    signal could not be determined. In May 1998 the final pieces of the Big
    Ear were torn down.

    Experts Debate: How will humanity first discover extraterrestrial life?
    Tomorrow's picture: a message from Earth
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun May 3 00:05:32 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 May 3

    A Message from Earth
    Image Credit: Frank Drake (UCSC) et al., Arecibo Observatory (Cornell
    U.);
    License: Arne Nordmann (Wikimedia)

    Explanation: What are these Earthlings trying to tell us? The featured
    message was broadcast from Earth towards the globular star cluster M13
    in 1974. During the dedication of the Arecibo Observatory - still one
    of the largest single radio telescopes in the world - a string of 1's
    and 0's representing the diagram was sent. This attempt at
    extraterrestrial communication was mostly ceremonial - humanity
    regularly broadcasts radio and television signals out into space
    accidentally. Even were this message received, M13 is so far away we
    would have to wait almost 50,000 years to hear an answer. The featured
    message gives a few simple facts about humanity and its knowledge: from
    left to right are numbers from one to ten, atoms including hydrogen and
    carbon, some interesting molecules, DNA, a human with description,
    basics of our Solar System, and basics of the sending telescope.
    Several searches for extraterrestrial intelligence are currently
    underway, including one where you can use your own home computer.

    Experts Debate: How will humanity first discover ET life?
    Tomorrow's picture: passing earth
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon May 4 00:09:06 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 May 4

    Earth Flyby of BepiColombo
    Image Credit & License: ESA, BepiColombo, MTM

    Explanation: What it would look like to approach planet Earth? Such an
    event was recorded visually in great detail by ESA's and JAXA's robotic
    BepiColombo spacecraft last month as it swung back past Earth on its
    journey in to the planet Mercury. Earth can be seen rotating on
    approach as it comes out from behind the spacecraft's high-gain antenna
    in this nearly 10-hour time-lapse video. The Earth is so bright that no
    background stars are visible. Launched in 2018, the robotic BepiColombo
    used the gravity of Earth to adjust its course, the first of nine
    planetary flybys over the next seven years -- but the only one
    involving Earth. Scheduled to enter orbit in 2025, BepiColombo will
    take images and data of the surface and magnetic field of Mercury in an
    effort to better understand the early evolution of our Solar System and
    its innermost planet.

    New: APOD now available through Instagram in Portuguese
    Tomorrow's picture: carina perspective
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue May 5 00:32:24 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 May 5

    Carina in Perspective
    Image Credit & Copyright: Carlos Kiko Fairbairn

    Explanation: You need to be in the south, looking south, to see such a
    sky. And only then if you're lucky. Just above the picturesque tree is
    the impressive Carina Nebula, one of the few nebulas in the sky that is
    visible to the unaided eye. The featured image had to be taken from a
    very dark location to capture the Carina Nebula with such perspective
    and so near the horizon. The Great Nebula in Carina, cataloged as NGC
    3372, is home to the wildly variable star Eta Carinae that sometimes
    flares to become one of the brightest stars in the sky. Above Carina is
    IC 2944, the Running Chicken Nebula, a nebula that not only looks like
    a chicken, but contains impressive dark knots of dust. Above these
    red-glowing emission nebulas are the bright stars of the Southern
    Cross, while on the upper left of the image is the dark Coalsack
    Nebula. This image was composed from six consecutive exposures taken
    last summer from Padre Bernardo, Goiás, Brazil. Even with careful
    planning, the astrophotographer felt lucky to get this shot because
    clouds -- some still visible near the horizon -- kept getting in the
    way.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: star parabola
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed May 6 02:08:16 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 May 6

    LDN 1471: A Windblown Star Cavity
    Image Credit: Hubble, NASA, ESA; Processing & License: Judy Schmidt

    Explanation: What is the cause of this unusual parabolic structure?
    This illuminated cavity, known as LDN 1471, was created by a newly
    forming star, seen as the bright source at the peak of the parabola.
    This protostar is experiencing a stellar outflow which is then
    interacting with the surrounding material in the Perseus Molecular
    Cloud, causing it to brighten. We see only one side of the cavity --
    the other side is hidden by dark dust. The parabolic shape is caused by
    the widening of the stellar-wind blown cavity over time. Two additional
    structures can also be seen either side of the protostar, these are
    known as Herbig-Haro objects, again caused by the interaction of the
    outflow with the surrounding material. What causes the striations on
    the cavity walls, though, remains unknown. The featured image was taken
    by NASA and ESA's Hubble Space Telescope after an original detection by
    the Spitzer Space Telescope.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu May 7 01:04:44 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 May 7

    Analemma of the Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gyorgy Soponyai

    Explanation: An analemma is that figure-8 curve you get when you mark
    the position of the Sun at the same time each day for one year. But the
    trick to imaging an analemma of the Moon is to wait bit longer. On
    average the Moon returns to the same position in the sky about 50
    minutes and 29 seconds later each day. So photograph the Moon 50
    minutes 29 seconds later on successive days. Over one lunation or lunar
    month it will trace out an analemma-like curve as the Moon's actual
    position wanders due to its tilted and elliptical orbit. To create this
    composite image of a lunar analemma, astronomer Gyorgy Soponyai chose a
    lunar month from March 26 to April 18 with a good stretch of weather
    and a site close to home near Mogyorod, Hungary. Crescent lunar phases
    too thin and faint to capture around the New Moon are missing though.
    Facing southwest, the lights of Budapest are in the distance of the
    base image taken on March 27.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri May 8 01:12:56 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 May 8

    Long Tailed Comet SWAN
    Image Credit & Copyright: D. Peach, Chilescope team

    Explanation: Blowing in the solar wind the spectacular ion tail of
    Comet SWAN (C/2020 F8) extends far across this 10 degree wide telephoto
    field of view. Captured on May 2 its greenish coma was about 6
    light-minutes from Earth. The pretty background starfield lies near the
    border of the constellations Cetus and Aquarius. This comet SWAN was
    discovered at home by Australian amateur Michael Mattiazzo by checking
    images from the Sun-staring SOHO spacecraft's SWAN (Solar Wind
    ANisotropies) camera. The comet has now become just visible to the
    naked-eye as it sweeps from southern to northern skies. Appearing in
    morning twilight near the eastern horizon, Comet SWAN will make its
    closest approach to planet Earth on May 12 and reach perihelion on May
    27.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat May 9 02:43:14 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 May 9

    Full Flower Moonrise
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tiziano Boldrini

    Explanation: Rising as the Sun set, the Moon was bright and full in
    planet Earth skies on May 7 and known to some as a Flower Moon. Near
    the horizon it does seem to take on rose pink hues of reddened sunlight
    in this reflective twilight scene. In fact one of the brighter Full
    Moons of the year, this month's full lunar phase occurred within about
    32 hours of perigee. That's the closest point in the Moon's elliptical
    orbit. Flooded field and ruined church tower are near the municipality
    of Casaleggio Novara, Piedmont Region of northern Italy.

    Tomorrow's picture: peculiar galaxies
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun May 10 00:16:02 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 May 10

    The Porpoise Galaxy from Hubble
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Reprocessing & Copyright: Raul
    Villaverde

    Explanation: What's happening to this spiral galaxy? Just a few hundred
    million years ago, NGC 2936, the upper of the two large galaxies shown,
    was likely a normal spiral galaxy -- spinning, creating stars -- and
    minding its own business. But then it got too close to the massive
    elliptical galaxy NGC 2937 below and took a dive. Dubbed the Porpoise
    Galaxy for its iconic shape, NGC 2936 is not only being deflected but
    also being distorted by the close gravitational interaction. A burst of
    young blue stars forms the nose of the porpoise toward the right of the
    upper galaxy, while the center of the spiral appears as an eye.
    Alternatively, the galaxy pair, together known as Arp 142, look to some
    like a penguin protecting an egg. Either way, intricate dark dust lanes
    and bright blue star streams trail the troubled galaxy to the lower
    right. The featured re-processed image showing Arp 142 in unprecedented
    detail was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope last year. Arp 142 lies
    about 300 million light years away toward the constellation,
    coincidently, of the Water Snake (Hydra). In a billion years or so the
    two galaxies will likely merge into one larger galaxy.

    Tomorrow's picture: behind betelgeuse
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon May 11 01:05:56 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 May 11

    Behind Betelgeuse
    Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block, Steward Observatory, University
    of Arizona

    Explanation: What's behind Betelgeuse? One of the brighter and more
    unusual stars in the sky, the red supergiant star Betelgeuse can be
    found in the direction of famous constellation Orion. Betelgeuse,
    however, is actually well in front of many of the constellation's other
    bright stars, and also in front of the greater Orion Molecular Cloud
    Complex. Numerically, light takes about 700 years to reach us from
    Betelgeuse, but about 1,300 years to reach us from the Orion Nebula and
    its surrounding dust and gas. All but the largest telescopes see
    Betelgeuse as only a point of light, but a point so bright that the
    inherent blurriness created by the telescope and Earth's atmosphere
    make it seem extended. In the featured long-exposure image, thousands
    of stars in our Milky Way Galaxy can be seen in the background behind
    Betelgeuse, as well as dark dust from the Orion Molecular Cloud, and
    some red-glowing emission from hydrogen gas on the outskirts of the
    more distant Lambda Orionis Ring. Betelgeuse has recovered from
    appearing unusually dim over the past six months, but is still expected
    to explode in a spectacular supernova sometime in the next (about)
    100,000 years.

    Tomorrow's picture: little harp meteors
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue May 12 00:05:22 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 May 12

    Lyrid Meteors from the Constellation Lyra
    Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horálek

    Explanation: Where are all of these meteors coming from? In terms of
    direction on the sky, the pointed answer is the constellation of Small
    Harp (Lyra). That is why the famous meteor shower that peaks every
    April is known as the Lyrids -- the meteors all appear to came from a
    radiant toward Lyra. In terms of parent body, though, the sand-sized
    debris that makes up the Lyrid meteors come from Comet Thatcher. The
    comet follows a well-defined orbit around our Sun, and the part of the
    orbit that approaches Earth is superposed in front of Lyra. Therefore,
    when Earth crosses this orbit, the radiant point of falling debris
    appears in Lyra. Featured here, a composite image containing over 33
    meteors (can you find them all?) from last month's Lyrid meteor shower
    shows several bright meteors that streaked over a shore of Sec Lake in
    the Czech Republic. Also visible are the bright stars Vega and Altair,
    the planet Jupiter, and the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy.

    Notable APOD Submissions: Lyrid Meteor Shower 2020
    Tomorrow's picture: jupiter IR
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed May 13 00:04:08 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 May 13

    Jupiter in Infrared from Gemini
    Image Credit: International Gemini Observatory, NOIRLab, NSF, AURA; M.
    H. Wong (UC Berkeley) & Team;
    Acknowledgment: Mahdi Zamani; Text: Alex R. Howe (NASA/USRA, Reader's
    History of SciFi Podcast)

    Explanation: In infrared, Jupiter lights up the night. Recently,
    astronomers at the Gemini North Observatory in Hawaii, USA, created
    some of the best infrared photos of Jupiter ever taken from Earth's
    surface, pictured. Gemini was able to produce such a clear image using
    a technique called lucky imaging, by taking many images and combining
    only the clearest ones that, by chance, were taken when Earth's
    atmosphere was the most calm. Jupiter's jack-o'-lantern-like appearance
    is caused by the planet's different layers of clouds. Infrared light
    can pass through clouds better than visible light, allowing us to see
    deeper, hotter layers of Jupiter's atmosphere, while the thickest
    clouds appear dark. These pictures, together with ones from the Hubble
    Space Telescope and the Juno spacecraft, can tell us a lot about
    weather patterns on Jupiter, like where its massive, planet-sized
    storms form.

    Notable APOD Submissions: Flower Moon 2020
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue May 19 00:04:34 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 May 19

    Posters of the Solar System
    Image Credit: NASA

    Explanation: Would you like a NASA astronomy-exploration poster? You
    are just one page-print away. Any of the panels you see on the featured
    image can appear on your wall. Moreover, this NASA page has, typically,
    several more posters of each of the Solar System objects depicted.
    These posters highlight many of the places humanity, through NASA, has
    explored in the past 50 years, including our Sun, and planets Mercury,
    Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Moons of
    Jupiter that have been posterized include Europe, Ganymede, Callisto,
    and Io, while moons of Saturn that can be framed include Enceladus and
    Titan. Images of Pluto, Ceres, comets and asteroids are also presented,
    while six deep space scenes -- well beyond our Solar System -- can also
    be prominently displayed. If you lack wall space or blank poster sheets
    don't despair -- you can still print many of these out as trading
    cards.

    Tomorrow's picture: planet line up
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu May 21 00:03:22 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 May 21

    Phases of Venus
    Image Credit & Copyright: Richard Addis

    Explanation: Just as the Moon goes through phases, Venus' visible
    sunlit hemisphere waxes and wanes. This composite of backyard
    telescopic images illustrates the steady changes for Venus during its
    current stint as our evening star, as the inner planet grows larger but
    narrows to a thin crescent. Images from bottom to top were taken during
    2020 on dates February 27, March 20, April 14, April 24, May 8, and May
    14. Gliding along its interior orbit between Earth and Sun, Venus grows
    larger during that period because it is approaching planet Earth. Its
    crescent narrows, though, as Venus swings closer to our line-of-sight
    to the Sun. Closest to the Earth-Sun line but passing about 1/2 degree
    north of the Sun on June 3, Venus will reach a (non-judgmental)
    inferior conjunction. Soon after, Venus will shine clearly above the
    eastern horizon in predawn skies as planet Earth's morning star. After
    sunset tonight look for Venus above the western horizon and you can
    also spot elusive innermost planet Mercury.

    Tomorrow's picture: South Carina
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat May 30 00:18:40 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 May 30

    Green Flashes: Sun, Moon, Venus, Mercury
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marcella Giulia Pace

    Explanation: Follow a sunset on a clear day against a distant horizon
    and you might glimpse green just as the Sun disappears from view. The
    green flash is caused by refraction of light rays traveling to the eye
    over a long path through the atmosphere. Shorter wavelengths refract
    more strongly than longer redder wavelengths and the separation of
    colors lends a green hue to the last visible vestige of the solar disk.
    It's harder to see a green flash from the Moon, not to mention the
    diminutive disks of Venus and Mercury. But a telescope or telephoto
    lens and camera can help catch this tantalizing result of atmospheric
    refraction when the celestial bodies are near the horizon. From Sicily,
    the top panels were recorded on March 18, 2019 for the Sun and May 8,
    2020 for the Moon. Also from the Mediterranean island, the bottom
    panels were shot during the twilight apparition of Venus and Mercury
    near the western horizon on May 24.

    Tomorrow's picture: green arches
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun May 31 00:23:06 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 May 31

    Aurora over Sweden
    Image Credit & Copyright: Göran Strand

    Explanation: It was bright and green and stretched across the sky. This
    striking aurora display was captured in 2016 just outside of Östersund,
    Sweden. Six photographic fields were merged to create the featured
    panorama spanning almost 180 degrees. Particularly striking aspects of
    this aurora include its sweeping arc-like shape and its stark
    definition. Lake Storsjön is seen in the foreground, while several
    familiar constellations and the star Polaris are visible through the
    aurora, far in the background. Coincidently, the aurora appears to
    avoid the Moon visible on the lower left. The aurora appeared a day
    after a large hole opened in the Sun's corona allowing particularly
    energetic particles to flow out into the Solar System. The green color
    of the aurora is caused by oxygen atoms recombining with ambient
    electrons high in the Earth's atmosphere.

    Tomorrow's picture: red lagoon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jun 1 00:39:38 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 June 1

    The Lively Center of the Lagoon Nebula
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Copyright: Diego
    Gravinese

    Explanation: The center of the Lagoon Nebula is a whirlwind of
    spectacular star formation. Visible near the image center, at least two
    long funnel-shaped clouds, each roughly half a light-year long, have
    been formed by extreme stellar winds and intense energetic starlight. A
    tremendously bright nearby star, Hershel 36, lights the area. Vast
    walls of dust hide and redden other hot young stars. As energy from
    these stars pours into the cool dust and gas, large temperature
    differences in adjoining regions can be created generating shearing
    winds which may cause the funnels. This picture, spanning about 15
    light years, features two colors detected by the orbiting Hubble Space
    Telescope. The Lagoon Nebula, also known as >M8, lies about 5000 light
    years distant toward the constellation of the Archer Sagittarius.

    Tomorrow's picture: human foe
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jun 11 02:25:14 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 June 11

    Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1300
    Image Credit: Hubble Heritage Team, ESA, NASA

    Explanation: Big, beautiful, barred spiral galaxy NGC 1300 lies some 70
    million light-years away on the banks of the constellation Eridanus.
    This Hubble Space Telescope composite view of the gorgeous island
    universe is one of the largest Hubble images ever made of a complete
    galaxy. NGC 1300 spans over 100,000 light-years and the Hubble image
    reveals striking details of the galaxy's dominant central bar and
    majestic spiral arms. In fact, on close inspection the nucleus of this
    classic barred spiral itself shows a remarkable region of spiral
    structure about 3,000 light-years across. Like other spiral galaxies,
    including our own Milky Way, NGC 1300 is thought to have a supermassive
    central black hole.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jun 12 00:36:54 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 June 12

    NGC 2359: Thor's Helmet
    Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh

    Explanation: NGC 2359 is a helmet-shaped cosmic cloud with wing-like
    appendages popularly called Thor's Helmet. Heroically sized even for a
    Norse god, Thor's Helmet is about 30 light-years across. In fact, the
    helmet is more like an interstellar bubble, blown as a fast wind from
    the bright, massive star near the bubble's center inflates a region
    within the surrounding molecular cloud. Known as a Wolf-Rayet star, the
    central star is an extremely hot giant thought to be in a brief,
    pre-supernova stage of evolution. NGC 2359 is located about 15,000
    light-years away in the constellation of the Great Overdog. The
    remarkably sharp image is a mixed cocktail of data from broadband and
    narrowband filters using three different telescopes. It captures
    natural looking stars and the details of the nebula's filamentary
    structures. The predominant bluish hue is strong emission from doubly
    ionized oxygen atoms in the glowing gas.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jun 17 13:35:14 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 June 17

    Magnetic Streamlines of the Milky Way
    Image Credit: ESA, Planck; Text: Joan Schmelz (USRA)

    Explanation: What role do magnetic fields play in interstellar physics?
    Analyses of observations by ESA's Planck satellite of emission by small
    magnetically-aligned dust grains reveal previously unknown magnetic
    field structures in our Milky Way Galaxy -- as shown by the curvy lines
    in the featured full-sky image. The dark red shows the plane of the
    Milky Way, where the concentration of dust is the highest. The huge
    arches above the plane are likely remnants of past explosive events
    from our Galaxy's core, conceptually similar to magnetic loop-like
    structures seen in our Sun's atmosphere. The curvy streamlines align
    with interstellar filaments of neutral hydrogen gas and provide
    tantalizing evidence that magnetic fields may supplement gravity in not
    only in shaping the interstellar medium, but in forming stars. How
    magnetism affected our Galaxy's evolution will likely remain a topic of
    research for years to come.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jun 22 00:31:56 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 June 22

    Moon Mountains Magnified during Ring of Fire Eclipse
    Image Credit & Copyright: Wang Letian (Eyes at Night)

    Explanation: What are those dark streaks in this composite image of
    yesterday's solar eclipse? They are reversed shadows of mountains at
    the edge of the Moon. The center image, captured from Xiamen, China,
    has the Moon's center directly in front of the Sun's center. The Moon,
    though, was too far from the Earth to completely block the entire Sun.
    Light that streamed around all of the edges of the Moon is called a
    ring of fire. Images at each end of the sequence show sunlight that
    streamed through lunar valleys. As the Moon moved further in front of
    the Sun, left to right, only the higher peaks on the Moon's perimeter
    could block sunlight. Therefore, the dark streaks are projected,
    distorted, reversed, and magnified shadows of mountains at the Moon's
    edge. Bright areas are called Bailey's Beads. Only a narrow swath
    across Earth's Eastern Hemisphere was able to see yesterday's full
    annular solar eclipse. Next June, though, a narrow swath across Earth's
    Northern Hemisphere will be able to see the next annular solar eclipse.
    A total solar eclipse will be visible at the bottom of the world near
    the end of this year.

    Gallery: Notable images of the Annular Solar Eclipse of 2020 June
    submitted to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: x-raying the sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jun 27 00:09:12 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 June 27

    Eclipse under the ISS
    Image Credit: NASA ISS Expedition 63

    Explanation: The dark shadow of the New Moon reached out and touched
    planet Earth on June 21. A high definition camera outside the
    International Space Station captured its passing in this snapshot from
    low Earth orbit near the border of Kazakhstan and China. Of course
    those along the Moon's central shadow track below could watch the much
    anticipated annular eclipse of the Sun. In the foreground a cargo
    spacecraft is docked with the orbital outpost. It's the H-II Transfer
    Vehicle-9 from JAXA the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

    Gallery: Notable images of the Annular Solar Eclipse of 2020 June
    submitted to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: moons and shadows
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jun 28 00:29:38 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 June 28

    Europa and Jupiter from Voyager 1
    Image Credit: NASA, Voyager 1, JPL, Caltech; Processing & License:
    Alexis Tranchandon / Solaris

    Explanation: What are those spots on Jupiter? Largest and furthest,
    just right of center, is the Great Red Spot -- a huge storm system that
    has been raging on Jupiter possibly since Giovanni Cassini's likely
    notation of it 355 years ago. It is not yet known why this Great Spot
    is red. The spot toward the lower left is one of Jupiter's largest
    moons: Europa. Images from Voyager in 1979 bolster the modern
    hypothesis that Europa has an underground ocean and is therefore a good
    place to look for extraterrestrial life. But what about the dark spot
    on the upper right? That is a shadow of another of Jupiter's large
    moons: Io. Voyager 1 discovered Io to be so volcanic that no impact
    craters could be found. Sixteen frames from Voyager 1's flyby of
    Jupiter in 1979 were recently reprocessed and merged to create the
    featured image. About 43 years ago, Voyager 1 launched from Earth and
    started one of the greatest explorations of the Solar System ever.

    Free Download: Voyager Posters
    Tomorrow's picture: double sky trees
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jun 29 00:03:08 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 June 29

    Dark Sky Reflections
    Image Credit & Copyright: Will Godward

    Explanation: When the lake calmed down, many wonders of the land and
    sky appeared twice. Perhaps the most dramatic from the dark sky was the
    central band of our Milky Way Galaxy, visible as a diagonal band.
    Toward the right were both the Small (SMC) and Large (LMC) Magellanic
    Clouds, satellite galaxies of our Milky Way. Faint multicolored bands
    of airglow fanned across the night. Numerous bright stars were visible
    including Antares, while the bright planet Jupiter appears just above
    the image center. The featured image is a composite of exposures all
    taken from the same camera and from the same location within 30 minutes
    in mid-May from the shore of Lake Bonney Riverland in South Australia.
    Dead trees that extend from the lake were captured not only in
    silhouette, but reflection, while lights from the small town of Barmera
    were visible across the lake. In July, Jupiter and Saturn will rise
    toward the east just as the Sun sets in the west.

    Tomorrow's picture: pillow star
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jun 30 00:17:18 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 June 30

    Bright Planetary Nebula NGC 7027 from Hubble
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Joel Kastner (RIT) et al.; Processing: Alyssa
    Pagan (STScI)

    Explanation: What created this unusual planetary nebula? NGC 7027 is
    one of the smallest, brightest, and most unusually shaped planetary
    nebulas known. Given its expansion rate, NGC 7027 first started
    expanding, as visible from Earth, about 600 years ago. For much of its
    history, the planetary nebula has been expelling shells, as seen in
    blue in the featured image. In modern times, though, for reasons
    unknown, it began ejecting gas and dust (seen in red) in specific
    directions that created a new pattern that seems to have four corners.
    These shells and patterns have been mapped in impressive detail by
    recent images from the Wide Field Camera 3 onboard the Hubble Space
    Telescope. What lies at the nebula's center is unknown, with one
    hypothesis holding it to be a close binary star system where one star
    sheds gas onto an erratic disk orbiting the other star. NGC 7027, about
    3,000 light years away, was first discovered in 1878 and can be seen
    with a standard backyard telescope toward the constellation of the Swan
    (Cygnus).

    Tomorrow's picture: inverted Earth
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jul 1 00:18:16 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 July 1

    Our Rotating Earth
    Video Credit & Copyright: Bartosz Wojczynski

    Explanation: Has your world ever turned upside-down? It would happen
    every day if you stay fixed to the stars. Most time-lapse videos of the
    night sky show the stars and sky moving above a steady Earth. Here,
    however, the camera has been forced to rotate so that the stars remain
    fixed, and the Earth rotates around them. The movie, with each hour is
    compressed to a second, dramatically demonstrates the daily rotation of
    the Earth, called diurnal motion. The video begins by showing an open
    field in Namibia, Africa, on a clear day, last year. Shadows shift as
    the Earth turns, the shadow of the Earth rises into the sky, the Belt
    of Venus momentarily appears, and then day turns into night. The
    majestic band of our Milky Way Galaxy stretches across the night sky,
    while sunlight-reflecting, Earth-orbiting satellites zoom by. In the
    night sky, you can even spot the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. The
    video shows a sky visible from Earth's Southern Hemisphere, but a
    similar video could be made for every middle latitude on our blue
    planet.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jul 2 01:42:22 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 July 2

    The Galaxy, the Planet, and the Apple Tree
    Image Credit & Copyright: Kristine Richer

    Explanation: The Old Astronomer's Milky Way arcs through this peaceful
    northern sky. Against faint, diffuse starlight you can follow dark
    rifts of interstellar dust clouds stretching from the galaxy's core.
    They lead toward bright star Antares at the right, almost due south
    above the horizon. The brightest beacon in the twilight is Jupiter,
    though. From the camera's perspective it seems to hang from the limb of
    a tree framing the foreground, an apple tree of course. The serene
    maritime nightscape was recorded in tracked and untracked exposures on
    June 16 from Dover, Nova Scotia, planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jul 7 00:03:44 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 July 7

    Comet NEOWISE over Lebanon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Maroun Habib (Moophz)

    Explanation: A comet has suddenly become visible to the unaided eye.
    Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) was discovered in late March and brightened
    as it reached its closest approach to the Sun, inside the orbit of
    Mercury, late last week. The interplanetary iceberg survived solar
    heating, so far, and is now becoming closer to the Earth as it starts
    its long trek back to the outer Solar System. As Comet NEOWISE became
    one of the few naked-eye comets of the 21st Century, word spread
    quickly, and the comet has already been photographed behind many famous
    sites and cities around the globe. Featured, Comet NEOWISE was captured
    over Lebanon two days ago just before sunrise. The future brightness of
    Comet NEOWISE remains somewhat uncertain but the comet will likely
    continue to be findable not only in the early morning sky, but also
    next week in the early evening sky.

    Comet NEOWISE from Around the Globe: Notable Images Submitted to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: mercury extended
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jul 17 00:12:20 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 July 17

    NEOWISE of the North
    Image Credit & Copyright: Bill Peters

    Explanation: After local midnight on July 14 comet NEOWISE was still
    above the horizon for Goldenrod, Alberta, Canada, just north of
    Calgary, planet Earth. In this snapshot it makes for an awesome night
    with dancing displays of the northern lights. The long-tailed comet and
    auroral displays are beautiful apparitions in the north these days.
    Both show the influence of spaceweather and the wind from the Sun.
    Skygazers have widely welcomed the visitor from the Oort cloud, though
    C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is in an orbit that is now taking it out of the
    inner Solar System.

    Comet NEOWISE Images: July 16 | July 15 | July 14 | July 13 | July 12 |
    July 11 | July 10 & earlier
    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


    --- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jul 23 00:09:46 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 July 23

    Fairytale NEOWISE
    Image Credit & Copyright: Stephane Guisard (Los Cielos de America,
    TWAN)

    Explanation: Comet dust falls through a twilight sky in this dream-like
    scene, but it's not part of a fairytale movie. Still, Castle
    Neuschwanstein, nestled in the Bavarian Alps, did inspire Disneyland's
    Sleeping Beauty Castle. Captured on July 20, the bright streak above
    the castle towers is likely a Perseid meteor. Though it peaks near
    mid-August, the annual summer meteor shower is active now. The meteor
    trail over the fairytale castle can be traced back to the shower's
    radiant in the heroic constellation Perseus off the top right of the
    frame. Perseid meteors are produced by dust from periodic Comet
    Swift-Tuttle. With its own broad dust tail now sweeping through
    northern skies the celestial apparition above the distant horizon is
    planet Earth's current darling, Comet NEOWISE.

    Comet NEOWISE Images: July 22 || 21 || 20 || 19 || 18 || 17 || 16 || 15
    || 14 || 13 || 12 || 11 || 10 & earlier ||
    Tomorrow's picture: Magic NEOWISE
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


    --- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jul 24 00:23:08 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 July 24

    MAGIC NEOWISE
    Image Credit & Copyright: Urs Leutenegger

    Explanation: The multi-mirror, 17 meter-diameter MAGIC telescopes
    reflect this starry night sky from the Roque de los Muchachos European
    Northern Observatory on the Canary Island of La Palma. MAGIC stands for
    Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov and the telescopes can see
    the brief flashes of optical light produced in particle air showers as
    high-energy gamma rays impact the Earth's upper atmosphere. On July 20,
    two of the three telescopes in view were looking for gamma rays from
    the center of our Milky Way galaxy. In reflection they show the bright
    stars of Sagittarius and Scorpius near the galactic center to the
    southeast. Beyond the segmented-mirror arrays, above the northwest
    horizon and below the Big Dipper is Comet NEOWISE. NEOWISE stands for
    Near Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. That's the
    Earth-orbiting satellite used to discover the comet designated C/2020
    F3, but you knew that.

    Comet NEOWISE Images: July 23 || 22 || 21 || 20 || 19 || 18 || 17 || 16
    || 15 || 14 || 13 || 12 || 11 || 10 & earlier
    Tomorrow's picture: from a rotating planet
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


    --- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jul 26 00:33:04 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 July 26

    A Flight through the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
    Video Credit: NASA, ESA, F. Summers, Z. Levay, L. Frattare, B.
    Mobasher, A. Koekemoer and the HUDF Team (STScI)

    Explanation: What would it look like to fly through the distant
    universe? To find out, a team of astronomers estimated the relative
    distances to over 5,000 galaxies in one of the most distant fields of
    galaxies ever imaged: the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF). Because it
    takes light a long time to cross the universe, most galaxies visible in
    the featured video are seen when the universe was only a fraction of
    its current age, were still forming, and have unusual shapes when
    compared to modern galaxies. No mature looking spiral galaxies such as
    our Milky Way or the Andromeda galaxy yet exist. Toward the end of the
    video the virtual observer flies past the farthest galaxies in the HUDF
    field, recorded to have a redshift past 8. This early class of low
    luminosity galaxies likely contained energetic stars emitting light
    that transformed much of the remaining normal matter in the universe
    from a cold gas to a hot ionized plasma.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 2,200+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: mountain, comet, lightning
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


    --- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Aug 1 00:54:02 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 August 1

    The Elephant's Trunk Nebula in Cepheus
    Image Credit & Copyright: Chad Leader

    Explanation: Like an illustration in a galactic Just So Story, the
    Elephant's Trunk Nebula winds through the emission nebula and young
    star cluster complex IC 1396, in the high and far off constellation of
    Cepheus. Also known as vdB 142, the cosmic elephant's trunk is over 20
    light-years long. This detailed close-up view was recorded through
    narrow band filters that transmit the light from ionized hydrogen and
    oxygen atoms in the region. The resulting composite highlights the
    bright swept-back ridges that outline pockets of cool interstellar dust
    and gas. Such embedded, dark, tendril-shaped clouds contain the raw
    material for star formation and hide protostars within. Nearly 3,000
    light-years distant, the relatively faint IC 1396 complex covers a
    large region on the sky, spanning over 5 degrees. This dramatic scene
    spans a 1 degree wide field of view though, about the size of 2 Full
    Moons.

    Mars 2020 Launch: photos from planet Earth
    Tomorrow's picture: two worlds
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


    --- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.17 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Aug 4 00:12:58 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 August 4

    NGC 2442: Galaxy in Volans
    Image Credit & Copyright: Processing: Robert Gendler & Roberto
    Colombari
    Data: Hubble Legacy Archive, European Southern Observatory

    Explanation: Distorted galaxy NGC 2442 can be found in the southern
    constellation of the flying fish, (Piscis) Volans. Located about 50
    million light-years away, the galaxy's two spiral arms extending from a
    pronounced central bar have a hook-like appearance in wide-field
    images. But this mosaicked close-up, constructed from Hubble Space
    Telescope and European Southern Observatory data, follows the galaxy's
    structure in amazing detail. Obscuring dust lanes, young blue star
    clusters and reddish star forming regions surround a core of yellowish
    light from an older population of stars. The sharp image data also
    reveal more distant background galaxies seen right through NGC 2442's
    star clusters and nebulae. The image spans about 75,000 light-years at
    the estimated distance of NGC 2442.

    Tomorrow's picture: sun dagger
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Aug 7 01:15:36 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 August 7

    The Pipe Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jose Mtanos

    Explanation: East of Antares, dark markings sprawl through crowded star
    fields toward the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. Cataloged in the
    early 20th century by astronomer E. E. Barnard, the obscuring
    interstellar dust clouds include B59, B72, B77 and B78, seen in against
    the starry background. Here, their combined shape suggests a pipe stem
    and bowl, and so the dark nebula's popular name is the Pipe Nebula. The
    deep and expansive view covers a full 10 by 10 degree field in the
    pronounceable constellation Ophiuchus. The Pipe Nebula is part of the
    Ophiuchus dark cloud complex located at a distance of about 450
    light-years. Dense cores of gas and dust within the Pipe Nebula are
    collapsing to form stars.

    Tomorrow's picture: Somewhat Saturn
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Aug 13 05:34:50 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 August 13

    Jupiter and Saturn Rising Beyond Alien Throne Rock
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marcin Zajac

    Explanation: What planets are those behind that unusual rock spire?
    Saturn (lower left) and Jupiter. This month, after sunset, the bright
    planetary duo are quite prominent toward the southeast. Now your view
    of our Solar System's largest planets might not include a picturesque
    hoodoo in the foreground, nor the spectacular central band of our Milky
    Way Galaxy across the background, but should be quite eye-catching
    anyway. The featured image is a composite of consecutive foreground
    and background exposures all taken in late May with the same camera and
    from the same location -- the badlands of the Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah
    Wilderness in the San Juan Basin in New Mexico, USA. The rock spire,
    informally dubbed 'Alien Throne', stands about 3 meters tall. Saturn
    and Jupiter will remain visible together after sunset for several
    months.

    Tomorrow's picture: Space S
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Aug 14 00:23:40 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 August 14

    NGC 5189: An Unusually Complex Planetary Nebula
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Reprocessing & Copyright: Jesús
    M. Vargas

    Explanation: Why is this nebula so complex? When a star like our Sun is
    dying, it will cast off its outer layers, usually into a simple overall
    shape. Sometimes this shape is a sphere, sometimes a double lobe, and
    sometimes a ring or a helix. In the case of planetary nebula NGC 5189,
    however, besides an overall "Z" shape (the featured image is flipped
    horizontally and so appears as an "S"), no such simple structure has
    emerged. To help find out why, the Earth-orbiting Hubble Space
    Telescope has observed NGC 5189 in great detail. Previous findings
    indicated the existence of multiple epochs of material outflow,
    including a recent one that created a bright but distorted torus
    running horizontally across image center. Hubble results appear
    consistent with a hypothesis that the dying star is part of a binary
    star system with a precessing symmetry axis. NGC 5189 spans about three
    light years and lies about 3,000 light years away toward the southern
    constellation of the Fly (Musca).

    Tomorrow's picture: Moon meets Mars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Aug 15 00:18:22 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 August 15

    Mars at the Moon's Edge
    Image Credit & Copyright: Sergio Scauso

    Explanation: Does the Moon ever block out Mars? Yes, the Moon
    occasionally moves in front of all of the Solar System's planets. Just
    this past Sunday, as visible from some locations in South America, a
    waning gibbous Moon eclipsed Mars. The featured image from Córdoba,
    Argentina captured this occultation well, showing a familiar cratered
    Moon in the foreground with the bright planet Mars unusually adjacent.
    Within a few seconds, Mars then disappeared behind the Moon, only to
    reappear a few minutes later across the Moon. Today the Moon moves
    close to, but not in front of, Venus. Because alignments will not have
    changed by much, the next two times the Moon passes through this part
    of the sky - in early September and early October - it will also occult
    Mars, as seen from parts of South America.

    Pereid Meteor Shower: Notable images submitted to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: grand galaxy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Aug 16 00:22:14 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 August 16

    NGC 6814: Grand Design Spiral Galaxy from Hubble
    Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA; Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt

    Explanation: In the center of this serene stellar swirl is likely a
    harrowing black-hole beast. The surrounding swirl sweeps around
    billions of stars which are highlighted by the brightest and bluest.
    The breadth and beauty of the display give the swirl the designation of
    a grand design spiral galaxy. The central beast shows evidence that it
    is a supermassive black hole about 10 million times the mass of our
    Sun. This ferocious creature devours stars and gas and is surrounded by
    a spinning moat of hot plasma that emits blasts of X-rays. The central
    violent activity gives it the designation of a Seyfert galaxy.
    Together, this beauty and beast are cataloged as NGC 6814 and have been
    appearing together toward the constellation of the Eagle (Aquila) for
    roughly the past billion years.

    Pereid Meteor Shower: Notable images submitted to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Aug 19 00:53:24 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 August 19

    The Sun Rotating
    Video Credit: SDO, NASA; Digital Composition: Kevin M. Gill

    Explanation: Does the Sun change as it rotates? Yes, and the changes
    can vary from subtle to dramatic. In the featured time-lapse sequences,
    our Sun -- as imaged by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory -- is shown
    rotating though an entire month in 2014. In the large image on the
    left, the solar chromosphere is depicted in ultraviolet light, while
    the smaller and lighter image to its upper right simultaneously shows
    the more familiar solar photosphere in visible light. The rest of the
    inset six Sun images highlight X-ray emission by relatively rare iron
    atoms located at different heights of the corona, all false-colored to
    accentuate differences. The Sun takes just under a month to rotate
    completely -- rotating fastest at the equator. A large and active
    sunspot region rotates into view soon after the video starts. Subtle
    effects include changes in surface texture and the shapes of active
    regions. Dramatic effects include numerous flashes in active regions,
    and fluttering and erupting prominences visible all around the Sun's
    edge. Presently, our Sun is passing an unusually low Solar minimum in
    activity of its 11-year magnetic cycle. As the video ends, the same
    large and active sunspot region previously mentioned rotates back into
    view, this time looking different.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


    --- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.18 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Aug 21 00:27:10 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 August 21

    Unwinding M51
    Image Credit & Copyright: Data - Hubble Heritage Project, Unwinding -
    Paul Howell

    Explanation: The arms of a grand design spiral galaxy 60,000
    light-years across are unwound in this digital transformation of the
    magnificent 2005 Hubble Space Telescope portrait of M51. In fact, M51
    is one of the original spiral nebulae, its winding arms described by a
    mathematical curve known as a logarithmic spiral, a spiral whose
    separation grows in a geometric way with increasing distance from the
    center. Applying logarithms to shift the pixel coordinates in the
    Hubble image relative to the center of M51 maps the galaxy's spiral
    arms into diagonal straight lines. The transformed image dramatically
    shows the arms themselves are traced by star formation, lined with
    pinkish starforming regions and young blue star clusters. Companion
    galaxy NGC 5195 (top) seems to alter the track of the arm in front of
    it though, and itself remains relatively unaffected by this unwinding
    of M51. Also known as the spira mirabilis, logarthimic spirals can be
    found in nature on all scales. For example, logarithmic spirals can
    also describe hurricanes, the tracks of subatomic particles in a bubble
    chamber and, of course, cauliflower.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Aug 22 00:22:04 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 August 22

    Yogi And Friends In 3D
    Image Credit & Copyright: IMP Team, JPL, NASA

    Explanation: From July of 1997, a ramp from the Pathfinder lander, the
    Sojourner robot rover, airbags, a couch, Barnacle Bill and Yogi Rock
    appear together in this 3D stereo view of the surface of Mars. Barnacle
    Bill is the rock just left of the solar-paneled Sojourner. Yogi is the
    big friendly-looking boulder at top right. The "couch" is the angular
    rock shape visible near center on the horizon. Look at the image with
    red/blue glasses (or just hold a piece of clear red plastic over your
    left eye and blue or green over your right) to get the dramatic 3D
    perspective. The stereo view was recorded by the remarkable Imager for
    Mars Pathfinder (IMP) camera. The IMP had two optical paths for stereo
    imaging and ranging and was equipped with an array of color filters for
    spectral analysis. Operating as the first astronomical observatory on
    Mars, the IMP also recorded images of the Sun and Deimos, the smallest
    of Mars' two tiny moons. This July saw the launch of NASA's Mars
    Perseverance Rover on a mission to the Red Planet.

    Tomorrow's picture: helix in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Aug 23 08:22:10 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 August 23

    The Helix Nebula from Blanco and Hubble
    Image Credit: C. R. O'Dell, (Vanderbilt) et al. ESA, NOAO, NASA

    Explanation: How did a star create the Helix nebula? The shapes of
    planetary nebula like the Helix are important because they likely hold
    clues to how stars like the Sun end their lives. Observations by the
    orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and the 4-meter Blanco Telescope in
    Chile, however, have shown the Helix is not really a simple helix.
    Rather, it incorporates two nearly perpendicular disks as well as arcs,
    shocks, and even features not well understood. Even so, many strikingly
    geometric symmetries remain. How a single Sun-like star created such
    beautiful yet geometric complexity is a topic of research. The Helix
    Nebula is the nearest planetary nebula to Earth, lies only about 700
    light years away toward the constellation of Aquarius, and spans about
    3 light-years.

    Tomorrow's picture: a rounder moon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Aug 24 00:08:58 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 August 24

    Crescent Moon HDR
    Image Credit & Copyright: Miguel Claro (TWAN, Dark Sky Alqueva)

    Explanation: How come the crescent Moon doesn't look like this? For one
    reason, because your eyes can't simultaneously discern bright and dark
    regions like this. Called earthshine or the da Vinci glow, the unlit
    part of a crescent Moon is visible but usually hard to see because it
    is much dimmer than the sunlit arc. In our digital age, however, the
    differences in brightness can be artificially reduced. The featured
    image is actually a digital composite of 15 short exposures of the
    bright crescent, and 14 longer exposures of the dim remainder. The
    origin of the da Vinci glow, as explained by Leonardo da Vinci about
    510 years ago, is sunlight reflected first by the Earth to the Moon,
    and then back from the Moon to the Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: around a black hole
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Aug 28 00:10:16 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 August 28

    The Valley of Orion
    Visualization Credit: NASA, ESA, F. Summers, G. Bacon,
    Z. Levay, J. DePasquale, L. Frattare, M. Robberto, M. Gennaro (STScI)
    and R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC)

    Explanation: This exciting and unfamiliar view of the Orion Nebula is a
    visualization based on astronomical data and movie rendering
    techniques. Up close and personal with a famous stellar nursery
    normally seen from 1,500 light-years away, the digitally modeled frame
    transitions from a visible light representation based on Hubble data on
    the left to infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope on the
    right. The perspective at the center looks along a valley over a
    light-year wide, in the wall of the region's giant molecular cloud.
    Orion's valley ends in a cavity carved by the energetic winds and
    radiation of the massive central stars of the Trapezium star cluster.
    The single frame is part of a multiwavelength, three-dimensional video
    that lets the viewer experience an immersive, three minute flight
    through the Great Nebula of Orion.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-dark Mars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Aug 30 00:11:40 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 August 30

    NGC 6357: Cathedral to Massive Stars
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA and Jesús Maíz Apellániz (IAA, Spain);
    Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble)

    Explanation: How massive can a normal star be? Estimates made from
    distance, brightness and standard solar models had given one star in
    the open cluster Pismis 24 over 200 times the mass of our Sun, making
    it one of the most massive stars known. This star is the brightest
    object located just above the gas front in the featured image. Close
    inspection of images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, however,
    have shown that Pismis 24-1 derives its brilliant luminosity not from a
    single star but from three at least. Component stars would still remain
    near 100 solar masses, making them among the more massive stars
    currently on record. Toward the bottom of the image, stars are still
    forming in the associated emission nebula NGC 6357. Appearing perhaps
    like a Gothic cathedral, energetic stars near the center appear to be
    breaking out and illuminating a spectacular cocoon.

    Teachers & Students: Ideas for Utilizing APOD in the Classroom
    Tomorrow's picture: micro-quasar imagined
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Sep 1 00:03:00 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 September 1

    Salt Water Remnants on Ceres
    Video Credit: Dawn Mission, NASA, JPL-Caltech, UCLA, MPS/DLR/IDA

    Explanation: Does Ceres have underground pockets of water? Ceres, the
    largest asteroid in the asteroid belt, was thought to be composed of
    rock and ice. At the same time, Ceres was known to have unusual bright
    spots on its surface. These bright spots were clearly imaged during
    Dawn's exciting approach in 2015. Analyses of Dawn images and spectra
    indicated that the bright spots arise from the residue of
    highly-reflective salt water that used to exist on Ceres' surface but
    evaporated. Recent analysis indicates that some of this water may have
    originated from deep inside Ceres, indicating Ceres to be a kindred
    spirit with several Solar System moons, also thought to harbor deep
    water pockets. The featured video shows in false-color pink the bright
    evaporated brine named Cerealia Facula in Occator Crater. In 2018, the
    mission-successful but fuel-depleted Dawn spacecraft was placed in a
    distant parking orbit, keeping it away from the Ceres' surface for at
    least 20 years to avoid interfering with any life that might there
    exist.

    Experts Debate: How will humanity first discover extraterrestrial life?
    Tomorrow's picture: bonus moons
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Sep 3 00:40:52 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 September 3

    A Halo for Andromeda
    Digital Illustration Credit: NASA, ESA, J. DePasquale and E. Wheatley
    (STScI) and Z. Levay

    Explanation: M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, is the closest large spiral
    galaxy to our Milky Way. Some 2.5 million light-years distant it shines
    in Earth's night sky as a small, faint, elongated cloud just visible to
    the unaided eye. Invisible to the eye though, its enormous halo of hot
    ionized gas is represented in purplish hues for this digital
    illustration of our neighboring galaxy above rocky terrain. Mapped by
    Hubble Space Telescope observations of the absorption of ultraviolet
    light against distant quasars, the extent and make-up of Andromeda's
    gaseous halo has been recently determined by the AMIGA project. A
    reservoir of material for future star formation, Andromeda's halo of
    diffuse plasma was measured to extend around 1.3 million light-years or
    more from the galaxy. That's about half way to the Milky Way, likely
    putting it in contact with the diffuse gaseous halo of our own galaxy.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Sep 5 00:03:22 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 September 5

    A Falcon 9 Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Katie Darby

    Explanation: Illuminating planet Earth's night, full moons can have
    many names. This year the last full moon of northern hemisphere summer
    was on September 2, known to some as the Full Corn Moon. A few days
    earlier on August 30 this almost full moon rose just before sunset
    though, shining through cloudy skies over Cape Canaveral Air Force
    Station on Florida's Space Coast. A well-timed snapshot caught the
    glare of rocket engines firing below the lunar disk, a Falcon 9
    rocket's first stage successfully returning to Cape Canaveral's landing
    zone 1. About 9 minutes earlier, the same SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket had
    launched the SAOCOM 1B satellite toward polar orbit. The fourth launch
    for this reusable Falcon 9 first stage, it was the first launch to a
    polar orbit from Cape Canaveral since 1969.

    Tomorrow's picture: a cosmic crustacean
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Sep 8 00:41:40 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 September 8

    GW190521: Unexpected Black Holes Collide
    Illustration Credit: Raúl Rubio (Virgo Valencia Group, The Virgo
    Collaboration)

    Explanation: How do black holes like this form? The two black holes
    that spiraled together to produce the gravitational wave event GW190521
    were not only the most massive black holes ever seen by LIGO and VIRGO
    so far, their masses -- 66 and 85 solar masses -- were unprecedented
    and unexpected. Lower mass black holes, below about 65 solar masses are
    known to form in supernova explosions. Conversely, higher mass black
    holes, above about 135 solar masses, are thought to be created by very
    massive stars imploding after they use up their weight-bearing
    nuclear-fusion-producing elements. How such intermediate mass black
    holes came to exist is yet unknown, although one hypothesis holds that
    they result from consecutive collisions of stars and black holes in
    dense star clusters. Featured is an illustration of the black holes
    just before collision, annotated with arrows indicating their spin
    axes. In the illustration, the spiral waves indicate the production of
    gravitational radiation, while the surrounding stars highlight the
    possibility that the merger occurred in a star cluster. Seen last year
    but emanating from an epoch when the universe was only about half its
    present age (z ~ 0.8), black hole merger GW190521 is the farthest yet
    detected, to within measurement errors.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 2,200+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: stellar sisters
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Sep 9 00:47:38 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 September 9

    Pleiades: The Seven Sisters Star Cluster
    Image Credit & Copyright: Raul Villaverde Fraile

    Explanation: Have you ever seen the Pleiades star cluster? Even if you
    have, you probably have never seen it as large and clear as this.
    Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky, the bright stars of
    the Pleiades can be seen without binoculars from even the depths of a
    light-polluted city. With a long exposure from a dark location, though,
    the dust cloud surrounding the Pleiades star cluster becomes very
    evident. The featured exposure covers a sky area several times the size
    of the full moon. Also known as the Seven Sisters and M45, the Pleiades
    lies about 400 light years away toward the constellation of the Bull
    (Taurus). A common legend with a modern twist is that one of the
    brighter stars faded since the cluster was named, leaving only six of
    the sister stars visible to the unaided eye. The actual number of
    Pleiades stars visible, however, may be more or less than seven,
    depending on the darkness of the surrounding sky and the clarity of the
    observer's eyesight.

    Teachers & Students: Ideas for utilizing APOD in the classroom.
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Sep 15 00:56:04 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 September 15

    Biomarker Phosphine Discovered in the Atmosphere of Venus
    Image Credit: ISAS, JAXA, Akatsuki; Processing: Meli thev

    Explanation: Could there be life floating in the atmosphere of Venus?
    Although Earth's planetary neighbor has a surface considered too
    extreme for any known lifeform, Venus' upper atmosphere may be
    sufficiently mild for tiny airborne microbes. This usually disfavored
    prospect took an unexpected upturn yesterday with the announcement of
    the discovery of Venusian phosphine. The chemical phosphine (PH3) is a
    considered a biomarker because it seems so hard to create from routine
    chemical processes thought to occur on or around a rocky world such as
    Venus -- but it is known to be created by microbial life on Earth. The
    featured image of Venus and its thick clouds was taken in two bands of
    ultraviolet light by the Venus-orbing Akatsuki, a Japanese robotic
    satellite that has been orbiting the cloud-shrouded world since 2015.
    The phosphine finding, if confirmed, may set off renewed interest in
    searching for other indications of life floating high in the atmosphere
    of our Solar System's second planet out from the Sun.

    Experts Debate: How will humanity first discover extraterrestrial life?
    Tomorrow's picture: asteroid ejection
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Sep 23 00:31:50 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 September 23

    ISS Transits Mars
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tom Glenn

    Explanation: Yes, but have you ever seen the space station do this? If
    you know when and where to look, watching the bright International
    Space Station (ISS) drift across your night sky is a fascinating sight
    -- but not very unusual. Images of the ISS crossing in front of the
    half-degree Moon or Sun do exist, but are somewhat rare as they take
    planning, timing, and patience to acquire. Catching the ISS crossing in
    front of minuscule Mars, though, is on another level. Using online
    software, the featured photographer learned that the unusual transit
    would be visible only momentarily along a very narrow stretch of nearby
    land spanning just 90 meters. Within this stretch, the equivalent
    ground velocity of the passing ISS image would be a quick 7.4
    kilometers per second. However, with a standard camera, a small
    telescope, an exact location to set up his equipment, an exact
    direction to point the telescope, and sub-millisecond timing -- he
    created a video from which the featured 0.00035 second exposure was
    extracted. In the resulting image capture, details on both Mars and the
    ISS are visible simultaneously. The featured image was acquired last
    Monday at 05:15:47 local time from just northeast of San Diego,
    California, USA. Although typically much smaller, angularly, than the
    ISS, Mars is approaching its maximum angular size in the next few
    weeks, because the blue planet (Earth) is set to pass its closest to
    the red planet (Mars) in their respective orbits around the Sun.

    Portal Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Sep 24 00:51:16 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 September 24

    Enceladus in Infrared
    Image Credit: VIMS Team, SSI, U. Arizona, U. Nantes, ESA, NASA

    Explanation: One of our Solar System's most tantalizing worlds, icy
    Saturnian moon Enceladus appears in these detailed hemisphere views
    from the Cassini spacecraft. In false color, the five panels present 13
    years of infrared image data from Cassini's Visual and Infrared Mapping
    Spectrometer and Imaging Science Subsystem. Fresh ice is colored red,
    and the most dramatic features look like long gashes in the 500
    kilometer diameter moon's south polar region. They correspond to the
    location of tiger stripes, surface fractures that likely connect to an
    ocean beneath the Enceladus ice shell. The fractures are the source of
    the moon's icy plumes that continuously spew into space. The plumes
    were discovered by by Cassini in 2005. Now, reddish hues in the
    northern half of the leading hemisphere view also indicate a recent
    resurfacing of other regions of the geologically active moon, a world
    that may hold conditions suitable for life.

    Experts Debate: How will humanity first discover extraterrestrial life?
    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


    --- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.18 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Sep 25 00:23:58 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 September 25

    Moon over Andromeda
    Composite Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block and Tim Puckett

    Explanation: The Great Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda (also known as M31),
    a mere 2.5 million light-years distant, is the closest large spiral to
    our own Milky Way. Andromeda is visible to the unaided eye as a small,
    faint, fuzzy patch, but because its surface brightness is so low,
    casual skygazers can't appreciate the galaxy's impressive extent in
    planet Earth's sky. This entertaining composite image compares the
    angular size of the nearby galaxy to a brighter, more familiar
    celestial sight. In it, a deep exposure of Andromeda, tracing beautiful
    blue star clusters in spiral arms far beyond the bright yellow core, is
    combined with a typical view of a nearly full Moon. Shown at the same
    angular scale, the Moon covers about 1/2 degree on the sky, while the
    galaxy is clearly several times that size. The deep Andromeda exposure
    also includes two bright satellite galaxies, M32 and M110 (below and
    right).

    Tomorrow's picture: Observe the Moon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Oct 2 00:28:36 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 October 2

    Biking to the Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Susan Snow

    Explanation: As you watched October's first Full Moon rise last night,
    the Full Moon closest to the northern autumnal equinox, you were
    probably asking yourself, "How long would it take to bike to the Moon?"
    Sure, Apollo 11 astronauts made the trip in 1969, from launch to Moon
    landing, in about 103 hours or 4.3 days. But the Moon is 400,000
    kilometers away. This year, the top bike riders in planet Earth's
    well-known Tour de France race covered almost 3,500 kilometers in 21
    stages after about 87 hours on the road. That gives an average speed of
    about 40 kilometers per hour and a lunar cycling travel time of 10,000
    hours, a little over 416 days. While this bike rider's destination
    isn't clear, his journey did begin around moonrise on September 27 near
    Cleeve Hill, Bishops Cleeve, Cheltenham, UK.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


    --- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.18 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Oct 6 00:43:28 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 October 6

    Mars Approach 2020
    Image Credit: Jonathan T. Grayson

    Explanation: Look to the east just after sunset tonight and you'll see
    a most impressive Mars. Tonight, Mars will appear its biggest and
    brightest of the year, as Earth passes closer to the red planet than it
    has in over two years -- and will be again for another two years. In a
    week, Mars will be almost as bright -- but at opposition, meaning that
    it will be directly opposite the Sun. Due to the slightly oval shape of
    the orbits of Mars and Earth, closest approach and opposition occur on
    slightly different days. The featured image sequence shows how the
    angular size of Mars has grown during its approach over the past few
    months. Noticeably orange, Mars is now visible nearly all night long,
    reflecting more sunlight toward Earth than either Saturn or Jupiter.
    Even at its closest and largest, though, Mars will still appear over
    100 times smaller, in diameter, than a full moon.

    Tomorrow's picture: flying bat squid
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Oct 9 00:21:10 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 October 9

    The Very Large Array at Moonset
    Image Credit: Jeff Hellermann, NRAO / AUI / NSF

    Explanation: An inspirational sight, these giant dish antennas of the
    Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) rise above the New Mexico desert
    at moonset. Mounted on piers but transportable on railroad tracks to
    change the VLA's configuration, its 27 operating antennas are each
    house-sized (25 meters across) and can be organized into an array
    spanning the size of a city (35 kilometers). A prolific radio astronomy
    workhorse, the VLA has been used to discover water on planet Mercury,
    radio-bright coronae around stars, micro-quasars in our Galaxy,
    gravitationally-induced Einstein rings around distant galaxies, and
    radio counterparts to cosmologically distant gamma-ray bursts. Its vast
    size has allowed astronomers to study the details of radio galaxies,
    super-fast cosmic jets, and map the center of our own Milky Way. Now 40
    years since its dedication the VLA has been used in more than 14,000
    observing projects and contributed to more than 500 Ph.D.
    dissertations. On October 10, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory
    will host a day-long online celebration of the VLA at 40 featuring
    virtual tours and presentations on the history, operations, science,
    and future of the Very Large Array.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


    --- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.18 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Oct 12 00:34:50 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 October 12

    Descending Toward Asteroid Bennu
    Video Credit: NASA, OSIRIS-REx, NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio;
    Data: NASA, U. Arizona, CSA, York U., MDA

    Explanation: What would it be like to land on an asteroid? Although no
    human has yet done it, NASA's robotic OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is
    scheduled to attempt to touch the surface of asteroid 101955 Bennu next
    week. The goal is to collect a sample from the nearby minor planet for
    return to Earth for a detailed analysis in 2023. The featured video
    shows what it looks like to descend toward the 500-meter diamond-shaped
    asteroid, based on a digital map of Bennu's rocky surface constructed
    from image and surface data taken by OSIRIS-REx over the past 1.5
    years. The video begins by showing a rapidly spinning Bennu -- much
    faster than its real rotation period of 4.3 hours. After the rotation
    stops, the virtual camera drops you down to just above the rugged
    surface and circles a house-sized rock outcrop named Simurgh, with the
    flatter outcrop Roc visible behind it. If the return sample reaches
    Earth successfully, it will be scrutinized for organic compounds that
    might have seeded a young Earth, rare or unusual elements and minerals,
    and clues about the early history of our Solar System.

    Tomorrow's picture: opposing Mars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Oct 13 00:11:44 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 October 13

    Mars, Pleiades, and Andromeda over Stone Lions
    Image Credit & Copyright: Cem Özkeser

    Explanation: Three very different -- and very famous -- objects were
    all captured in a single frame last month. On the upper left is the
    bright blue Pleiades, perhaps the most famous cluster of stars on the
    night sky. The Pleiades (M45) is about 450 light years away and easily
    found a few degrees from Orion. On the upper right is the expansive
    Andromeda Galaxy, perhaps the most famous galaxy -- external to our own
    -- on the night sky. Andromeda (M31) is one of few objects visible to
    the unaided eye where you can see light that is millions of years old.
    In the middle is bright red Mars, perhaps the most famous planet on the
    night sky. Today Mars is at opposition, meaning that it is opposite the
    Sun, with the result that it is visible all night long. In the
    foreground is an ancient tomb in the Phygrian Valley in Turkey. The
    tomb, featuring two stone lions, is an impressive remnant of a powerful
    civilization that lived thousands of years ago. Mars, currently near
    its brightest, can be easily found toward the east just after sunset.

    Tomorrow's picture: a colorful space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Oct 14 00:21:48 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 October 14

    The Colorful Clouds of Rho Ophiuchi
    Image Credit & Copyright: Amir H. Abolfath

    Explanation: The many spectacular colors of the Rho Ophiuchi
    (oh'-fee-yu-kee) clouds highlight the many processes that occur there.
    The blue regions shine primarily by reflected light. Blue light from
    the Rho Ophiuchi star system and nearby stars reflects more efficiently
    off this portion of the nebula than red light. The Earth's daytime sky
    appears blue for the same reason. The red and yellow regions shine
    primarily because of emission from the nebula's atomic and molecular
    gas. Light from nearby blue stars - more energetic than the bright star
    Antares - knocks electrons away from the gas, which then shines when
    the electrons recombine with the gas. The dark brown regions are caused
    by dust grains - born in young stellar atmospheres - which effectively
    block light emitted behind them. The Rho Ophiuchi star clouds, well in
    front of the globular cluster M4 visible here on the upper right, are
    even more colorful than humans can see - the clouds emits light in
    every wavelength band from the radio to the gamma-ray.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 2,200+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Oct 19 00:35:48 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 October 19

    A Flight over Jupiter Near the Great Red Spot
    Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Video Processing & License:
    Kevin M. Gill; Music: Vangelis

    Explanation: Are you willing to wait to see the largest and oldest
    known storm system in the Solar System? In the featured video,
    Jupiter's Great Red Spot finally makes its appearance 2 minutes and 12
    seconds into the 5-minute video. Before it arrives, you may find it
    pleasing to enjoy the continually changing view of the seemingly serene
    clouds of Jupiter, possibly with your lights low and sound up. The 41
    frames that compose the video were captured in June as the robotic Juno
    spacecraft was making a close pass over our Solar System's largest
    planet. The time-lapse sequence actually occurred over four hours.
    Since arriving at Jupiter in 2016, Juno's numerous discoveries have
    included unexpectedly deep atmospheric jet streams, the most powerful
    auroras ever recorded, and water-bearing clouds bunched near Jupiter's
    equator.

    Follow: Live coverage of tomorrow's OSIRIS-REx attempted
    touchdown-and-go on asteroid Bennu
    Tomorrow's picture: great sky orbs
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Oct 20 00:49:20 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 October 20

    Saturn and Jupiter over Italian Peaks
    Image Credit & Copyright: Giorgia Hofer

    Explanation: Saturn and Jupiter are getting closer. Every night that
    you go out and check for the next two months, these two bright planets
    will be even closer together on the sky. Finally, in mid-December, a
    Great Conjunction will occur -- when the two planets will appear only
    0.1 degrees apart -- just one fifth the angular diameter of the full
    Moon. And this isn't just any Great Conjunction -- Saturn (left) and
    Jupiter (right) haven't been this close since 1623, and won't be nearly
    this close again until 2080. This celestial event is quite easy to see
    -- already the two planets are easily visible toward the southwest just
    after sunset -- and already they are remarkably close. Pictured, the
    astrophotographer and partner eyed the planetary duo above the Tre Cime
    di Lavaredo (Three Peaks of Lavaredo) in the Italian Alps about two
    weeks ago.

    Follow: Live coverage of today's OSIRIS-REx attempted touchdown-and-go
    on asteroid Bennu
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Oct 21 00:31:24 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 October 21

    A Night Sky Vista from Sardinia
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tomás Slovinský

    Explanation: How many famous sky objects can you find in this image?
    The featured dark sky composite combines over 60 exposures spanning
    over 220 degrees to create a veritable menagerie of night sky wonders.
    Visible celestial icons include the Belt of Orion, the Orion Nebula,
    the Andromeda Galaxy, the California Nebula, and bright stars Sirius
    and Betelgeuse. You can verify that you found these, if you did, by
    checking an annotated version of the image. A bit harder, though, is
    finding Polaris and the Big Dipper. Also discernible are several
    meteors from the Quandrantids meteor shower, red and green airglow, and
    two friends of the astrophotographer. The picture was captured in
    January from Sardinia, Italy. You can see sky wonders in your own night
    sky tonight -- including more meteors than usual -- because tonight is
    near peak of the yearly Orionids meteor shower.

    News: NASA's OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Successfully Touches Asteroid
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Oct 23 00:38:02 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 October 23

    Supernova in NGC 2525
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Riess (STScI/JHU) and the SH0ES team
    Acknowledgment: M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble)

    Explanation: Big, beautiful, barred spiral galaxy NGC 2525 lies 70
    million light-years from the Milky Way. It shines in Earth's night sky
    within the boundaries of the southern constellation Puppis. About
    60,000 light-years across, its spiral arms lined with dark dust clouds,
    massive blue stars, and pinkish starforming regions wind through this
    gorgeous Hubble Space Telescope snapshot. Spotted on the outskirts of
    NGC 2525 in January 2018, supernova SN 2018gv is the brightest star in
    the frame at the lower left. In time-lapse, a year long series of
    Hubble observations followed the stellar explosion, the nuclear
    detonation of a white dwarf star triggered by accreting material from a
    companion star, as it slowly faded from view. Identified as a Type Ia
    supernova, its brightness is considered a cosmic standard candle. Type
    Ia supernovae are used to measure distances to galaxies and determine
    the expansion rate of the Universe.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Oct 24 00:12:16 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 October 24

    Globular Star Cluster 47 Tuc
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jose Mtanous

    Explanation: Globular star cluster 47 Tucanae is a jewel of the
    southern sky. Also known as NGC 104, it roams the halo of our Milky Way
    Galaxy along with some 200 other globular star clusters. The second
    brightest globular cluster (after Omega Centauri) as seen from planet
    Earth, it lies about 13,000 light-years away and can be spotted
    naked-eye close on the sky to the Small Magellanic Cloud in the
    constellation of the Toucan. The dense cluster is made up of hundreds
    of thousands of stars in a volume only about 120 light-years across.
    Red giant stars on the outskirts of the cluster are easy to pick out as
    yellowish stars in this sharp telescopic portrait. Tightly packed
    globular cluster 47 Tuc is also home to a star with the closest known
    orbit around a black hole.

    Tomorrow's picture: dark-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Oct 25 00:25:36 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 October 25

    Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe
    Illustration Credit & Copyright: Tom Abel & Ralf Kaehler (KIPAC, SLAC),
    AMNH

    Explanation: Is our universe haunted? It might look that way on this
    dark matter map. The gravity of unseen dark matter is the leading
    explanation for why galaxies rotate so fast, why galaxies orbit
    clusters so fast, why gravitational lenses so strongly deflect light,
    and why visible matter is distributed as it is both in the local
    universe and on the cosmic microwave background. The featured image
    from the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium
    previous Space Show Dark Universe highlights one example of how
    pervasive dark matter might haunt our universe. In this frame from a
    detailed computer simulation, complex filaments of dark matter, shown
    in black, are strewn about the universe like spider webs, while the
    relatively rare clumps of familiar baryonic matter are colored orange.
    These simulations are good statistical matches to astronomical
    observations. In what is perhaps a scarier turn of events, dark matter
    -- although quite strange and in an unknown form -- is no longer
    thought to be the strangest source of gravity in the universe. That
    honor now falls to dark energy, a more uniform source of repulsive
    gravity that seems to now dominate the expansion of the entire
    universe.

    Tomorrow's picture: spooky space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Oct 26 00:21:46 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 October 26

    Reflections of the Ghost Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Bogdan Jarzyna

    Explanation: Do any shapes seem to jump out at you from this
    interstellar field of stars and dust? The jeweled expanse, filled with
    faint, starlight-reflecting clouds, drifts through the night in the
    royal constellation of Cepheus. Far from your own neighborhood on
    planet Earth, these ghostly apparitions lurk along the plane of the
    Milky Way at the edge of the Cepheus Flare molecular cloud complex some
    1,200 light-years away. Over two light-years across and brighter than
    the other spooky chimeras, VdB 141 or Sh2-136 is also known as the
    Ghost Nebula, seen at toward the bottom of the featured image. Within
    the reflection nebula are the telltale signs of dense cores collapsing
    in the early stages of star formation.

    Tomorrow's picture: venusian volcano
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Oct 28 00:10:30 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 October 28

    NGC 6357: The Lobster Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Steven Mohr

    Explanation: Why is the Lobster Nebula forming some of the most massive
    stars known? No one is yet sure. Cataloged as NGC 6357, the Lobster
    Nebula houses the open star cluster Pismis 24 near its center -- a home
    to unusually bright and massive stars. The overall blue glow near the
    inner star forming region results from the emission of ionized hydrogen
    gas. The surrounding nebula, featured here, holds a complex tapestry of
    gas, dark dust, stars still forming, and newly born stars. The
    intricate patterns are caused by complex interactions between
    interstellar winds, radiation pressures, magnetic fields, and gravity.
    NGC 6357 spans about 400 light years and lies about 8,000 light years
    away toward the constellation of the Scorpion.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Oct 29 00:06:34 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 October 29

    The Ghoul of IC 2118
    Image Credit & Copyright: Casey Good/Steve Timmons

    Explanation: Inspired by the halloween season, this telescopic portrait
    captures a cosmic cloud with a scary visage. The interstellar scene
    lies within the dusty expanse of reflection nebula IC 2118 in the
    constellation Orion. IC 2118 is about 800 light-years from your
    neighborhood, close to bright bluish star Rigel at the foot of Orion.
    Often identified as the Witch Head nebula for its appearance in a wider
    field of view it now rises before the witching hour though. With spiky
    stars for eyes, the ghoulish apparition identified here seems to extend
    an arm toward Orion's hot supergiant star. The source of illumination
    for IC 2118, Rigel is just beyond this frame at the upper left.

    Tomorrow's picture: fear and terror
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Oct 30 00:45:32 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 October 30

    Fear and Dread: The Moons of Mars
    Composite Image Credit & Copyright: Dennis Simmons

    Explanation: On Halloween fear and dread will stalk your night skies,
    also known as Phobos and Deimos the moons of Mars. The 2020 opposition
    of Mars was on October 13, so the Red Planet will still rise shortly
    after sunset. Near Halloween's Full Moon on the sky, its strange
    yellowish glow will outshine other stars throughout the night. But the
    two tiny Martian moons are very faint and in close orbits, making them
    hard to spot, even with a small telescope. You can find them in this
    carefully annotated composite view though. The overexposed planet's
    glare is reduced and orbital paths for inner moon Phobos and outer moon
    Deimos are overlayed on digitally combined images captured on October
    6. The diminutive moons of Mars were discovered in August of 1877 by
    astronomer Asaph Hall at the US Naval Observatory using the Great
    Equatorial 26-inch Alvan Clark refractor.

    Tomorrow's picture: galaxy of horrors
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Nov 5 00:28:44 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 November 5

    North of Orion's Belt
    Image Credit & Copyright: Terry Hancock (Grand Mesa Observatory)

    Explanation: Bright stars, interstellar clouds of dust and glowing
    nebulae fill this cosmic scene, a skyscape just north of Orion's belt.
    Close to the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, the wide field view spans
    just under 5 degrees or about 10 full moons on the sky. Striking bluish
    M78, a reflection nebula, is at the lower right. M78's tint is due to
    dust preferentially reflecting the blue light of hot, young stars. In
    colorful contrast, the red swath of glowing hydrogen gas streaming
    through the center is part of the region's faint but extensive emission
    nebula known as Barnard's Loop. At upper left, a dark dust cloud forms
    a prominent silhouette cataloged as LDN 1622. While M78 and the complex
    Barnard's Loop are some 1,500 light-years away, LDN 1622 is likely to
    be much closer, only about 500 light-years distant from our fair planet
    Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Nov 9 00:47:18 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 November 9

    In Green Company: Aurora over Norway
    Image Credit & Copyright: Max Rive

    Explanation: Raise your arms if you see an aurora. With those
    instructions, two nights went by with, well, clouds -- mostly. On the
    third night of returning to same peaks, though, the sky not only
    cleared up but lit up with a spectacular auroral display. Arms went
    high in the air, patience and experience paid off, and the creative
    featured image was captured as a composite from three separate
    exposures. The setting is a summit of the Austnesfjorden fjord close to
    the town of Svolvear on the Lofoten islands in northern Norway. The
    time was early 2014. Although our Sun has just passed the solar minimum
    of its 11-year cycle, surface activity should pick up over the next few
    years with the promise of triggering more spectacular auroras on Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: a soul without stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Nov 15 00:26:16 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 November 15

    Edge-On Galaxy NGC 5866
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA);
    Acknowledgment: W. Keel (U. Alabama)

    Explanation: Why is this galaxy so thin? Many disk galaxies are just as
    thin as NGC 5866, pictured here, but are not seen edge-on from our
    vantage point. One galaxy that is situated edge-on is our own Milky Way
    Galaxy. Classified as a lenticular galaxy, NGC 5866 has numerous and
    complex dust lanes appearing dark and red, while many of the bright
    stars in the disk give it a more blue underlying hue. The blue disk of
    young stars can be seen extending past the dust in the extremely thin
    galactic plane, while the bulge in the disk center appears tinged more
    orange from the older and redder stars that likely exist there.
    Although similar in mass to our Milky Way Galaxy, light takes about
    60,000 years to cross NGC 5866, about 30 percent less than light takes
    to cross our own Galaxy. In general, many disk galaxies are very thin
    because the gas that formed them collided with itself as it rotated
    about the gravitational center. Galaxy NGC 5866 lies about 44 million
    light years distant toward the constellation of the Dragon (Draco).

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: grecian skyscape
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Nov 18 01:38:12 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 November 18

    A Double Star Cluster in Perseus
    Image Credit & Copyright: Greg Polanski

    Explanation: Most star clusters are singularly impressive. Open
    clusters NGC 869 and NGC 884, however, could be considered doubly
    impressive. Also known as "h and chi Persei", this unusual double
    cluster, shown above, is bright enough to be seen from a dark location
    without even binoculars. Although their discovery surely predates
    recorded history, the Greek astronomer Hipparchus notably cataloged the
    double cluster. The clusters are over 7,000 light years distant toward
    the constellation of Perseus, but are separated by only hundreds of
    light years. In addition to being physically close together, the
    clusters' ages based on their individual stars are similar - evidence
    that both clusters were likely a product of the same star-forming
    region.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Nov 21 01:39:20 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 November 21

    Mars and Meteor over Jade Dragon Snow Mountain
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN)

    Explanation: A brilliant yellowish celestial beacon, Mars still dazzles
    in the night. Peering between clouds the wandering planet was briefly
    joined by the flash of a meteor in this moonless dark sky on November
    18. The single exposure was taken as the Earth swept up dust from
    periodic comet Tempel-Tuttle during the annual Leonid Meteor Shower.
    The view of a rugged western horizon looks along the Yulong mountain
    range in Yunnan province, southwestern China. Yulong (Jade Dragon) Snow
    Mountain lies below the clouds and beyond the end of the meteor streak.

    Tomorrow's picture: dark marking on the sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Dec 10 00:32:28 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 December 10

    Simeis 147: Supernova Remnant
    Image Credit & Copyright: Georges Attard

    Explanation: It's easy to get lost following the intricate looping
    filaments in this detailed image of supernova remnant Simeis 147. Also
    cataloged as Sharpless 2-240 it goes by the popular nickname, the
    Spaghetti Nebula. Seen toward the boundary of the constellations Taurus
    and Auriga, it covers nearly 3 degrees or 6 full moons on the sky.
    That's about 150 light-years at the stellar debris cloud's estimated
    distance of 3,000 light-years. This composite includes image data taken
    through narrow-band filters where reddish emission from ionized
    hydrogen atoms and doubly ionized oxygen atoms in faint blue-green hues
    trace the shocked, glowing gas. The supernova remnant has an estimated
    age of about 40,000 years, meaning light from the massive stellar
    explosion first reached Earth 40,000 years ago. But the expanding
    remnant is not the only aftermath. The cosmic catastrophe also left
    behind a spinning neutron star or pulsar, all that remains of the
    original star's core.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 12 00:19:50 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 December 12

    Saturn and Jupiter in Summer 2020
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel (TWAN), Onur Durma

    Explanation: During this northern summer Saturn and Jupiter were both
    near opposition, opposite the Sun in planet Earth's sky. Their paired
    retrograde motion, seen about every 20 years, is followed from 19 June
    through 28 August in this panoramic composite as they wander together
    between the stars in western Capricornus and eastern Sagittarius. But
    this December's skies find them drawing even closer together. Jupiter
    and Saturn are now close, bright celestial beacons in the west after
    sunset. On solstice day December 21 they will reach their magnificent
    20 year Great Conjunction. Then the two largest worlds in the Solar
    System will appear in Earth's sky separated by only about 1/5 the
    apparent diameter of a Full Moon.

    Tomorrow's picture: Phaethon's brood
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Dec 20 00:29:50 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 December 20

    A Volcanic Great Conjunction
    Image Credit & Copyright: Francisco Sojuel

    Explanation: Where can I see the Great Conjunction? Near where the Sun
    just set. Directionally, this close passing of Jupiter and Saturn will
    be toward the southwest. Since the planetary pair, the Sun, and the
    Earth are nearly in a geometric straight line, the planets will be seen
    to set just where the Sun had set -- from every location on Earth. When
    can I see the Great Conjunction? Just after sunset. Since the two
    planets are so near the Sun directionally, they always appear in the
    sky near the Sun, but can best be seen when the Earth blocks the Sun
    but not the planets: sunset. Soon thereafter, Jupiter and Saturn will
    also set, so don't be late! Is tomorrow night the only night that I can
    see the Great Conjunction? Tomorrow night the jovian giants will appear
    the closest, but on any night over the next few days they will appear
    unusually close. Technically, the closest pass happens on 21 December
    at 18:20 UTC. Will there be an erupting volcano on the horizon near the
    Great Conjunction? Yes, for example if you live in Guatemala where the
    featured image was taken. Otherwise, generally, no. In the featured
    image captured last week, Jupiter and Saturn are visible toward the
    right, just above a tree, and bathed in the diffuse glow of zodiacal
    light.

    Growing Gallery: Notable images of the Great Conjunction submitted to
    APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: one day short
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Dec 21 00:36:10 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 December 21

    Solstice: Sunrises Around the Year
    Image Credit & Copyright: Zaid M. Al-Abbadi

    Explanation: Does the Sun always rise in the same direction? No. As the
    months change, the direction toward the rising Sun changes, too. The
    featured image shows the direction of sunrise every month during 2019
    as seen from near the city of Amman, Jordan. The camera in the image is
    always facing due east, with north toward the left and south toward the
    right. Although the Sun always rises in the east in general, it rises
    furthest to the south of east on the December solstice, and furthest
    north of east on the June solstice. Today is the December solstice, the
    day of least sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere and of most sunlight
    in the Southern Hemisphere. In many countries, the December Solstice is
    considered an official change in season: for example the first day of
    winter in the North. Solar heating and stored energy in the Earth's
    surface and atmosphere are near their lowest during winter, making the
    winter months usually the coldest of the year. On the brighter side, in
    the north, daylight hours will now increase every day from until June.

    Sunset: The Great Conjunction of Jupiter & Saturn
    Tomorrow's picture: three jets
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Dec 22 00:28:26 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 December 22

    Trifid Pillars and Jets
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Space Telescope, HLA; Processing:
    Advait Mehla

    Explanation: Dust pillars are like interstellar mountains. They survive
    because they are more dense than their surroundings, but they are being
    slowly eroded away by a hostile environment. Visible in the featured
    picture is the end of a huge gas and dust pillar in the Trifid Nebula
    (M20), punctuated by a smaller pillar pointing up and an unusual jet
    pointing to the left. Many of the dots are newly formed low-mass stars.
    A star near the small pillar's end is slowly being stripped of its
    accreting gas by radiation from a tremendously brighter star situated
    off the top of the image. The jet extends nearly a light-year and would
    not be visible without external illumination. As gas and dust evaporate
    from the pillars, the hidden stellar source of this jet will likely be
    uncovered, possibly over the next 20,000 years.

    Growing Gallery: Notable images of the Great Conjunction submitted to
    APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Dec 23 00:52:40 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 December 23

    Jupiter Meets Saturn: A Red Spotted Great Conjunction
    Image Credit & Copyright: Damian Peach

    Explanation: It was time for their close-up. Two days ago Jupiter and
    Saturn passed a tenth of a degree from each other in what is known a
    Great Conjunction. Although the two planets pass each other on the sky
    every 20 years, this was the closest pass in nearly four centuries.
    Taken early in day of the Great Conjunction, the featured
    multiple-exposure combination captures not only both giant planets in a
    single frame, but also Jupiter's four largest moons (left to right)
    Callisto, Ganymede, Io, and Europa -- and Saturn's largest moon Titan.
    If you look very closely, the clear Chilescope image even captures
    Jupiter's Great Red Spot. The now-separating planets can still be seen
    remarkably close -- within about a degree -- as they set just after the
    Sun, toward the west, each night for the remainder of the year.

    Gallery: Notable images of the Great Conjunction submitted to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Dec 24 00:05:16 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 December 24

    Portrait of NGC 1055
    Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh

    Explanation: Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 1055 is a dominant member
    of a small galaxy group a mere 60 million light-years away toward the
    aquatically intimidating constellation Cetus. Seen edge-on, the island
    universe spans over 100,000 light-years, a little larger than our own
    Milky Way galaxy. The colorful, spiky stars decorating this cosmic
    portrait of NGC 1055 are in the foreground, well within the Milky Way.
    But the telltale pinkish star forming regions are scattered through
    winding dust lanes along the distant galaxy's thin disk. With a
    smattering of even more distant background galaxies, the deep image
    also reveals a boxy halo that extends far above and below the central
    bluge and disk of NGC 1055. The halo itself is laced with faint, narrow
    structures, and could represent the mixed and spread out debris from a
    satellite galaxy disrupted by the larger spiral some 10 billion years
    ago.

    Tomorrow's picture: Postcard from the North
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 26 00:06:42 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 December 26

    Fox Fur, Unicorn, and Christmas Tree
    Image Credit & Copyright: Miguel Claro (TWAN, Dark Sky Alqueva)

    Explanation: Clouds of glowing hydrogen gas fill this colorful skyscape
    in the faint but fanciful constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn. A star
    forming region cataloged as NGC 2264, the complex jumble of cosmic gas
    and dust is about 2,700 light-years distant and mixes reddish emission
    nebulae excited by energetic light from newborn stars with dark
    interstellar dust clouds. Where the otherwise obscuring dust clouds lie
    close to the hot, young stars they also reflect starlight, forming blue
    reflection nebulae. The telescopic image spans about 1.5 degrees or 3
    full moons, covering nearly 80 light-years at the distance of NGC 2264.
    Its cast of cosmic characters includes the the Fox Fur Nebula, whose
    dusty, convoluted pelt lies left of center, bright variable star S
    Monocerotis immersed in the blue-tinted haze near center, and the Cone
    Nebula pointing in from the right side of the frame. Of course, the
    stars of NGC 2264 are also known as the Christmas Tree star cluster.
    The triangular tree shape is seen on its side here. Traced by brighter
    stars it has its apex at the Cone Nebula. The tree's broader base is
    centered near S Monocerotis.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixel in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Dec 30 02:28:00 2020
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2020 December 30

    Jupiter and Saturn Great Conjunction: The Movie
    Video Credit: Thanakrit Santikunaporn (National Astronomical Research
    Institute of Thailand); Text: Matipon Tangmatitham

    Explanation: Yes, but have you seen a movie of Jupiter and Saturn's
    Great Conjunction? The featured time-lapse video was composed from a
    series of images taken from Thailand and shows the two giant planets as
    they angularly passed about a tenth of a degree from each other. The
    first Great Conjunction sequence shows a relative close up over five
    days with moons and cloud bands easily visible, followed by a second
    video sequence, zoomed out, over 9 days. Even though Jupiter and Saturn
    appeared to pass unusually close together on the sky on December 21,
    2020, in actuality they were still nearly a billion kilometers apart.
    The two gas giants are destined for similar meet ups every 19.86 years.
    However, they had not come this close, angularly, for the past 397
    years, and will not again for another 60 years. If you're willing to
    wait until the year 7541, though, you can see Jupiter pass directly in
    front of Saturn.

    Gallery: Notable images of the Great Conjunction submitted to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 4 01:07:54 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 4

    Sprite Lightning at 100,000 Frames Per Second
    Video Credit & Copyright: Matthew G McHarg, Jacob L Harley, Thomas
    Ashcraft, Hans Nielsen

    Explanation: What causes sprite lightning? Mysterious bursts of light
    in the sky that momentarily resemble gigantic jellyfish have been
    recorded for over 30 years, but apart from a general association with
    positive cloud-to-ground lightning, their root cause remains unknown.
    Some thunderstorms have them -- most don't. Recently, however, high
    speed videos are better detailing how sprites actually develop. The
    featured video, captured in mid-2019, is fast enough -- at about
    100,000 frames per second -- to time-resolve several sprite "bombs"
    dropping and developing into the multi-pronged streamers that appear on
    still images. Unfortunately, the visual clues provided by videos like
    these do not fully resolve the sprite origins mystery. High speed
    vidoes do indicate to some researchers, though, that sprites are more
    likely to occur when plasma irregularities exist in the upper
    atmosphere.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 2,300+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: it's a galaxy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 5 00:04:06 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 5

    The Small Cloud of Magellan
    Image Credit & Copyright: José Mtanous

    Explanation: What is the Small Magellanic Cloud? It has turned out to
    be a galaxy. People who have wondered about this little fuzzy patch in
    the southern sky included Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan and
    his crew, who had plenty of time to study the unfamiliar night sky of
    the south during the first circumnavigation of planet Earth in the
    early 1500s. As a result, two celestial wonders easily visible for
    southern hemisphere skygazers are now known in Western culture as the
    Clouds of Magellan. Within the past 100 years, research has shown that
    these cosmic clouds are dwarf irregular galaxies, satellites of our
    larger spiral Milky Way Galaxy. The Small Magellanic Cloud actually
    spans 15,000 light-years or so and contains several hundred million
    stars. About 210,000 light-years away in the constellation of the Tucan
    (Tucana), it is more distant than other known Milky Way satellite
    galaxies, including the Sagittarius Dwarf galaxy and the Large
    Magellanic Cloud. This sharp image also includes the foreground
    globular star cluster 47 Tucanae on the right.

    Tomorrow's picture: streaking dunes
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jan 6 00:01:06 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 6

    Striped Sand Dunes on Mars
    Image Credit: HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA; Processing: Wl/odek
    Gl/azewski;
    Text: Alex R. Howe (NASA/USRA, Reader's History of SciFi Podcast)

    Explanation: Why are these sand dunes on Mars striped? No one is sure.
    The featured image shows striped dunes in Kunowsky Crater on Mars,
    photographed recently with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE
    Camera. Many Martian dunes are known to be covered unevenly with carbon
    dioxide (dry ice) frost, creating patterns of light and dark areas.
    Carbon dioxide doesn't melt, but sublimates, turning directly into a
    gas. Carbon dioxide is also a greenhouse material even as a solid, so
    it can trap heat under the ice and sublimate from the bottom up,
    causing geyser-like eruptions. During Martian spring, these eruptions
    can cause a pattern of dark defrosting spots, where the darker sand is
    exposed. The featured image, though, was taken during Martian autumn,
    when the weather is getting colder - making these stripes particularly
    puzzling. One hypothesis is that they are caused by cracks in the ice
    that form from weaker eruptions or thermal stress as part of the
    day-night cycle, but research continues. Watching these dunes and
    others through more Martian seasons may give us more clues to solve
    this mystery.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jan 7 00:24:54 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 7

    Total Solar Eclipse 2020
    Image Credit & Copyright: Miloslav Druckmuller, Andreas Moller, (Brno
    University of Technology),

    Explanation: Along a narrow path crossing southern South America
    through Chile and Argentina, the final New Moon of 2020 moved in front
    of the Sun on December 14 in the year's only total solar eclipse.
    Within about 2 days of perigee, the closest point in its elliptical
    orbit, the New Moon's surface is faintly lit by earthshine in this
    dramatic composite view. The image is a processed composite of 55
    calibrated exposures ranging from 1/640 to 3 seconds. Covering a large
    range in brightness during totality, it reveals the dim lunar surface
    and faint background stars, along with planet-sized prominences at the
    Sun's edge, an enormous coronal mass ejection, and sweeping coronal
    structures normally hidden in the Sun's glare. Look closely for an
    ill-fated sungrazing Kreutz family comet (C/2020 X3 SOHO) approaching
    from the lower left, at about the 7 o'clock position. In 2021 eclipse
    chasers will see an annular solar eclipse coming up on June 10. They'll
    have to wait until December 4 for the only total solar eclipse in 2021
    though. That eclipse will be total along a narrow path crossing the
    southernmost continent of Antarctica.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jan 9 00:19:20 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 9

    Titan: Moon over Saturn
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Space Science Institute

    Explanation: Like Earth's moon, Saturn's largest moon Titan is locked
    in synchronous rotation. This mosaic of images recorded by the Cassini
    spacecraft in May of 2012 shows its anti-Saturn side, the side always
    facing away from the ringed gas giant. The only moon in the solar
    system with a dense atmosphere, Titan is the only solar system world
    besides Earth known to have standing bodies of liquid on its surface
    and an earthlike cycle of liquid rain and evaporation. Its high
    altitude layer of atmospheric haze is evident in the Cassini view of
    the 5,000 kilometer diameter moon over Saturn's rings and cloud tops.
    Near center is the dark dune-filled region known as Shangri-La. The
    Cassini-delivered Huygens probe rests below and left of center, after
    the most distant landing for a spacecraft from Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: star cluster breakout
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 11 06:07:58 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 11

    Moon Phases in 2021
    Video Credit: Data: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter ; Animation: NASA's
    Scientific Visualization Studio;
    Music: Brandenburg Concerto No4-1 BWV1049 (Johann Sebastian Bach), by
    Kevin MacLeod via Incompetech

    Explanation: What will the Moon phase be on your birthday this year? It
    is hard to predict because the Moon's appearance changes nightly. As
    the Moon orbits the Earth, the half illuminated by the Sun first
    becomes increasingly visible, then decreasingly visible. The featured
    video animates images taken by NASA's Moon-orbiting Lunar
    Reconnaissance Orbiter to show all 12 lunations that appear this year,
    2021. A single lunation describes one full cycle of our Moon, including
    all of its phases. A full lunation takes about 29.5 days, just under a
    month (moon-th). As each lunation progresses, sunlight reflects from
    the Moon at different angles, and so illuminates different features
    differently. During all of this, of course, the Moon always keeps the
    same face toward the Earth. What is less apparent night-to-night is
    that the Moon's apparent size changes slightly, and that a slight
    wobble called a libration occurs as the Moon progresses along its
    elliptical orbit.

    APOD online webinar January 12: Free registration, hosted by Amateur
    Astronomers Association of New York.
    Tomorrow's picture: folklore sky
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jan 13 06:25:50 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 13

    Arches Across an Arctic Sky
    Image Credit & Copyright: Giulio Cobianchi

    Explanation: What are these two giant arches across the sky? Perhaps
    the more familiar one, on the left, is the central band of our Milky
    Way Galaxy. This grand disk of stars and nebulas here appears to
    encircle much of the southern sky. Visible below the stellar arch is
    the rusty-orange planet Mars and the extended Andromeda galaxy. For a
    few minutes during this cold artic night, a second giant arch appeared
    to the right, encircling part of the northern sky: an aurora. Auroras
    are much closer than stars as they are composed of glowing air high in
    Earth's atmosphere. Visible outside the green auroral arch is the group
    of stars popularly known as the Big Dipper. The featured digital
    composite of 18 images was captured in mid-December over the in Norway.

    APOD Year in Review (2020): RJN's Night Sky Network Lecture
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 15 09:20:12 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 15

    A Plutonian Landscape
    Image Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins Univ./APL, Southwest Research
    Institute

    Explanation: This shadowy landscape of majestic mountains and icy
    plains stretches toward the horizon on a small, distant world. It was
    captured from a range of about 18,000 kilometers when New Horizons
    looked back toward Pluto, 15 minutes after the spacecraft's closest
    approach on July 14. The dramatic, low-angle, near-twilight scene
    follows rugged mountains formally known as Norgay Montes from
    foreground left, and Hillary Montes along the horizon, giving way to
    smooth Sputnik Planum at right. Layers of Pluto's tenuous atmosphere
    are also revealed in the backlit view. With a strangely familiar
    appearance, the frigid terrain likely includes ices of nitrogen and
    carbon monoxide with water-ice mountains rising up to 3,500 meters
    (11,000 feet). That's comparable in height to the majestic mountains of
    planet Earth. The Plutonian landscape is 380 kilometers (230 miles)
    across.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jan 17 02:26:08 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 17

    Jets from Unusual Galaxy Centaurus A
    Image Credit: ESO/WFI (visible); MPIfR/ESO/APEX/A. Weiss et al.
    (microwave); NASA/CXC/CfA/R. Kraft et al. (X-ray)

    Explanation: The jets emanating from Centaurus A are over a million
    light years long. These jets of streaming plasma, expelled by a giant
    black hole in the center of this spiral galaxy, light up this composite
    image of Cen A. Exactly how the central black hole expels infalling
    matter remains unknown. After clearing the galaxy, however, the jets
    inflate large radio bubbles that likely glow for millions of years. If
    energized by a passing gas cloud, the radio bubbles can even light up
    again after billions of years. X-ray light is depicted in the featured
    composite image in blue, while microwave light is colored orange. The
    base of the jet in radio light shows details of the innermost light
    year of the central jet.

    Tomorrow's picture: brain star
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 18 03:27:06 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 18

    The Medulla Nebula Supernova Remnant
    Image Credit & Copyright: Russell Croman

    Explanation: What powers this unusual nebula? CTB-1 is the expanding
    gas shell that was left when a massive star toward the constellation of
    Cassiopeia exploded about 10,000 years ago. The star likely detonated
    when it ran out of elements, near its core, that could create
    stabilizing pressure with nuclear fusion. The resulting supernova
    remnant, nicknamed the Medulla Nebula for its brain-like shape, still
    glows in visible light by the heat generated by its collision with
    confining interstellar gas. Why the nebula also glows in X-ray light,
    though, remains a mystery. One hypothesis holds that an energetic
    pulsar was co-created that powers the nebula with a fast outwardly
    moving wind. Following this lead, a pulsar has recently been found in
    radio waves that appears to have been expelled by the supernova
    explosion at over 1000 kilometers per second. Although the Medulla
    Nebula appears as large as a full moon, it is so faint that it took
    130-hours of exposure with two small telescopes in New Mexico, USA, to
    create the featured image.

    Tomorrow's picture: moon and planets
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 19 00:28:00 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 19

    A Lunar Corona with Jupiter and Saturn
    Image Credit & Copyright: Alessandra Masi

    Explanation: Why does a cloudy moon sometimes appear colorful? The
    effect, called a lunar corona, is created by the quantum mechanical
    diffraction of light around individual, similarly-sized water droplets
    in an intervening but mostly-transparent cloud. Since light of
    different colors has different wavelengths, each color diffracts
    differently. Lunar Coronae are one of the few quantum mechanical color
    effects that can be easily seen with the unaided eye. Solar coronae are
    also sometimes evident. The featured composite image was captured a few
    days before the close Great Conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter last
    month. In the foreground, the Italian village of Pieve di Cadore is
    visible in front of the Sfornioi Mountains.

    New: APOD is now available in Taiwanese from National Central
    University
    Tomorrow's picture: magnetic spiral
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jan 20 00:03:22 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 20

    The Magnetic Field of the Whirlpool Galaxy
    Image Credit: NASA, SOFIA, HAWC+, Alejandro S. Borlaff; JPL-Caltech,
    ESA, Hubble; Text: Jayanne English (U. Manitoba)

    Explanation: Do magnetic fields always flow along spiral arms? Our
    face-on view of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) allows a spectacularly clear
    view of the spiral wave pattern in a disk-shaped galaxy. When observed
    with a radio telescope, the magnetic field appears to trace the arms'
    curvature. However, with NASA's flying Stratospheric Observatory for
    Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) observatory, the magnetic field at the outer
    edge of M51's disk appears to weave across the arms instead. Magnetic
    fields are inferred by grains of dust aligning in one direction and
    acting like polaroid glasses on infrared light. In the featured image,
    the field orientations determined from this polarized light are
    algorithmically connected, creating streamlines. Possibly the
    gravitational tug of the companion galaxy, at the top of the frame, on
    the dusty gas of the reddish star-forming regions, visible in the
    Hubble Space Telescope image, enhances turbulence -- stirring the dust
    and lines to produce the unexpected field pattern of the outer arms.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 22 00:20:06 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 22

    The Milky Ring
    Image Credit & Copyright: Alvin Wu

    Explanation: An expanse of cosmic dust, stars and nebulae along the
    plane of our Milky Way galaxy form a beautiful ring in this projected
    all-sky view. The creative panorama covers the entire galaxy visible
    from planet Earth, an ambitious 360 degree mosaic that took two years
    to complete. Northern hemisphere sites in western China and southern
    hemisphere sites in New Zealand were used to collect the image data.
    Like a glowing jewel set in the milky ring, the bulge of the galactic
    center, is at the very top. Bright planet Jupiter is the beacon just
    above the central bulge and left of red giant star Antares. Along the
    plane and almost 180 degrees from the galactic center, at the bottom of
    the ring is the area around Orion, denizen of the northern hemisphere's
    evening winter skies. In this projection the ring of the Milky Way
    encompasses two notable galaxies in southern skies, the large and small
    Magellanic clouds.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jan 23 00:43:24 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 23

    Recycling Cassiopeia A
    Image Credit: X-ray - NASA, CXC, SAO; Optical - NASA,STScI

    Explanation: Massive stars in our Milky Way Galaxy live spectacular
    lives. Collapsing from vast cosmic clouds, their nuclear furnaces
    ignite and create heavy elements in their cores. After a few million
    years, the enriched material is blasted back into interstellar space
    where star formation can begin anew. The expanding debris cloud known
    as Cassiopeia A is an example of this final phase of the stellar life
    cycle. Light from the explosion which created this supernova remnant
    would have been first seen in planet Earth's sky about 350 years ago,
    although it took that light about 11,000 years to reach us. This
    false-color image, composed of X-ray and optical image data from the
    Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope, shows the still
    hot filaments and knots in the remnant. It spans about 30 light-years
    at the estimated distance of Cassiopeia A. High-energy X-ray emission
    from specific elements has been color coded, silicon in red, sulfur in
    yellow, calcium in green and iron in purple, to help astronomers
    explore the recycling of our galaxy's star stuff. Still expanding, the
    outer blast wave is seen in blue hues. The bright speck near the center
    is a neutron star, the incredibly dense, collapsed remains of the
    massive stellar core.

    Tomorrow's picture: massive galaxy
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 26 01:47:08 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 26

    Central NGC 1316: After Galaxies Collide
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Copyright: Daniel Nobre

    Explanation: How did this strange-looking galaxy form? Astronomers turn
    detectives when trying to figure out the cause of unusual jumbles of
    stars, gas, and dust like NGC 1316. Inspection indicates that NGC 1316
    is an enormous elliptical galaxy that somehow includes dark dust lanes
    usually found in a spiral galaxy. Detailed images taken by the Hubble
    Space Telescope shows details, however, that help in reconstructing the
    history of this gigantic tangle. Deep and wide images show huge
    collisional shells, while deep central images reveal fewer globular
    clusters of stars toward NGC 1316's interior. Such effects are expected
    in galaxies that have undergone collisions or merging with other
    galaxies in the past few billion years. The dark knots and lanes of
    dust, prominent in the featured image, indicate that one or more of the
    devoured galaxies were spiral galaxies. NGC 1316 spans about 50,000
    light years and lies about 60 million light years away toward the
    constellation of the Furnace (Fornax).

    Tomorrow's picture: galaxy magnet
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jan 27 00:02:38 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 27

    The Vertical Magnetic Field of NGC 5775
    Image Credit: NRAO, NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Text: Jayanne
    English (U. Manitoba)

    Explanation: How far do magnetic fields extend up and out of spiral
    galaxies? For decades astronomers knew only that some spiral galaxies
    had magnetic fields. However, after NRAO's Very Large Array (VLA) radio
    telescope (popularized in the movie Contact) was upgraded in 2011, it
    was unexpectedly discovered that these fields could extend vertically
    away from the disk by several thousand light-years. The featured image
    of edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 5775, observed in the CHANG-ES (Continuum
    Halos in Nearby Galaxies) survey, also reveals spurs of magnetic field
    lines that may be common in spirals. Analogous to iron filings around a
    bar magnet, radiation from electrons trace galactic magnetic field
    lines by spiraling around these lines at almost the speed of light. The
    filaments in this image are constructed from those tracks in VLA data.
    The visible light image, constructed from Hubble Space Telescope data,
    shows pink gaseous regions where stars are born. It seems that winds
    from these regions help form the magnificently extended galactic
    magnetic fields.

    Tomorrow's picture: Messier 66 Close Up
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jan 28 00:18:18 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 28

    Messier 66 Close Up
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Copyright: Leo Shatz

    Explanation: Big, beautiful spiral galaxy Messier 66 lies a mere 35
    million light-years away. The gorgeous island universe is about 100
    thousand light-years across, similar in size to the Milky Way. This
    reprocessed Hubble Space Telescope close-up view spans a region about
    30,000 light-years wide around the galactic core. It shows the galaxy's
    disk dramatically inclined to our line-of-sight. Surrounding its bright
    core, the likely home of a supermassive black hole, obscuring dust
    lanes and young, blue star clusters sweep along spiral arms dotted with
    the tell-tale glow of pinksh star forming regions. Messier 66, also
    known as NGC 3627, is the brightest of the three galaxies in the
    gravitationaly interacting Leo Triplet.

    Tomorrow's picture: North America from North America
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jan 30 00:35:02 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 30

    Southern Sky from 38,000 Feet
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ralf Rohner

    Explanation: Celestial sights of the southern sky shine above a cloudy
    planet Earth in this gorgeous night sky view. The scene was captured
    from an airliner's flight deck at 38,000 feet on a steady westbound
    ride to Lima, Peru. To produce the sharp airborne astrophotograph, the
    best of a series of short exposures were selected and digitally
    stacked. The broad band of the southern Milky Way begins at top left
    with the dark Coalsack Nebula and Southern Cross. Its expanse of
    diffuse starlight encompasses the the Carina Nebula and large Gum
    Nebula toward the right. Canopus, alpha star of Carina and second
    brightest star in Earth's night is easy to spot below the Milky Way, as
    is the dwarf galaxy known as the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Small
    Magellanic cloud just peeks above the cloudy horizon. Of course, the
    South Celestial Pole also lies within the starry southern frame.

    Tomorrow's picture: rocks from space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sun Jan 31 00:51:04 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 January 31

    Asteroids in the Distance
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; R. Evans & K. Stapelfeldt (JPL)

    Explanation: Rocks from space hit Earth every day. The larger the rock,
    though, the less often Earth is struck. Many kilograms of space dust
    pitter to Earth daily. Larger bits appear initially as a bright meteor.
    Baseball-sized rocks and ice-balls streak through our atmosphere daily,
    most evaporating quickly to nothing. Significant threats do exist for
    rocks near 100 meters in diameter, which strike the Earth roughly every
    1000 years. An object this size could cause significant tsunamis were
    it to strike an ocean, potentially devastating even distant shores. A
    collision with a massive asteroid, over 1 km across, is more rare,
    occurring typically millions of years apart, but could have truly
    global consequences. Many asteroids remain undiscovered. In the
    featured image, one such asteroid -- shown by the long blue streak --
    was found by chance in 1998 by the Hubble Space Telescope. A collision
    with a large asteroid would not affect Earth's orbit so much as raise
    dust that would affect Earth's climate. One likely result is a global
    extinction of many species of life, possibly dwarfing the ongoing
    extinction occurring now.

    Tomorrow's picture: bunny-moon
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Mon Feb 1 01:38:22 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 1

    Lunar Halo over Snowy Trees
    Image Credit & Copyright: Göran Strand

    Explanation: Have you ever seen a halo around the Moon? This fairly
    common sight occurs when high thin clouds containing millions of tiny
    ice crystals cover much of the sky. Each ice crystal acts like a
    miniature lens. Because most of the crystals have a similar elongated
    hexagonal shape, light entering one crystal face and exiting through
    the opposing face refracts 22 degrees, which corresponds to the radius
    of the Moon Halo. A similar Sun Halo may be visible during the day.
    Exactly how ice-crystals form in clouds remains a topic of research. In
    the featured image taken last week from Östersund, Sweden, a complete
    lunar halo was captured over snowy trees and rabbit tracks.

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    Tomorrow's picture: meteor streak and drift
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Tue Feb 2 00:05:32 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 2

    A Colorful Quadrantid Meteor
    Image Credit & Copyright: Frank Kuszaj

    Explanation: Meteors can be colorful. While the human eye usually
    cannot discern many colors, cameras often can. Pictured is a
    Quadrantids meteor captured by camera over Missouri, USA, early this
    month that was not only impressively bright, but colorful. The radiant
    grit, likely cast off by asteroid 2003 EH1, blazed a path across
    Earth's atmosphere. Colors in meteors usually originate from ionized
    elements released as the meteor disintegrates, with blue-green
    typically originating from magnesium, calcium radiating violet, and
    nickel glowing green. Red, however, typically originates from energized
    nitrogen and oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere. This bright meteoric
    fireball was gone in a flash -- less than a second -- but it left a
    wind-blown ionization trail that remained visible for several minutes.

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    Tomorrow's picture: moon rock roll
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Wed Feb 3 00:39:44 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 3

    Found on the Moon: Candidate for Oldest Known Earth Rock
    Video Credit: NASA, Astromaterials 3D, Erika Blumenfeld et al.

    Explanation: Was the oldest known rock on Earth found on the Moon?
    Quite possibly. The story opens with the Apollo 14 lunar mission. Lunar
    sample 14321, a large rock found in Cone crater by astronaut Alan
    Shepard, when analyzed back on Earth, was found to have a fragment that
    was a much better match to Earth rocks than other Moon rocks. Even more
    surprising, that rock section has recently been dated back 4 billion
    years, making it older, to within measurement uncertainty, than any
    rock ever found on Earth. A leading hypothesis now holds that an
    ancient comet or asteroid impact launched Earth rocks into the Solar
    System, some of which fell back to the Moon, became mixed with heated
    lunar soil and other rocks, cooled, and re-fragmented. The video
    features an internal X-ray scan of 14321 showing multiple sections with
    markedly different chemistries. Moon rocks will continue to be studied
    to learn a more complete history of the Moon, the Earth, and the early
    Solar System. Friday marks the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 14
    landing on the Moon.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Thu Feb 4 00:14:20 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 4

    Apollo 14: A View from Antares
    Image Credit: Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14, NASA; Mosaic - Eric M. Jones

    Explanation: Fifty years ago this Friday, Apollo 14's Lunar Module
    Antares landed on the Moon. Toward the end of the stay astronaut Ed
    Mitchell snapped a series of photos of the lunar surface while looking
    out a window, assembled into this detailed mosaic by Apollo Lunar
    Surface Journal editor Eric Jones. The view looks across the Fra Mauro
    highlands to the northwest of the landing site after the Apollo 14
    astronauts had completed their second and final walk on the Moon.
    Prominent in the foreground is their Modular Equipment Transporter, a
    two-wheeled, rickshaw-like device used to carry tools and samples. Near
    the horizon at top center is a 1.5 meter wide boulder dubbed Turtle
    rock. In the shallow crater below Turtle rock is the long white handle
    of a sampling instrument, thrown there javelin-style by Mitchell.
    Mitchell's fellow moonwalker and first American in space, Alan Shepard,
    also used a makeshift six iron to hit two golf balls. One of Shepard's
    golf balls is just visible as a white spot below Mitchell's javelin.

    Tomorrow's picture: and back again
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Fri Feb 5 02:41:36 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
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    2021 February 5

    Apollo 14 Heads for Home
    Image Credit: Apollo 14, NASA, JSC, ASU (Image Reprocessing: Andy
    Saunders)

    Explanation: Fifty years ago this Sunday (February 7, 1971), the crew
    of Apollo 14 left lunar orbit and headed for home. They watched this
    Earthrise from their command module Kittyhawk. With Earth's sunlit
    crescent just peeking over the lunar horizon, the cratered terrain in
    the foreground is along the lunar farside. Of course, while orbiting
    the Moon, the crew could watch Earth rise and set, but from the lunar
    surface the Earth hung stationary in the sky over their landing site at
    Fra Mauro Base. Rock samples returned from Fra Mauro included a 20
    pound rock nicknamed Big Bertha, determined to contain a likely
    fragment of a meteorite from planet Earth. Kept on board the Kittyhawk
    during the Apollo 14 mission was a cannister of 400-500 seeds that were
    later grown into Moon Trees.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sat Feb 6 00:04:22 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 6

    A Northern Winter Night
    Image Credit & Copyright: Lukasz Zak

    Explanation: Snow blankets the ground in this serene forest and sky
    view. Assembled in a 360 degree panoramic projection, the mosaicked
    frames were captured at January's end along a quiet country road near
    Siemiony, northeastern Poland, planet Earth. The night was cold and
    between trees reaching toward the sky shine the stars and nebulae of
    the northern winter Milky Way. Near zenith is bright star Capella, a
    mere 43 light-years above the tree tops. Alpha star of the
    constellation Auriga the Charioteer and part of the winter hexagon
    asterism, Capella is a well-studied double star system. Follow the
    Milky Way above and right of Capella and you might spot the familiar
    stars of Orion in the northern winter night.

    Tomorrow's picture: straggler stars
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sun Feb 7 00:17:52 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 7

    Blue Straggler Stars in Globular Cluster M53
    Image Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA

    Explanation: If our Sun were part of this star cluster, the night sky
    would glow like a jewel box of bright stars. This cluster, known as M53
    and cataloged as NGC 5024, is one of about 250 globular clusters that
    survive in our Galaxy. Most of the stars in M53 are older and redder
    than our Sun, but some enigmatic stars appear to be bluer and younger.
    These young stars might contradict the hypothesis that all the stars in
    M53 formed at nearly the same time. These unusual stars are known as
    blue stragglers and are unusually common in M53. After much debate,
    blue stragglers are now thought to be stars rejuvenated by fresh matter
    falling in from a binary star companion. By analyzing pictures of
    globular clusters like the featured image taken by the Hubble Space
    Telescope, astronomers use the abundance of stars like blue stragglers
    to help determine the age of the globular cluster and hence a limit on
    the age of the universe. M53, visible with a binoculars towards the
    constellation of Bernice's Hair (Coma Berenices), contains over 250,000
    stars and is one of the furthest globulars from the center of our
    Galaxy.

    Tomorrow's picture: ripple stars
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Mon Feb 8 00:43:02 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 8

    WR32 and Interstellar Clouds in Carina
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ariel Cappelletti

    Explanation: Stars can be like artists. With interstellar gas as a
    canvas, a massive and tumultuous Wolf-Rayet star has created the
    picturesque ruffled half-circular filaments called WR32, on the image
    left. Additionally, the winds and radiation from a small cluster of
    stars, NGC 3324, have sculpted a 35 light year cavity on the upper
    right, with its right side appearing as a recognizable face in profile.
    This region's popular name is the Gabriela Mistral Nebula for the
    famous Chilean poet. Together, these interstellar clouds lie about
    8,000 light-years away in the Great Carina Nebula, a complex stellar
    neighborhood harboring numerous clouds of gas and dust rich with
    imagination inspiring shapes. The featured telescopic view captures
    these nebulae's characteristic emission from ionized sulfur, hydrogen,
    and oxygen atoms mapped to the red, green, and blue hues of the popular
    Hubble Palette.

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    Tomorrow's picture: flashes of pulsar
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Tue Feb 9 00:52:22 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 9

    Flashes of the Crab Pulsar
    Video Credit & Copyright: Martin Fiedler

    Explanation: It somehow survived an explosion that would surely have
    destroyed our Sun. Now it is spins 30 times a second and is famous for
    the its rapid flashes. It is the Crab Pulsar, the rotating neutron star
    remnant of the supernova that created the Crab Nebula. A careful eye
    can spot the pulsar flashes in the featured time-lapse video, just
    above the image center. The video was created by adding together images
    taken only when the pulsar was flashing, as well as co-added images
    from other relative times. The Crab Pulsar flashes may have been first
    noted by an unknown woman attending a public observing night at the
    University of Chicago in 1957 -- but who was not believed. The
    progenitor supernova explosion was seen by many in the year 1054 AD.
    The expanding Crab Nebula remains a picturesque expanding gas cloud
    that glows across the electromagnetic spectrum. The pulsar is now
    thought to have survived the supernova explosion because it is composed
    of extremely-dense quantum-degenerate matter.

    Tomorrow's picture: lasing space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Wed Feb 10 00:41:04 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 10

    Firing Lasers to Tame the Sky
    Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Muñoz / ESO; Text: Juan Carlos
    Muñoz

    Explanation: Why do stars twinkle? Our atmosphere is to blame as
    pockets of slightly off-temperature air, in constant motion, distort
    the light paths from distant astronomical objects. Atmospheric
    turbulence is a problem for astronomers because it blurs the images of
    the sources they want to study. The telescope featured in this image,
    located at ESO's Paranal Observatory, is equipped with four lasers to
    combat this turbulence. The lasers are tuned to a color that excites
    atoms floating high in Earth's atmosphere -- sodium left by passing
    meteors. These glowing sodium spots act as artificial stars whose
    twinkling is immediately recorded and passed to a flexible mirror that
    deforms hundreds of times per second, counteracting atmospheric
    turbulence and resulting in crisper images. The de-twinkling of stars
    is a developing field of technology and allows, in some cases,
    Hubble-class images to be taken from the ground. This technique has
    also led to spin-off applications in human vision science, where it is
    used to obtain very sharp images of the retina.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Thu Feb 11 01:06:44 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 11

    Cygnus Mosaic 2010 - 2020
    Image Credit & Copyright: J-P Metsavainio (Astro Anarchy)

    Explanation: In brush strokes of interstellar dust and glowing gas,
    this beautiful skyscape is painted across the plane of our Milky Way
    Galaxy near the northern end of the Great Rift and the constellation
    Cygnus the Swan. Composed over a decade with 400 hours of image data,
    the broad mosaic spans an impressive 28x18 degrees across the sky.
    Alpha star of Cygnus, bright, hot, supergiant Deneb lies at the left.
    Crowded with stars and luminous gas clouds Cygnus is also home to the
    dark, obscuring Northern Coal Sack Nebula and the star forming emission
    regions NGC 7000, the North America Nebula and IC 5070, the Pelican
    Nebula, just left and a little below Deneb. Many other nebulae and star
    clusters are identifiable throughout the cosmic scene. Of course, Deneb
    itself is also known to northern hemisphere skygazers for its place in
    two asterisms, marking a vertex of the Summer Triangle, the top of the
    Northern Cross.

    Tomorrow's picture: eye spiral
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Fri Feb 12 00:58:10 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
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    2021 February 12

    Spiral Galaxy NGC 1350
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby, Warren Keller

    Explanation: This gorgeous island universe lies about 85 million
    light-years distant in the southern constellation Fornax. Inhabited by
    young blue star clusters, the tightly wound spiral arms of NGC 1350
    seem to join in a circle around the galaxy's large, bright nucleus,
    giving it the appearance of a cosmic eye. In fact, NGC 1350 is about
    130,000 light-years across. That makes it as large or slightly larger
    than the Milky Way. For earth-based astronomers, NGC 1350 is seen on
    the outskirts of the Fornax cluster of galaxies, but its estimated
    distance suggests that it is not itself a cluster member. Of course,
    the bright spiky stars in the foreground of this telescopic field of
    view are members of our own spiral Milky Way galaxy.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sat Feb 13 01:42:26 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 13

    Stereo Eros
    Image Credit: NEAR Project, JHU APL, NASA

    Explanation: Get out your red/blue glasses and float next to asteroid
    433 Eros. Orbiting the Sun once every 1.8 years, the near-Earth
    asteroid is named for the Greek god of love. Still, its shape more
    closely resembles a lumpy potato than a heart. Eros is a diminutive 40
    x 14 x 14 kilometer world of undulating horizons, craters, boulders and
    valleys. Its unsettling scale and unromantic shape are emphasized in
    this mosaic of images from the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft processed to
    yield a stereo anaglyphic view. Along with dramatic chiaroscuro, NEAR
    Shoemaker's 3-D imaging provided important measurements of the
    asteroid's landforms and structures, and clues to the origin of this
    city-sized chunk of Solar System. The smallest features visible here
    are about 30 meters across. Beginning on February 14, 2000, historic
    NEAR Shoemaker spent a year in orbit around Eros, the first spacecraft
    to orbit an asteroid. Twenty years ago, on February 12 2001, it landed
    on Eros, the first ever landing on an asteroid's surface. NEAR
    Shoemaker's final transmission from the surface of Eros was on February
    28, 2001.

    Tomorrow's picture: a name for NGC 2237
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sun Feb 14 01:35:56 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 14

    Long Stem Rosette Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block & Tim Puckett

    Explanation: Would the Rosette Nebula by any other name look as sweet?
    The bland New General Catalog designation of NGC 2237 doesn't appear to
    diminish the appearance of this flowery emission nebula, at the top of
    the image, atop a long stem of glowing hydrogen gas. Inside the nebula
    lies an open cluster of bright young stars designated NGC 2244. These
    stars formed about four million years ago from the nebular material and
    their stellar winds are clearing a hole in the nebula's center,
    insulated by a layer of dust and hot gas. Ultraviolet light from the
    hot cluster stars causes the surrounding nebula to glow. The Rosette
    Nebula spans about 100 light-years across, lies about 5000 light-years
    away, and can be seen with a small telescope towards the constellation
    of the Unicorn (Monoceros).

    Jump around the Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: seven minutes of terror
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Mon Feb 15 00:28:58 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 15

    Landing on Mars: Seven Minutes of Terror
    Video Credit: NASA, JPL

    Explanation: Starting Thursday, there may be an amazing new robotic
    explorer on Mars. Or there may be a new pile of junk. It all likely
    depends on things going correctly in the minutes after the Mars 2020
    mission arrives at its new home planet and attempts to deploy the
    Perseverance rover. Arguably the most sophisticated landing yet
    attempted on the red planet, consecutive precision events will involve
    a heat shield, a parachute, several rocket maneuvers, and the automatic
    operation of an unusual device called a Sky Crane. Thursday's Seven
    Minutes of Terror echo the landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars in
    2012, as depicted in the featured video. If successful, the car-sized
    Perseverance rover will rest on the surface of Mars, soon to begin
    exploring Jezero Crater to better determine the habitability of this
    seemingly barren world to life -- past, present, and future. Although
    multiple media outlets may cover this event, one way to watch these
    landing events unfold is on the NASA channel live on the web.

    News: NASA Perseverance Coverage
    Tomorrow's picture: seven more minutes
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Tue Feb 16 01:18:36 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 16

    Perseverance: Seven Minutes to Mars
    Video Credit: NASA, JPL

    Explanation: How hard is it to land safely on Mars? So hard that many
    more attempts have failed than succeeded. The next attempt will be on
    Thursday. The main problem is that the Martian atmosphere is too thick
    to ignore -- or it will melt your spacecraft. On the other hand, the
    atmosphere is too thin to rely on parachutes -- or your spacecraft will
    crash land. Therefore, as outlined in the featured video, the
    Perseverance lander will lose much of its high speed by deploying a
    huge parachute, but then switch to rockets, and finally, assuming
    everything goes right, culminate with a hovering Sky Crane that will
    slowly lower the car-sized Perseverance rover to the surface with
    ropes. It may sound crazy, but the Curiosity rover was placed on Mars
    using a similar method in 2012. From atmospheric entry to surface
    touch-down takes about seven minutes, all coordinated by an onboard
    computer because Mars is too far away for rapid interactive
    communication. During this time, humans on Earth will simply wait to
    hear if the landing was successful. Last week, UAE's Hope spacecraft
    successfully began orbiting Mars, followed a day later by the Chinese
    Tianwen-1 mission, which will likely schedule a landing of its own
    rover sometime in the next few months.

    News: NASA Perseverance Coverage
    Tomorrow's picture: light pillar with flare
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Wed Feb 17 00:17:18 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 17

    Sun Pillar with Upper Tangent Arc
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Cohea

    Explanation: This was not a typical sun pillar. Just after sunrise two
    weeks ago in Providence, Rhode Island, USA, a photographer, looking out
    his window, was suddenly awestruck. The astonishment was caused by a
    sun pillar that fanned out at the top. Sun pillars, singular columns of
    light going up from the Sun, are themselves rare to see, and are known
    to be caused by sunlight reflecting from wobbling, hexagon-shaped
    ice-disks falling through Earth's atmosphere. Separately, upper tangent
    arcs are known to be caused by sunlight refracting through falling
    hexagon-shaped ice-tubes. Finding a sun pillar connected to an upper
    tangent arc is extraordinary, and, initially, took some analysis to
    figure out what was going on. A leading theory is that this sun pillar
    was also created, in a complex and unusual way, by falling ice tubes.
    Few might believe that such a rare phenomenon was seen again if it
    wasn't for the quick thinking of the photographer -- and the camera on
    his nearby smartphone.

    News from Mars: NASA Perseverance Coverage
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Thu Feb 18 00:20:32 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 18

    Swiss Alps, Martian Sky
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jens Bydal

    Explanation: Taken on February 6, this snowy mountain and skyscape was
    captured near Melchsee-Frutt, central Switzerland, planet Earth. The
    reddish daylight and blue tinted glow around the afternoon Sun are
    colors of the Martian sky, though. Of course both worlds have the same
    Sun. From Mars, the Sun looks only about half as bright and 2/3 the
    size compared to its appearance from Earth. Lofted from the surface of
    Mars, fine dust particles suspended in the thin Martian atmosphere are
    rich in the iron oxides that make the Red Planet red. They tend to
    absorb blue sunlight giving a red tinge to the Martian sky, while
    forward scattering still makes the light appear relatively bluish near
    the smaller, fainter Martian Sun. Normally Earth's denser atmosphere
    strongly scatters blue light, making the terrestrial sky blue. But on
    February 6 a huge cloud of dust blown across the Mediterranean from the
    Sahara desert reached the Swiss Alps, dimming the Sun and lending that
    Alpine afternoon the colors of the Martian sky. By the next day, only
    the snow was left covered with reddish dust.

    News from Mars: NASA Perseverance Coverage
    Tomorrow's picture: pixels from space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Fri Feb 19 00:15:22 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 19

    Mars Perseverance Sol 0
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL, Mars 2020

    Explanation: After a 203 day interplanetary voyage, and seven minutes
    of terror, Perseverance has landed on Mars. Confirmation of the
    successful landing at Jezero crater was announced from mission control
    at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California at 12:55 pm
    PST on February 18. The car-sized Mars rover's Front Left Hazard
    Avoidance Camera acquired this initial low resolution image shortly
    after touchdown on mission Sol 0. A protective cover is still on the
    camera, but the shadow of Perseverance, now the most ambitious rover
    sent to the Red Planet, is visible cast across the martian surface.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sat Feb 20 02:06:10 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 20

    Perseverance: How to Land on Mars
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL, Mars 2020

    Explanation: Slung beneath its rocket powered descent stage
    Perseverance hangs only a few meters above the martian surface,
    captured here moments before its February 18 touchdown on the Red
    Planet. The breath-taking view followed an intense seven minute trip
    from the top of the martian atmosphere. Part of a high resolution
    video, the picture was taken from the descent stage itself during the
    final skycrane landing maneuver. Three taut mechanical cables about 7
    meters long are visible lowering Perseverance, along with an electrical
    umbilical connection feeding signals (like this image), to a computer
    on board the car-sized rover. Below Perseverance streamers of martian
    dust are kicked-up from the surface by the descent rocket engines.
    Immediately after touchdown, the cables were released allowing the
    descent stage to fly to a safe distance before exhausting its fuel as
    planned.

    Tomorrow's picture: the stars in a rose
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sun Feb 21 07:31:28 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 21

    NGC 2244: A Star Cluster in the Rosette Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Don Goldman

    Explanation: In the heart of the Rosette Nebula lies a bright open
    cluster of stars that lights up the nebula. The stars of NGC 2244
    formed from the surrounding gas only a few million years ago. The
    featured image taken in January using multiple exposures and very
    specific colors of Sulfur (shaded red), Hydrogen (green), and Oxygen
    (blue), captures the central region in tremendous detail. A hot wind of
    particles streams away from the cluster stars and contributes to an
    already complex menagerie of gas and dust filaments while slowly
    evacuating the cluster center. The Rosette Nebula's center measures
    about 50 light-years across, lies about 5,200 light-years away, and is
    visible with binoculars towards the constellation of the Unicorn
    (Monoceros).

    Tomorrow's picture: report from mars
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Mon Feb 22 01:07:24 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 22

    Moon Rising Between Starships
    Image Credit & Copyright: John Kraus

    Explanation: What's that on either side of the Moon? Starships.
    Specifically, they are launch-and-return reusable rockets being
    developed by SpaceX to lift cargo and eventually humans from the
    Earth's surface into space. The two rockets pictured are SN9 (Serial
    Number 9) and SN10 which were captured near their Boca Chica, Texas
    launchpad last month posing below January's full Wolf Moon. The
    Starships house liquid-methane engines inside rugged stainless-steel
    shells. SN9 was test-launched earlier this month and did well with the
    exception of one internal rocket that failed to relight during powered
    descent. SN10 continues to undergo ground tests and may be
    test-launched later this month.

    Tomorrow's picture: space fowl
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Tue Feb 23 05:59:28 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 23

    Video: Perseverance Landing on Mars
    Video Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech, Mars 2020 Mission Team

    Explanation: What would it look like to land on Mars? To better monitor
    the instruments involved in the Entry, Decent, and Landing of the
    Perseverance Rover on Mars last week, cameras with video capability
    were included that have now returned their images. The featured
    3.5-minute composite video begins with the opening of a huge parachute
    that dramatically slows the speeding spacecraft as it enters the
    Martian atmosphere. Next the heat shield is seen separating and falls
    ahead. As Perseverance descends, Mars looms large and its surface
    becomes increasingly detailed. At just past 2-minutes into the video,
    the parachute is released and Perseverance begins to land with
    dust-scattering rockets. Soon the Sky Crane takes over and puts
    Perseverance down softly, then quickly jetting away. The robotic
    Perseverance rover will now begin exploring ancient Jezero Crater,
    including a search for signs that life once existed on Earth's
    neighboring planet.

    Tomorrow's picture: old galaxy friend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Wed Feb 24 00:29:54 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 24

    Spiral Galaxy M66 from Hubble
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, Janice Lee; Processing & Copyright:
    Leo Shatz; Text: Karen Masters

    Explanation: It's always nice to get a new view of an old friend. This
    stunning Hubble Space Telescope image of nearby spiral galaxy M66 is
    just that. A spiral galaxy with a small central bar, M66 is a member of
    the Leo Galaxy Triplet, a group of three galaxies about 30 million
    light years from us. The Leo Triplet is a popular target for relatively
    small telescopes, in part because M66 and its galactic companions M65
    and NGC 3628 all appear separated by about the angular width of a full
    moon. The featured image of M66 was taken by Hubble to help investigate
    the connection between star formation and molecular gas clouds. Clearly
    visible are bright blue stars, pink ionized hydrogen clouds --
    sprinkled all along the outer spiral arms, and dark dust lanes in which
    more star formation could be hiding.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Thu Feb 25 01:08:52 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 25

    A Venus Flyby
    Image Credit: NASA, JHUAPL, Naval Research Lab, Guillermo Stenborg and
    Brendan Gallagher

    Explanation: On a mission to explore the inner heliosphere and solar
    corona, on July 11, 2020 the Wide-field Imager on board NASA's Parker
    Solar Probe captured this stunning view of the nightside of Venus at
    distance of about 12,400 kilometers (7,693 miles). The spacecraft was
    making the third of seven gravity-assist flybys of the inner planet.
    The gravity-asssist flybys are designed to use the approach to Venus to
    help the probe alter its orbit to ultimately come within 6 million
    kilometers (4 million miles) of the solar surface in late 2025. A
    surprising image, the side-looking camera seems to peer through the
    clouds to show a dark feature near the center known as Aphrodite Terra,
    the largest highland region on the Venusian surface. The bright rim at
    the edge of the planet is nightglow likely emitted by excited oxygen
    atoms recombining into molecules in the upper reaches of the
    atmosphere. Bright streaks and blemishes throughout the image are
    likely due to energetic charged particles, and dust near the camera
    reflecting sunlight. Skygazers from planet Earth probably recognize the
    familiar stars of Orion's belt and sword at lower right.

    Tomorrow's picture: fly over
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Fri Feb 26 00:13:58 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 26

    Mars Perseverance Sol 3
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS, ASU

    Explanation: Stitched together on planet Earth, 142 separate images
    make up this 360 degree panorama from the floor of Jezero Crater on
    Mars. The high-resolution color images were taken by the Perseverance
    rover's zoomable Mastcam-Z during mission sol 3, also known as February
    21, 2021. In the foreground of Mastcam-Z's view is the car-sized
    rover's deck. Broad light-colored patches in the martian soil just
    beyond it were scoured by descent stage rocket engines during the
    rover's dramatic arrival on February 18. The rim of 45 kilometer-wide
    Jezero Crater rises in the distance. In the coming sols, Perseverance
    will explore the ancient lake-delta system in the crater, hunting for
    signs of past microscopic life and collecting samples for potential
    future return to planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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  • From August Abolins@2:460/256 to Alan Ianson on Fri Feb 26 16:56:18 2021
    Hi Alan,
    ...Greets from my Telegram app!

    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 26

    Mars Perseverance Sol 3
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS, ASU

    Explanation: Stitched together on planet Earth, 142 separate images
    make up this 360 degree panorama from the floor of Jezero Crater on
    Mars. The high-resolution color images were taken by the Perseverance
    rover's zoomable Mastcam-Z during mission sol 3, also known as February
    21, 2021. In the foreground of Mastcam-Z's view is the car-sized
    rover's deck. Broad light-colored patches in the martian soil just
    beyond it were scoured by descent stage rocket engines during the
    rover's dramatic arrival on February 18. The rim of 45 kilometer-wide
    Jezero Crater rises in the distance. In the coming sols, Perseverance
    will explore the ancient lake-delta system in the crater, hunting for
    signs of past microscopic life and collecting samples for potential
    future return to planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    At the website, they deliver a large picture that you can zoom in. But there is quite a but of distortion of the rover elements. Man.. they went to town on cable ties!

    According to this they've already done a tonne of geology tests over the years:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rocks_on_Mars


    CIAO!

    ... [##### ###] has been cracked! Kudos & Thank$ to JH. :-)
    --- tg BBS v0.6.4
    * Origin: Fido by Telegram BBS from Stas Mishchenkov (2:460/256)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to August Abolins on Fri Feb 26 09:13:32 2021
    Re: Daily APOD Report
    By: August Abolins to Alan Ianson on Fri Feb 26 2021 04:56 pm

    At the website, they deliver a large picture that you can zoom in. But there is quite a but of distortion of the rover elements. Man.. they went to town on cable ties!

    Yes, that image is made by putting 142 images together so there might appear to be more cable than there really is.

    According to this they've already done a tonne of geology tests over the years:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rocks_on_Mars

    Yes, I've been looking at some of the findings on youtube, and listening to the martian wind.

    Ttyl :-),
    Al

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sat Feb 27 00:36:50 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 27

    Perseverance Landing Site from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
    Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

    Explanation: Seen from orbit a day after a dramatic arrival on the
    martian surface, the Perseverance landing site is identified in this
    high-resolution view from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The
    orbiter's camera image also reveals the location of the Mars 2020
    mission descent stage, heat shield, and parachute and back shell that
    delivered Perseverance to the surface of Mars. Each annotated inset box
    spans 200 meters (650 feet) across the floor of Jezero Crater.
    Perseverance is located at the center of the pattern created by rocket
    exhaust as the descent stage hovered and lowered the rover to the
    surface. Following the sky crane maneuver, the descent stage itself
    flew away to crash at a safe distance from the rover, its final resting
    place indicated by a dark V-shaped debris pattern. Falling to the
    surface nearby after their separation in the landing sequence, heat
    shield, parachute and back shell locations are marked in the
    high-resolution image from Mars orbit.

    Tomorrow's picture: northern lights
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sun Feb 28 00:26:08 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 February 28

    The Aurora Tree
    Image Credit & Copyright: Alyn Wallace

    Explanation: Yes, but can your tree do this? Pictured is a visual
    coincidence between the dark branches of a nearby tree and bright glow
    of a distant aurora. The beauty of the aurora -- combined with how it
    seemed to mimic a tree right nearby -- mesmerized the photographer to
    such a degree that he momentarily forgot to take pictures. When viewed
    at the right angle, it seemed that this tree had aurora for leaves.
    Fortunately, before the aurora morphed into a different overall shape,
    he came to his senses and capture the awe-inspiring momentary
    coincidence. Typically triggered by solar explosions, aurora are caused
    by high energy electrons impacting the Earth's atmosphere around 150
    kilometers up. The unusual Earth-sky collaboration was witnessed in
    March of 2017 in Iceland.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: interstellar fowl
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Mon Mar 1 00:13:44 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 1

    The Pelican Nebula in Red and Blue
    Image Credit & Copyright: M. Petrasko, M. Evenden, U. Mishra (Insight
    Obs.)

    Explanation: The Pelican Nebula is changing. The entire nebula,
    officially designated IC 5070, is divided from the larger North America
    Nebula by a molecular cloud filled with dark dust. The Pelican,
    however, is particularly interesting because it is an unusually active
    mix of star formation and evolving gas clouds. The featured picture was
    processed to bring out two main colors, red and blue, with the red
    dominated by light emitted by interstellar hydrogen. Ultraviolet light
    emitted by young energetic stars is slowly transforming cold gas in the
    nebula to hot gas, with the advancing boundary between the two, known
    as an ionization front, visible in bright red across the image center.
    Particularly dense tentacles of cold gas remain. Millions of years from
    now this nebula might no longer be known as the Pelican, as the balance
    and placement of stars and gas will surely leave something that appears
    completely different.

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    Tomorrow's picture: more from mars
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Tue Mar 2 11:12:06 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 2

    Ingenuity: A Mini-Helicopter Now on Mars
    Illustration Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Mars 2020 - Perseverance

    Explanation: What if you could fly around Mars? NASA may have achieved
    that capability last month with the landing of Perseverance, a rover
    which included a small flight-worthy companion called Ingenuity,
    nicknamed Ginny. Even though Ginny is small -- a toaster-sized
    helicopter with four long legs and two even-longer (1.2-meter) rotors,
    she is the first of her kind -- there has never been anything like her
    before. After being deployed, possibly in April, the car-sized
    Perseverance ("Percy") will back away to give Ginny ample room to
    attempt her unprecedented first flight. In the featured artistic
    illustration, Ginny's long rotors are depicted giving her the lift she
    needs to fly into the thin Martian atmosphere and explore the area near
    Perseverance. Although Ingenuity herself will not fly very far, she is
    a prototype for all future airborne Solar-System robots that may fly
    far across not only Mars, but Titan.

    Tomorrow's picture: erupting earth
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Wed Mar 3 00:29:10 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 3

    Stars over an Erupting Volcano
    Image Credit & Copyright: Giuseppe Vella

    Explanation: Mt. Etna has been erupting for hundreds of thousands of
    years. Located in Sicily, Italy, the volcano produces lava fountains
    over one kilometer high. Mt. Etna is not only one of the most active
    volcanoes on Earth, it is one of the largest, measuring over 50
    kilometers at its base and rising nearly 3 kilometers high. Pictured
    erupting last month, a lava plume shoots upwards, while hot lava flows
    down the volcano's exterior. Likely satellite trails appear above,
    while ancient stars dot the sky far in the distance. This volcanic
    eruption was so strong that nearby airports were closed to keep planes
    from flying through the dangerous plume. The image foreground and
    background were captured consecutively by the same camera and from the
    same location.

    Please take a short survey in aesthetics & astronomy: Sonification
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Thu Mar 4 00:28:08 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 4

    Mars in Taurus
    Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horalek / Institute of Physics in Opava

    Explanation: You can spot Mars in the evening sky tonight. Now home to
    the Perseverance rover, the Red Planet is presently wandering through
    the constellation Taurus, close on the sky to the Seven Sisters or
    Pleiades star cluster. In fact this deep, widefield view of the region
    captures Mars near its closest conjunction to the Pleiades on March 3.
    Below center, Mars is the bright yellowish celestial beacon only about
    3 degrees from the pretty blue star cluster. Competing with Mars in
    color and brightness, Aldebaran is the alpha star of Taurus. The red
    giant star is toward the lower left edge of the frame, a foreground
    star along the line-of-sight to the more distant Hyades star cluster.
    Otherwise too faint for your eye to see, the dark, dusty nebulae lie
    along the edge of the massive Perseus molecular cloud, with the
    striking reddish glow of NGC 1499, the California Nebula, at the upper
    right.

    Please take a short survey in aesthetics & astronomy: Sonification
    Tomorrow's picture: a little like Mars
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Fri Mar 5 00:14:42 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 5

    A Little Like Mars
    Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Barsa

    Explanation: The surface of this planet looks a little like Mars. It's
    really planet Earth though. In a digitally stitched little planet
    projection, the 360 degree mosaic was captured near San Pedro in the
    Chilean Atacama desert. Telescopes in domes on the horizon are taking
    advantage of the region's famously dark, clear nights. Taken in early
    December, a magnificent Milky Way arcs above the horizon for almost 180
    degrees around the little planet with Orion prominent in the southern
    sky. A familiar constellation upside down for northern hemisphere
    skygazers, Orion shares that southern December night almost opposite
    the Large and Small Magellanic clouds. But the Red Planet itself is the
    brightest yellowish celestial beacon in this little planet sky.

    Please take a short survey in aesthetics & astronomy: Sonification
    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sat Mar 6 00:13:44 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 6

    Perseverance Takes a Spin
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Mars 2020

    Explanation: After arriving at Jezero Crater on Mars, Perseverance went
    for a spin on March 4. This sharp image from the car-sized rover's
    Navcam shows tracks left by its wheels in the martian soil. In
    preparation for operations on the surface of the Red Planet, its first
    drive lasted about 33 minutes. On a short and successful test drive
    Perseverance moved forward 4 meters, made a 150 degree turn, backed up
    for 2.5 meters, and now occupies a different parking space at its newly
    christened Octavia E. Butler Landing location. Though the total travel
    distance of the rover's first outing was about 6.5 meters (21 feet),
    regular commutes of 200 meters or more can be expected in the future.

    Please take a short survey in aesthetics & astronomy: Sonification
    Tomorrow's picture: stellar nursery in infrared
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sun Mar 7 00:18:26 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 7

    Pillars of the Eagle Nebula in Infrared
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Processing: Luis Romero

    Explanation: Newborn stars are forming in the Eagle Nebula.
    Gravitationally contracting in pillars of dense gas and dust, the
    intense radiation of these newly-formed bright stars is causing
    surrounding material to boil away. This image, taken with the Hubble
    Space Telescope in near infrared light, allows the viewer to see
    through much of the thick dust that makes the pillars opaque in visible
    light. The giant structures are light years in length and dubbed
    informally the Pillars of Creation. Associated with the open star
    cluster M16, the Eagle Nebula lies about 6,500 light years away. The
    Eagle Nebula is an easy target for small telescopes in a nebula-rich
    part of the sky toward the split constellation Serpens Cauda (the tail
    of the snake).

    Tomorrow's picture: a comet's red tail
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Mon Mar 8 00:06:50 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 8

    Three Tails of Comet NEOWISE
    Image Credit & Copyright: Nicolas Lefaudeux

    Explanation: What created the unusual red tail in Comet NEOWISE?
    Sodium. A spectacular sight back in the summer of 2020, Comet NEOWISE,
    at times, displayed something more than just a surprisingly striated
    white dust tail and a pleasingly patchy blue ion tail. Some color
    sensitive images showed an unusual red tail, and analysis showed much
    of this third tail's color was emitted by sodium. Gas rich in sodium
    atoms might have been liberated from Comet NEOWISE's warming nucleus in
    early July by bright sunlight, electrically charged by ultraviolet
    sunlight, and then pushed out by the solar wind. The featured image was
    captured in mid-July from Brittany, France and shows the real colors.
    Sodium comet tails have been seen before but are rare -- this one
    disappeared by late July. Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) has since faded,
    lost all of its bright tails, and now approaches the orbit of Jupiter
    as it heads back to the outer Solar System, to return only in about
    7,000 years.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 2,400+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
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    Tomorrow's picture: mars 360
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Tue Mar 9 00:17:10 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 9

    Perseverance 360: Unusual Rocks and the Search for Life on Mars
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, ASU, MSSS

    Explanation: Is that a fossil? Looking through recent images of Mars
    taken by the new Perseverance rover may seem a bit like treasure
    hunting, with the possibility of fame coming to the first person to
    correctly identify a petrified bone, a rock imprinted by an ancient
    plant, or any clear indication that life once existed on Mars.
    Unfortunately, even though it is possible that something as spectacular
    as a skeleton could be identified, most exobiologists think it much
    more likely that biochemical remnants of ancient single-celled microbes
    could be found with Perseverance's chemical analyzers. A key reason is
    that multicellular organisms may take a greater amount of oxygen to
    evolve than has ever been present on Mars. That said, nobody's sure, so
    please feel free to digitally magnify any Perseverance image that
    interests you -- including the featured 360-degree zoomable image of
    the rocks and ridges surrounding Perseverance's landing location in
    Jezero Crater. And even though NASA-affiliated scientists are
    themselves studying Perseverance's images, if you see anything really
    unusual, please post it to popular social media. If your sighting turns
    out to be particularly intriguing, scientifically, it is likely that
    NASA will hear about it.

    Tomorrow's picture: california spaced up
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Wed Mar 10 00:14:48 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 10

    NGC 1499: The California Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Yannick Akar

    Explanation: Could Queen Calafia's mythical island exist in space?
    Perhaps not, but by chance the outline of this molecular space cloud
    echoes the outline of the state of California, USA. Our Sun has its
    home within the Milky Way's Orion Arm, only about 1,000 light-years
    from the California Nebula. Also known as NGC 1499, the classic
    emission nebula is around 100 light-years long. On the featured image,
    the most prominent glow of the California Nebula is the red light
    characteristic of hydrogen atoms recombining with long lost electrons,
    stripped away (ionized) by energetic starlight. The star most likely
    providing the energetic starlight that ionizes much of the nebular gas
    is the bright, hot, bluish Xi Persei just to the right of the nebula. A
    regular target for astrophotographers, the California Nebula can be
    spotted with a wide-field telescope under a dark sky toward the
    constellation of Perseus, not far from the Pleiades.

    New: APOD now available in Arabic from Syria
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Thu Mar 11 00:31:24 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 11

    Zodiacal Light and Mars
    Image Credit & Copyright: Joshua Rhoades

    Explanation: Just after sunset on March 7, a faint band of light still
    reaches above the western horizon in this serene, rural Illinois, night
    skyscape. Taken from an old farmstead, the luminous glow is zodiacal
    light, prominent in the west after sunset during planet Earth's
    northern hemisphere spring. On that clear evening the band of zodiacal
    light seems to engulf bright yellowish Mars and the Pleiades star
    cluster. Their close conjunction is in the starry sky above the old
    barn's roof. Zodiacal light is sunlight scattered by interplanetary
    dust particles that lie near the Solar System's ecliptic plane. Of
    course all the Solar System's planets orbit near the plane of the
    ecliptic, within the band of zodiacal light. But zodiacal light and
    Mars may have a deeper connection. A recent analysis of serendipitous
    detections of interplanetary dust by the Juno spacecraft during its
    Earth to Jupiter voyage suggest Mars is the likely source of the dust
    that produces zodiacal light.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Fri Mar 12 00:02:26 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 12

    Messier 81
    Image Credit & Copyright: Wissam Ayoub

    Explanation: One of the brightest galaxies in planet Earth's sky is
    similar in size to our Milky Way Galaxy: big, beautiful Messier 81.
    Also known as NGC 3031 or Bode's galaxy for its 18th century
    discoverer, this grand spiral can be found toward the northern
    constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear. The sharp, detailed
    telescopic view reveals M81's bright yellow nucleus, blue spiral arms,
    pinkish starforming regions, and sweeping cosmic dust lanes. Some dust
    lanes actually run through the galactic disk (left of center), contrary
    to other prominent spiral features though. The errant dust lanes may be
    the lingering result of a close encounter between M81 and the nearby
    galaxy M82 lurking outside of this frame. M81's faint, dwarf irregular
    satellite galaxy, Holmberg IX, can be seen just below the large spiral.
    Scrutiny of variable stars in M81 has yielded a well-determined
    distance for an external galaxy -- 11.8 million light-years.

    Tomorrow's picture: one hand clapping
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sat Mar 13 00:08:28 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 13

    SuperCam Target on Ma'az
    Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS

    Explanation: What's the sound of one laser zapping? There's no need to
    consult a Zen master to find out, just listen to the first acoustic
    recording of laser shots on Mars. On Perseverance mission sol 12 (March
    2) the SuperCam instrument atop the rover's mast zapped a rock dubbed
    Ma'az 30 times from a range of about 3.1 meters. Its microphone
    recorded the soft staccato popping sounds of the rapid series of
    SuperCam laser zaps. Shockwaves created in the thin martian atmosphere
    as bits of rock are vaporized by the laser shots make the popping
    sounds, sounds that offer clues to the physical structure of the
    target. This SuperCam close-up of the Ma'az target region is 6
    centimeters (2.3 inches) across. Ma'az means Mars in the Navajo
    language.

    Tomorrow's picture: flag day
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sun Mar 14 00:49:44 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 14

    A Flag Shaped Aurora over Sweden
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mia Stålnacke

    Explanation: It appeared, momentarily, like a 50-km tall banded flag.
    In mid-March of 2015, an energetic Coronal Mass Ejection directed
    toward a clear magnetic channel to Earth led to one of the more intense
    geomagnetic storms of recent years. A visual result was wide spread
    auroras being seen over many countries near Earth's magnetic poles.
    Captured over Kiruna, Sweden, the image features an unusually straight
    auroral curtain with the green color emitted low in the Earth's
    atmosphere, and red many kilometers higher up. It is unclear where the
    rare purple aurora originates, but it might involve an unusual blue
    aurora at an even lower altitude than the green, seen superposed with a
    much higher red. Now past Solar Minimum, colorful nights of auroras
    over Earth are likely to increase.

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    Tomorrow's picture: meteor heard
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Mon Mar 15 00:23:46 2021
    ¿

    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 15

    IFRAME: https://www.youtube.com/embed/WJua8eXLX9o?rel=0

    Meteor Fireballs in Light and Sound
    Image Credit & Copyright: Thomas Ashcraft (Radio Fireball Observatory)

    Explanation: Yes, but have you ever heard a meteor? Usually, meteors
    are too far away to make any audible sound. However, a meteor will
    briefly create an ionization trail that can reflect a distant radio
    signal. If the geometry is right, you may momentarily hear -- through
    your radio -- a distant radio station even over static. In the featured
    video, the sounds of distant radio transmitters were caught reflecting
    from large meteor trails by a sensitive radio receiver -- at the same
    time the bright streaks were captured by an all-sky video camera. In
    the video, the bright paths taken by four fireballs across the sky near
    Lamy, New Mexico, USA, are shown first. Next, after each static frame,
    a real-time video captures each meteor streaking across the sky, now
    paired with the sound recorded from its radio reflection. Projecting a
    meteor trail down to the Earth may lead to finding its impact site (if
    any), while projecting its trail back into the sky may lead to
    identifying its parent comet or asteroid.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: astro dust
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Tue Mar 16 00:56:58 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 16

    IC 1318: The Butterfly Nebula in Gas and Dust
    Image Credit & Copyright: Alan Pham

    Explanation: In the constellation of the swan near the nebula of the
    pelican lies the gas cloud of the butterfly next to a star known as the
    hen. That star, given the proper name Sadr, is just to the right of the
    featured frame, but the central Butterfly Nebula, designated IC 1318,
    is shown in high resolution. The intricate patterns in the bright gas
    and dark dust are caused by complex interactions between interstellar
    winds, radiation pressures, magnetic fields, and gravity. The featured
    telescopic view captures IC 1318's characteristic emission from ionized
    sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms mapped to the red, green, and blue
    hues of the popular Hubble Palette. The portion of the Butterfly Nebula
    pictured spans about 100 light years and lies about 4000 light years
    away.

    Tomorrow's picture: aurora jupiter
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Wed Mar 17 00:13:16 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 17

    The Surface of Venus from Venera 13
    Image Credit: Soviet Planetary Exploration Program, Venera 13;
    Processing & Copyright: Donald Mitchell & Michael Carroll (used with
    permission)

    Explanation: If you could stand on Venus -- what would you see?
    Pictured is the view from Venera 13, a robotic Soviet lander which
    parachuted and air-braked down through the thick Venusian atmosphere in
    March of 1982. The desolate landscape it saw included flat rocks, vast
    empty terrain, and a featureless sky above Phoebe Regio near Venus'
    equator. On the lower left is the spacecraft's penetrometer used to
    make scientific measurements, while the light piece on the right is
    part of an ejected lens-cap. Enduring temperatures near 450 degrees
    Celsius and pressures 75 times that on Earth, the hardened Venera
    spacecraft lasted only about two hours. Although data from Venera 13
    was beamed across the inner Solar System almost 40 years ago, digital
    processing and merging of Venera's unusual images continues even today.
    Recent analyses of infrared measurements taken by ESA's orbiting Venus
    Express spacecraft indicate that active volcanoes may currently exist
    on Venus.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Mar 19 00:14:14 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 19

    Central Lagoon in Infrared
    Image Credit & License: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Data Archive: MAST,
    Processing: Alexandra Nachman

    Explanation: Stars fill this infrared view, spanning 4 light-years
    across the center of the Lagoon Nebula. Visible light images show the
    glowing gas and obscuring dust clouds that dominate the scene. But this
    infrared image, constructed from Hubble Space Telescope data, peers
    closer to the heart of the active star-forming region revealing newborn
    stars scattered within, against a crowded field of background stars
    toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy. This tumultuous stellar
    nursery's central regions are sculpted and energized by the massive,
    young Herschel 36, seen as the bright star near center in the field of
    view. Herschel 36 is actually a multiple system of massive stars. At
    over 30 times the mass of the Sun and less than 1 million years old,
    the most massive star in the system should live to a stellar old age of
    5 million years. Compare that to the almost 5 billion year old Sun
    which will evolve into a red giant in only another 5 billion years or
    so. The Lagoon Nebula, also known as M8, lies about 4,000 light-years
    away within the boundaries of the constellation Sagittarius.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Mar 21 01:37:24 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 21
    The ancient Antikythera mechanism is shown, the oldest known orrery.

    The Antikythera Mechanism
    Image Credit & License: Marsyas, Wikipedia

    Explanation: No one knew that 2,000 years ago, the technology existed
    to build such a device. The Antikythera mechanism, pictured, is now
    widely regarded as the first computer. Found at the bottom of the sea
    aboard a decaying Greek ship, its complexity prompted decades of study,
    and even today some of its functions likely remain unknown. X-ray
    images of the device, however, have confirmed that a main function of
    its numerous clock-like wheels and gears is to create a portable,
    hand-cranked, Earth-centered, orrery of the sky, predicting future star
    and planet locations as well as lunar and solar eclipses. The corroded
    core of the Antikythera mechanism's largest gear is featured, spanning
    about 13 centimeters, while the entire mechanism was 33 centimeters
    high, making it similar in size to a large book. Recently, modern
    computer modeling of missing components is allowing for the creation of
    a more complete replica of this surprising ancient machine.

    Tomorrow's picture: surround orion
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Mar 26 00:17:00 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 26

    The Medusa Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Josep Drudis

    Explanation: Braided and serpentine filaments of glowing gas suggest
    this nebula's popular name, The Medusa Nebula. Also known as Abell 21,
    this Medusa is an old planetary nebula some 1,500 light-years away in
    the constellation Gemini. Like its mythological namesake, the nebula is
    associated with a dramatic transformation. The planetary nebula phase
    represents a final stage in the evolution of low mass stars like the
    sun as they transform themselves from red giants to hot white dwarf
    stars and in the process shrug off their outer layers. Ultraviolet
    radiation from the hot star powers the nebular glow. The Medusa's
    transforming star is the faint one near the center of the overall
    bright crescent shape. In this deep telescopic view, fainter filaments
    clearly extend above and right of the bright crescent region. The
    Medusa Nebula is estimated to be over 4 light-years across.

    Tomorrow's picture: light weekend
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Mar 27 02:13:34 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 27

    Exploring the Antennae
    Image Credit & Copyright: Bernard Miller

    Explanation: Some 60 million light-years away in the southerly
    constellation Corvus, two large galaxies are colliding. Stars in the
    two galaxies, cataloged as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039, very rarely collide
    in the course of the ponderous cataclysm that lasts for hundreds of
    millions of years. But the galaxies' large clouds of molecular gas and
    dust often do, triggering furious episodes of star formationi near the
    center of the cosmic wreckage. Spanning over 500 thousand light-years,
    this stunning view also reveals new star clusters and matter flung far
    from the scene of the accident by gravitational tidal forces. The
    remarkably sharp ground-based image includes narrowband data that
    highlights the characteristic red glow of atomic hydrogen gas in
    star-forming regions. The suggestive overall visual appearance of the
    extended arcing structures gives the galaxy pair its popular name - The
    Antennae.

    Tomorrow's picture: floating away
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Mar 28 04:47:24 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 28

    SuitSat-1: A Spacesuit Floats Free
    Image Credit: ISS Expedition 12 Crew, NASA

    Explanation: A spacesuit floated away from the International Space
    Station 15 years ago, but no investigation was conducted. Everyone knew
    that it was pushed by the space station crew. Dubbed Suitsat-1, the
    unneeded Russian Orlan spacesuit filled mostly with old clothes was
    fitted with a faint radio transmitter and released to orbit the Earth.
    The suit circled the Earth twice before its radio signal became
    unexpectedly weak. Suitsat-1 continued to orbit every 90 minutes until
    it burned up in the Earth's atmosphere after a few weeks. Pictured, the
    lifeless spacesuit was photographed in 2006 just as it drifted away
    from space station.

    Portal Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: years of sky
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Mar 29 01:47:40 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 29

    M64: The Evil Eye Galaxy
    Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA & the PHANGS-HST Team; Acknowledgement:
    Judy Schmidt

    Explanation: Who knows what evil lurks in the eyes of galaxies? The
    Hubble knows -- or in the case of spiral galaxy M64 -- is helping to
    find out. Messier 64, also known as the Evil Eye or Sleeping Beauty
    Galaxy, may seem to have evil in its eye because all of its stars
    rotate in the same direction as the interstellar gas in the galaxy's
    central region, but in the opposite direction in the outer regions.
    Captured here in great detail by the Earth-orbiting Hubble Space
    Telescope, enormous dust clouds obscure the near-side of M64's central
    region, which are laced with the telltale reddish glow of hydrogen
    associated with star formation. M64 lies about 17 million light years
    away, meaning that the light we see from it today left when the last
    common ancestor between humans and chimpanzees roamed the Earth. The
    dusty eye and bizarre rotation are likely the result of a
    billion-year-old merger of two different galaxies.

    Tomorrow's picture: sprite mountain
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Mar 30 00:24:26 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 30

    Red Sprite Lightning over the Andes
    Image Credit & Copyright: Yuri Beletsky (Carnegie Las Campanas
    Observatory, TWAN)

    Explanation: What are those red filaments in the sky? They are a rarely
    seen form of lightning confirmed only about 30 years ago: red sprites.
    Recent research has shown that following a powerful positive
    cloud-to-ground lightning strike, red sprites may start as 100-meter
    balls of ionized air that shoot down from about 80-km high at 10
    percent the speed of light. They are quickly followed by a group of
    upward streaking ionized balls. The featured image was taken earlier
    this year from Las Campanas observatory in Chile over the Andes
    Mountains in Argentina. Red sprites take only a fraction of a second to
    occur and are best seen when powerful thunderstorms are visible from
    the side.

    APOD via Instagram in: English, Indonesian, Persian, and Portuguese
    Tomorrow's picture: black hole polarized
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Mar 31 00:26:04 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 March 31

    M87's Central Black Hole in Polarized Light
    Image Credit: Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration; Text: Jayanne
    English (U. Manitoba)

    Explanation: To play on Carl Sagan's famous words "If you wish to make
    black hole jets, you must first create magnetic fields." The featured
    image represents the detected intrinsic spin direction (polarization)
    of radio waves. The polarizationi is produced by the powerful magnetic
    field surrounding the supermassive black hole at the center of
    elliptical galaxy M87. The radio waves were detected by the Event
    Horizon Telescope (EHT), which combines data from radio telescopes
    distributed worldwide. The polarization structure, mapped using
    computer generated flow lines, is overlaid on EHT's famous black hole
    image, first published in 2019. The full 3-D magnetic field is complex.
    Preliminary analyses indicate that parts of the field circle around the
    black hole along with the accreting matter, as expected. However,
    another component seemingly veers vertically away from the black hole.
    This component could explain how matter resists falling in and is
    instead launched into M87's jet.

    Tomorrow's picture: cleaning mars
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Apr 3 05:23:12 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 3

    Ingenuity on Sol 39
    Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS

    Explanation: The Mars Ingenuity Helicopter, all four landing legs down,
    was captured here on sol 39 (March 30) slung beneath the belly of the
    Perseverance rover. The near ground level view is a mosaic of images
    from the WATSON camera on the rover's SHERLOC robotic arm. Near the
    center of the frame the experimental helicopter is suspended just a few
    centimeters above the martian surface. Tracks from Perseverance extend
    beyond the rover's wheels with the rim of Jezero crater visible about 2
    kilometers in the distance. Ingenuity has a weight of 1.8 kilograms or
    4 pounds on Earth. That corresponds to a weight of 0.68 kilograms or
    1.5 pounds on Mars. With rotor blades spanning 1.2 meters it will
    attempt to make the first powered flight of an aircraft on another
    planet in the thin martian atmosphere, 1 percent as dense as Earth's,
    no earlier than sol 48 (April 8).

    Tomorrow's picture: In, Through, and Beyond
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Apr 4 00:09:42 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 4

    In, Through, and Beyond Saturn's Rings
    Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, ISS, JPL, ESA, NASA

    Explanation: Four moons are visible on the featured image -- can you
    find them all? First -- and farthest in the background -- is Titan, the
    largest moon of Saturn and one of the larger moons in the Solar System.
    The dark feature across the top of this perpetually cloudy world is the
    north polar hood. The next most obvious moon is bright Dione, visible
    in the foreground, complete with craters and long ice cliffs. Jutting
    in from the left are several of Saturn's expansive rings, including
    Saturn's A ring featuring the dark Encke Gap. On the far right, just
    outside the rings, is Pandora, a moon only 80-kilometers across that
    helps shepherd Saturn's F ring. The fourth moon? If you look closely
    inside Saturn's rings, in the Encke Gap, you will find a speck that is
    actually Pan. Although one of Saturn's smallest moons at 35-kilometers
    across, Pan is massive enough to help keep the Encke gap relatively
    free of ring particles. After more than a decade of exploration and
    discovery, the Cassini spacecraft ran low on fuel in 2017 and was
    directed to enter Saturn's atmosphere, where it surely melted.

    Tomorrow's picture: remaining wisps
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Apr 5 00:47:38 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 5
    A closeup image of the Veil Nebula taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

    Veil Nebula: Wisps of an Exploded Star
    Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Z. Levay

    Explanation: Wisps like this are all that remain visible of a Milky Way
    star. About 7,000 years ago that star exploded in a supernova leaving
    the Veil Nebula. At the time, the expanding cloud was likely as bright
    as a crescent Moon, remaining visible for weeks to people living at the
    dawn of recorded history. Today, the resulting supernova remnant, also
    known as the Cygnus Loop, has faded and is now visible only through a
    small telescope directed toward the constellation of the Swan (Cygnus).
    The remaining Veil Nebula is physically huge, however, and even though
    it lies about 1,400 light-years distant, it covers over five times the
    size of the full Moon. The featured picture is a Hubble Space Telescope
    mosaic of six images together covering a span of only about two light
    years, a small part of the expansive supernova remnant. In images of
    the complete Veil Nebula, even studious readers might not be able to
    identify the featured filaments.

    Tomorrow's picture: sisters of mars
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Apr 6 03:53:46 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 6
    Mars and the Pleiades star cluster set behind one-tree hill.

    Mars and the Pleiades Beyond Vinegar Hill
    Image Credit & Copyright: Kristine Richer

    Explanation: Is this just a lonely tree on an empty hill? To start,
    perhaps, but look beyond. There, a busy universe may wait to be
    discovered. First, physically, to the left of the tree, is the planet
    Mars. The red planet, which is the new home to NASA's Perseverance
    rover, remains visible this month at sunset above the western horizon.
    To the tree's right is the Pleiades, a bright cluster of stars
    dominated by several bright blue stars. The featured picture is a
    composite of several separate foreground and background images taken
    within a few hours of each other, early last month, from the same
    location on Vinegar Hill in Milford, Nova Scotia, Canada. At that time,
    Mars was passing slowly, night after night, nearly in front of the
    distant Seven Sisters star cluster. The next time Mars will pass
    angularly as close to the Pleiades as it did in March will be in 2038.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Apr 8 00:47:58 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 8

    3D Ingenuity
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS, ASU

    Explanation: The multicolor, stereo imaging Mastcam-Z on the
    Perseverance rover zoomed in to captured this 3D close-up (get out your
    red/blue glasses) of the Mars Ingenuity helicopter on mission sol 45,
    April 5. That's only a few sols before the technology demonstrating
    Ingenuity will attempt to fly in the thin martian atmosphere, making
    the first powered flight on another planet. The historic test flight is
    planned for no earlier than Sunday, April 11. Casting its shadow on the
    martian surface, Ingenuity is standing alone on four landing legs next
    to the rover's wheel tracks. The experimental helicopter's solar panel,
    charging batteries that keep it warm through the cold martian nights
    and power its flight, sits above its two 1.2 meter (4 foot) long
    counter-rotating blades.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Apr 9 00:59:46 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 9

    Messier 106
    Image Credit: NASA, Hubble Legacy Archive, Kitt Peak National
    Observatory;
    Amateur Data & Processing Copyright: Robert Gendler

    Explanation: Close to the Great Bear (Ursa Major) and surrounded by the
    stars of the Hunting Dogs (Canes Venatici), this celestial wonder was
    discovered in 1781 by the metric French astronomer Pierre Mechain.
    Later, it was added to the catalog of his friend and colleague Charles
    Messier as M106. Modern deep telescopic views reveal it to be an island
    universe - a spiral galaxy around 30 thousand light-years across
    located only about 21 million light-years beyond the stars of the Milky
    Way. Along with a bright central core, this stunning galaxy portrait, a
    composite of image data from amateur and professional telescopes,
    highlights youthful blue star clusters and reddish stellar nurseries
    tracing the galaxy's spiral arms. It also shows off remarkable reddish
    jets of glowing hydrogen gas. In addition to small companion galaxy NGC
    4248 at bottom right, background galaxies can be found scattered
    throughout the frame. M106, also known as NGC 4258, is a nearby example
    of the Seyfert class of active galaxies, seen across the spectrum from
    radio to X-rays. Active galaxies are powered by matter falling into a
    massive central black hole.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Apr 12 01:01:28 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 12

    Alnitak and the Flame Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Team ARO

    Explanation: What lights up the Flame Nebula? Fifteen hundred light
    years away towards the constellation of Orion lies a nebula which, from
    its glow and dark dust lanes, appears, on the left, like a billowing
    fire. But fire, the rapid acquisition of oxygen, is not what makes this
    Flame glow. Rather the bright star Alnitak, the easternmost star in the
    Belt of Orion visible on the far left, shines energetic light into the
    Flame that knocks electrons away from the great clouds of hydrogen gas
    that reside there. Much of the glow results when the electrons and
    ionized hydrogen recombine. The featured picture of the Flame Nebula
    (NGC 2024) was taken across three visible color bands with detail added
    by a long duration exposure taken in light emitted only by hydrogen.
    The Flame Nebula is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, a
    star-forming region that includes the famous Horsehead Nebula.

    Tomorrow's picture: a suprising wobble
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Apr 17 00:18:50 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 17

    Inside the Flame Nebula
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, IPAC Infrared Science Archive -
    Processing: Amal Biju

    Explanation: The Flame Nebula is a stand out in optical images of the
    dusty, crowded star forming regions toward Orion's belt and the
    easternmost belt star Alnitak, a mere 1,400 light-years away. Alnitak
    is the bright star at the right edge of this infrared image from the
    Spitzer Space Telescope. About 15 light-years across, the infrared view
    takes you inside the nebula's glowing gas and obscuring dust clouds
    though. It reveals many stars of the recently formed, embedded cluster
    NGC 2024 concentrated near the center. The stars of NGC 2024 range in
    age from 200,000 years to 1.5 million years young. In fact, data
    indicate that the youngest stars are concentrated near the middle of
    the Flame Nebula cluster. That's the opposite of the simplest models of
    star formation for a stellar nursery that predict star formation begins
    in the denser center of a molecular cloud core. The result requires a
    more complex model for star formation inside the Flame Nebula.

    Tomorrow's picture: airglow rainbow
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sun Apr 18 01:09:18 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 18

    Rainbow Airglow over the Azores
    Image Credit & Copyright: Miguel Claro (TWAN); Rollover Annotation:
    Judy Schmidt

    Explanation: Why would the sky glow like a giant repeating rainbow?
    Airglow. Now air glows all of the time, but it is usually hard to see.
    A disturbance however -- like an approaching storm -- may cause
    noticeable rippling in the Earth's atmosphere. These gravity waves are
    oscillations in air analogous to those created when a rock is thrown in
    calm water. The long-duration exposure nearly along the vertical walls
    of airglow likely made the undulating structure particularly visible.
    OK, but where do the colors originate? The deep red glow likely
    originates from OH molecules about 87-kilometers high, excited by
    ultraviolet light from the Sun. The orange and green airglow is likely
    caused by sodium and oxygen atoms slightly higher up. The featured
    image was captured during a climb up Mount Pico in the Azores of
    Portugal. Ground lights originate from the island of Faial in the
    Atlantic Ocean. A spectacular sky is visible through this banded
    airglow, with the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy running up the
    image center, and M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, visible near the top left.

    Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: infrared galactic center
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Mon Apr 19 01:22:46 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 19

    The Galactic Center in Infrared
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Spitzer Space Telescope, Susan Stolovy
    (SSC/Caltech) et al.; Reprocessing: Judy Schmidt

    Explanation: What does the center of our galaxy look like? In visible
    light, the Milky Way's center is hidden by clouds of obscuring dust and
    gas. But in this stunning vista, the Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared
    cameras, penetrate much of the dust revealing the stars of the crowded
    galactic center region. A mosaic of many smaller snapshots, the
    detailed, false-color image shows older, cool stars in bluish hues. Red
    and brown glowing dust clouds are associated with young, hot stars in
    stellar nurseries. The very center of the Milky Way has recently been
    found capable of forming newborn stars. The galactic center lies some
    26,700 light-years away, toward the constellation Sagittarius. At that
    distance, this picture spans about 900 light-years.

    Tomorrow's picture: destroyed by a black hole
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Apr 20 00:26:02 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 20

    Ingenuity: First Flight over Mars
    Video Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, ASU, MSSS

    Explanation: What's the best way to explore Mars? Perhaps there is no
    single best way, but a newly demonstrated method shows tremendous
    promise: flight. Powered flight has the promise to search vast regions
    and scout out particularly interesting areas for more detailed
    investigation. Yesterday, for the first time, powered flight was
    demonstrated on Mars by a small helicopter named Ingenuity. In the
    featured video, Ingenuity is first imaged by the Perseverance rover
    sitting quietly on the Martian surface. After a few seconds,
    Ingenuity's long rotors begin to spin, and a few seconds after that --
    history is made as Ingenuity actually takes off, hovers for a few
    seconds, and then lands safely. More tests of Ingenuity's unprecedented
    ability are planned over the next few months. Flight may help humanity
    better explore not only Mars, but Saturn's moon Titan over the next few
    decades.

    Tomorrow's picture: big magnetic collision
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Wed Apr 21 00:05:50 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 21

    Centaurus A's Warped Magnetic Fields
    Image Credit: Optical: European Southern Observatory (ESO) Wide Field
    Imager; Submillimeter: Max Planck Institute for Radio
    Astronomy/ESO/Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX)/A.Weiss et al; X-ray
    and Infrared: NASA/Chandra/R. Kraft; JPL-Caltech/J. Keene; Text: Joan
    Schmelz (USRA)

    Explanation: When galaxies collide -- what happens to their magnetic
    fields? To help find out, NASA pointed SOFIA, its flying 747, at
    galactic neighbor Centaurus A to observe the emission of polarized dust
    -- which traces magnetic fields. Cen A's unusual shape results from the
    clash of two galaxies with jets powered by gas accreting onto a central
    supermassive black hole. In the resulting featured image, SOFIA-derived
    magnetic streamlines are superposed on ESO (visible: white), APEX
    (submillimeter: orange), Chandra (X-rays: blue), and Spitzer (infrared:
    red) images. The magnetic fields were found to be parallel to the dust
    lanes on the outskirts of the galaxy but distorted near the center.
    Gravitational forces near the black hole accelerate ions and enhance
    the magnetic field. In sum, the collision not only combined the
    galaxies' masses -- but amplified their magnetic fields. These results
    provide new insights into how magnetic fields evolved in the early
    universe when mergers were more common.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Thu Apr 22 00:31:04 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 22

    Planet Earth at Twilight
    Image Credit: ISS Expedition 2 Crew, Gateway to Astronaut Photography
    of Earth, NASA

    Explanation: No sudden, sharp boundary marks the passage of day into
    night in this gorgeous view of ocean and clouds over our fair planet
    Earth. Instead, the shadow line or terminator is diffuse and shows the
    gradual transition to darkness we experience as twilight. With the Sun
    illuminating the scene from the right, the cloud tops reflect gently
    reddened sunlight filtered through the dusty troposphere, the lowest
    layer of the planet's nurturing atmosphere. A clear high altitude
    layer, visible along the dayside's upper edge, scatters blue sunlight
    and fades into the blackness of space. This picture was taken in June
    of 2001 from the International Space Station orbiting at an altitude of
    211 nautical miles. But you can check out the vital signs of Planet
    Earth Now.

    Celebrate: Earth Day
    Tomorrow's picture: Planet Earth at Night
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Fri Apr 23 00:03:02 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 23

    Flying Over the Earth at Night II
    Video Credit: NASA, Gateway to Astronaut Photography, ISS Expedition
    53; Music: The Low Seas (The 126ers)

    Explanation: Recorded during 2017, timelapse sequences from the
    International Space Station are compiled in this serene video of planet
    Earth at Night. Fans of low Earth orbit can start by enjoying the view
    as green and red aurora borealis slather up the sky. The night scene
    tracks from northwest to southeast across North America, toward the
    Gulf of Mexico and the Florida coast. A second sequence follows
    European city lights, crosses the Mediterranean Sea, and passes over a
    bright Nile river in northern Africa. Seen from the orbital outpost,
    erratic flashes of lightning appear in thunder storms below and stars
    rise above the planet's curved horizon through a faint atmospheric
    airglow. Of course, from home you can always check out the vital signs
    of Planet Earth Now.

    Celebrate: Earth Day
    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sat Apr 24 00:02:48 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 24

    Streak and Plume from SpaceX Crew-2 Launch
    Video Credit & Copyright: Eric Holland

    Explanation: What's happening in the sky? The pre-dawn sky first seemed
    relatively serene yesterday morning over Indian Harbor Beach in
    Florida, USA. But then it lit up with a rocket launch. Just to the
    north, NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 Mission blasted into space aboard a
    powerful Falcon 9 rocket. The featured time-lapse video -- compressing
    12-minutes into 8-seconds -- shows the bright launch plume starting on
    the far left. The rocket rises into an increasingly thin atmosphere,
    causing its plume to spread out just as it is lit by the rising Sun. As
    the Crew-2 capsule disappears over the horizon, the landing plume of
    the returning first stage of the Falcon 9 descending toward the SpaceX
    barge in the Atlantic Ocean can be seen. Up in space, the Endeavour
    crew capsule is expected to dock with the International Space Station
    (ISS) this morning, delivering four astronauts. The Crew-2 astronauts
    join Expedition 65 to help conduct, among other tasks, drug tests using
    tissue chips -- small microfluidic chips that simulate human organs --
    that run rapidly in ISS's microgravity.

    Tomorrow's picture: ant star
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sun Apr 25 02:44:50 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 25

    Planetary Nebula Mz3: The Ant Nebula
    Image Credit: R. Sahai (JPL) et al., Hubble Heritage Team, ESA, NASA

    Explanation: Why isn't this ant a big sphere? Planetary nebula Mz3 is
    being cast off by a star similar to our Sun that is, surely, round. Why
    then would the gas that is streaming away create an ant-shaped nebula
    that is distinctly not round? Clues might include the high
    1000-kilometer per second speed of the expelled gas, the light-year
    long length of the structure, and the magnetism of the star featured
    here at the nebula's center. One possible answer is that Mz3 is hiding
    a second, dimmer star that orbits close in to the bright star. A
    competing hypothesis holds that the central star's own spin and
    magnetic field are channeling the gas. Since the central star appears
    to be so similar to our own Sun, astronomers hope that increased
    understanding of the history of this giant space ant can provide useful
    insight into the likely future of our own Sun and Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: black hole destroys star
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Mon Apr 26 00:08:40 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 26

    A Sagittarius Triplet
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gabriel Rodrigues Santos

    Explanation: These three bright nebulae are often featured on
    telescopic tours of the constellation Sagittarius and the crowded
    starfields of the central Milky Way. In fact, 18th century cosmic
    tourist Charles Messier cataloged two of them; M8, the large nebula
    below and right of center, and colorful M20 near the top of the frame.
    The third emission region includes NGC 6559, left of M8 and separated
    from the larger nebula by a dark dust lane. All three are stellar
    nurseries about five thousand light-years or so distant. Over a hundred
    light-years across the expansive M8 is also known as the Lagoon Nebula.
    M20's popular moniker is the Trifid. Glowing hydrogen gas creates the
    dominant red color of the emission nebulae. But for striking contrast,
    blue hues in the Trifid are due to dust reflected starlight. The broad
    interstellarscape spans almost 4 degrees or 8 full moons on the sky.

    Tomorrow's picture: star shredder
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Tue Apr 27 00:20:30 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 27

    Animation: Black Hole Destroys Star
    Video Illustration Credit: DESY, Science Communication Lab

    Explanation: What happens if a star gets too close to a black hole? The
    black hole can rip it apart -- but how? It's not the high gravitational
    attraction itself that's the problem -- it's the difference in
    gravitational pull across the star that creates the destruction. In the
    featured animated video illustrating this disintegration, you first see
    a star approaching the black hole. Increasing in orbital speed, the
    star's outer atmosphere is ripped away during closest approach. Much of
    the star's atmosphere disperses into deep space, but some continues to
    orbit the black hole and forms an accretion disk. The animation then
    takes you into the accretion disk while looking toward the black hole.
    Including the strange visual effects of gravitational lensing, you can
    even see the far side of the disk. Finally, you look along one of the
    jets being expelled along the spin axis. Theoretical models indicate
    that these jets not only expel energetic gas, but create energetic
    neutrinos -- one of which may have been seen recently on Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: polaris deep field
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Wed Apr 28 01:13:00 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 28

    North Star: Polaris and Surrounding Dust
    Image Credit & Copyright: Bray Falls

    Explanation: Why is Polaris called the North Star? First, Polaris is
    the nearest bright star toward the north spin axis of the Earth.
    Therefore, as the Earth turns, stars appear to revolve around Polaris,
    but Polaris itself always stays in the same northerly direction --
    making it the North Star. Since no bright star is near the south spin
    axis of the Earth, there is currently no South Star. Thousands of years
    ago, Earth's spin axis pointed in a slightly different direction so
    that Vega was the North Star. Although Polaris is not the brightest
    star on the sky, it is easily located because it is nearly aligned with
    two stars in the cup of the Big Dipper. Polaris is near the center of
    the eight-degree wide featured image, an image that has been digitally
    manipulated to suppress surrounding dim stars but accentuate the faint
    gas and dust of the Intergalactic Flux Nebula (IFN). The surface of
    Cepheid Polaris slowly pulsates, causing the star to change its
    brightness by a few percent over the course of a few days.

    Portal Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Thu Apr 29 00:53:22 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 29

    Apollo 17: The Crescent Earth
    Image Credit: Apollo 17, NASA; Restoration - Toby Ord

    Explanation: Our fair planet sports a curved, sunlit crescent against
    the black backdrop of space in this stunning photograph. From the
    unfamiliar perspective, the Earth is small and, like a telescopic image
    of a distant planet, the entire horizon is completely within the field
    of view. Enjoyed by crews on board the International Space Station,
    only much closer views of the planet are possible from low Earth orbit.
    Orbiting the planet once every 90 minutes, a spectacle of clouds,
    oceans, and continents scrolls beneath them with the partial arc of the
    planet's edge in the distance. But this digitally restored image
    presents a view so far only achieved by 24 humans, Apollo astronauts
    who traveled to the Moon and back again between 1968 and 1972. The
    original photograph, AS17-152-23420, was taken by the homeward bound
    crew of Apollo 17, on December 17, 1972. For now it's the last picture
    of Earth from this planetary perspective taken by human hands.

    - NASA Remembers Michael Collins -
    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Fri Apr 30 00:56:30 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 April 30

    Pink and the Perigee Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Alice Ross

    Explanation: On April 25 a nearly full moon rose just before sunset.
    Welcomed in a clear blue sky and framed by cherry blossoms, its
    familiar face was captured in this snapshot from Leith, Edinburgh,
    Scotland. Known to some as a Pink Moon, April's full lunar phase
    occurred with the moon near perigee. That's the closest point in its
    not-quite-circular orbit around planet Earth, making this Pink Moon one
    of the closest and brightest full moons of the year. If you missed it,
    don't worry. Your next chance to see a full perigee moon will be on May
    26. Known to some as a Flower Moon, May's full moon will actually be
    closer to you than April's by about 98 miles (158 kilometers), or about
    0.04% the distance from the Earth to the Moon at perigee.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sat May 1 00:12:12 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 1

    Perseverance from Ingenuity
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Ingenuity

    Explanation: Flying at an altitude of 5 meters (just over 16 feet), on
    April 25 the Ingenuity helicopter snapped this sharp image. On its
    second flight above the surface of Mars, its color camera was looking
    back toward Ingenuity's current base at Wright Brothers Field and
    Octavia E. Butler Landing marked by the tracks of the Perseverance
    rover at the top of the frame. Perseverance itself looks on from the
    upper left corner about 85 meters away. Tips of Ingenuity's landing
    legs just peek over the left and right edges of the camera's field of
    view. Its record setting fourth flight completed on April 30, Ingenuity
    collected images of a potential new landing zone before returning to
    Wright Brothers Field. Ingenuity's fifth flight would be one-way though
    as the Mars aircraft moves on to the new airfield, anticipating a new
    phase of operational demonstration flights.

    Tomorrow's picture: clouds of the keel
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sun May 2 00:22:30 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 2

    Clouds of the Carina Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: John Ebersole

    Explanation: What forms lurk in the mists of the Carina Nebula? The
    dark ominous figures are actually molecular clouds, knots of molecular
    gas and dust so thick they have become opaque. In comparison, however,
    these clouds are typically much less dense than Earth's atmosphere.
    Featured here is a detailed image of the core of the Carina Nebula, a
    part where both dark and colorful clouds of gas and dust are
    particularly prominent. The image was captured in mid-2016 from Siding
    Spring Observatory in Australia. Although the nebula is predominantly
    composed of hydrogen gas -- here colored green, the image was assigned
    colors so that light emitted by trace amounts of sulfur and oxygen
    appear red and blue, respectively. The entire Carina Nebula, cataloged
    as NGC 3372, spans over 300 light years and lies about 7,500
    light-years away in the constellation of Carina. Eta Carinae, the most
    energetic star in the nebula, was one of the brightest stars in the sky
    in the 1830s, but then faded dramatically.

    Tomorrow's picture: all humans but one
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Mon May 3 00:11:40 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 3

    Apollo 11: Earth, Moon, Spaceship
    Image Credit: NASA, Apollo 11; Restoration - Toby Ord

    Explanation: After the most famous voyage of modern times, it was time
    to go home. After proving that humanity has the ability to go beyond
    the confines of planet Earth, the first humans to walk on another world
    -- Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin -- flew the ascent stage of their
    Lunar Module back to meet Michael Collins in the moon-orbiting Command
    and Service Module. Pictured here on 1969 July 21 and recently
    digitally restored, the ascending spaceship was captured by Collins
    making its approach, with the Moon below, and Earth far in the
    distance. The smooth, dark area on the lunar surface is Mare Smythii
    located just below the equator on the extreme eastern edge of the
    Moon's near side. It is said of this iconic image that every person but
    one was in front of the camera.

    - NASA Remembers Michael Collins -
    Tomorrow's picture: another triple alignment
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Tue May 4 00:08:00 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 4
    A picture of the International Space Station crossing the Sun. Please
    see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Space Station, Solar Prominences, Sun
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mehmet Ergu¨n

    Explanation: That's no sunspot. It's the International Space Station
    (ISS) caught passing in front of the Sun. Sunspots, individually, have
    a dark central umbra, a lighter surrounding penumbra, and no Dragon
    capsules attached. By contrast, the ISS is a complex and multi-spired
    mechanism, one of the largest and most complicated spacecraft ever
    created by humanity. Also, sunspots circle the Sun, whereas the ISS
    orbits the Earth. Transiting the Sun is not very unusual for the ISS,
    which orbits the Earth about every 90 minutes, but getting one's
    location, timing and equipment just right for a great image is rare.
    The featured picture combined three images all taken from the same
    location and at nearly the same time. One image -- overexposed --
    captured the faint prominences seen across the top of the Sun, a second
    image -- underexposed -- captured the complex texture of the Sun's
    chromosphere, while the third image -- the hardest to get -- captured
    the space station as it shot across the Sun in a fraction of a second.
    Close inspection of the space station's silhouette even reveals a
    docked Dragon Crew capsule.

    Tomorrow's picture: all sky STEVE
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Wed May 5 06:28:44 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 5

    STEVE over Copper Harbor
    Image Credit & Copyright: MaryBeth Kiczenski

    Explanation: What creates STEVEs? Strong Thermal Emission Velocity
    Enhancements (STEVEs) have likely been seen since antiquity, but only
    in the past five years has it been realized that their colors and
    shapes make them different from auroras. Seen as single bright streaks
    of pink and purple, the origin of STEVEs remain an active topic of
    research. STEVEs may be related to subauroral ion drifts (SAIDs), a
    supersonic river of hot atmospheric ions. For reasons currently
    unknown, STEVEs are frequently accompanied by green "picket-fence"
    auroras. The featured STEVE image is a combination of foreground and
    background exposures taken consecutively in mid-March from Copper
    Harbor, Michigan, USA. This bright STEVE lasted several minutes,
    spanned from horizon to horizon, and appeared in between times of
    normal auroras.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Thu May 6 01:47:36 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 6

    Windblown NGC 3199
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby and Roberto Colombari

    Explanation: NGC 3199 lies about 12,000 light-years away, a glowing
    cosmic cloud in the nautical southern constellation of Carina. The
    nebula is about 75 light-years across in this narrowband, false-color
    view. Though the deep image reveals a more or less complete bubble
    shape, it does look very lopsided with a much brighter edge along the
    top. Near the center is a Wolf-Rayet star, a massive, hot, short-lived
    star that generates an intense stellar wind. In fact, Wolf-Rayet stars
    are known to create nebulae with interesting shapes as their powerful
    winds sweep up surrounding interstellar material. In this case, the
    bright edge was thought to indicate a bow shock produced as the star
    plowed through a uniform medium, like a boat through water. But
    measurements have shown the star is not really moving directly toward
    the bright edge. So a more likely explanation is that the material
    surrounding the star is not uniform, but clumped and denser near the
    bright edge of windblown NGC 3199.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Fri May 7 02:19:52 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 7

    Mercury-Redstone 3 Launch
    Image Credit: NASA

    Explanation: Sixty years ago, near the dawn of the space age, NASA
    controllers "lit the candle" and sent Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard
    arcing into space atop a Redstone rocket. His cramped space capsule was
    dubbed Freedom 7. Broadcast live to a global television audience, the
    historic Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3) spacecraft was launched from Cape
    Canaveral Florida at 9:34 a.m. Eastern Time on May 5, 1961. The flight
    of Freedom 7, the first space flight by an American, followed less than
    a month after the first human venture into space by Soviet Cosmonaut
    Yuri Gagarin. The 15 minute sub-orbital flight achieved an altitude of
    116 miles and a maximum speed of 5,134 miles per hour. As Shepard
    looked back near the peak of Freedom 7's trajectory, he could see the
    outlines of the west coast of Florida, Lake Okeechobe in central
    Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Bahamas. Shepard would later view
    planet Earth from a more distant perspective and walk on the Moon as
    commander of the Apollo 14 mission.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sat May 8 01:08:52 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 8

    Deepscape at Yacoraite
    Image Credit & Copyright: Franco Meconi

    Explanation: In this evocative night scene a dusty central Milky Way
    rises over the ancient Andean archaeological site of Yacoraite in
    northwestern Argentina. The denizens of planet Earth reaching skyward
    are the large Argentine saguaro cactus currently native to the arid
    region. The unusual yellow-hued reflection nebula above is created by
    dust scattering starlight around red giant star Antares. Alpha star of
    the constellation Scorpius, Antares is over 500 light-years distant.
    Next to it bright blue Rho Ophiuchi is embedded in more typical dusty
    bluish reflection nebulae though. The deep night skyscape was created
    from a series of background exposures of the rising stars made while
    tracking the sky, and a foreground exposure of the landscape made with
    the camera and lens fixed on the tripod. In combination they produce
    the single stunning image and reveal a range of brightness and color
    that your eye can't quite perceive on its own.

    Tomorrow's picture: around Orion
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sun May 9 00:41:04 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 9

    Horsehead and Orion Nebulas
    Image Credit & Copyright: Roberto Colombari & Federico Pelliccia

    Explanation: The dark Horsehead Nebula and the glowing Orion Nebula are
    contrasting cosmic vistas. Adrift 1,500 light-years away in one of the
    night sky's most recognizable constellations, they appear in opposite
    corners of the above stunning mosaic. The familiar Horsehead nebula
    appears as a dark cloud, a small silhouette notched against the long
    red glow at the lower left. Alnitak is the easternmost star in Orion's
    belt and is seen as the brightest star to the left of the Horsehead.
    Below Alnitak is the Flame Nebula, with clouds of bright emission and
    dramatic dark dust lanes. The magnificent emission region, the Orion
    Nebula (aka M42), lies at the upper right. Immediately to its left is a
    prominent reflection nebula sometimes called the Running Man. Pervasive
    tendrils of glowing hydrogen gas are easily traced throughout the
    region.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 2,500+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: star clusters near and far
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Mon May 10 00:23:08 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 10

    Star Clusters M35 and NGC 2158
    Image Credit & Copyright: CFHT, Coelum, MegaCam, J.-C. Cuillandre
    (CFHT) & G. A. Anselmi (Coelum)

    Explanation: Clusters of stars can be near or far, young or old,
    diffuse or compact. The featured image shows two quite contrasting open
    star clusters in the same field. M35, on the lower left, is relatively
    nearby at 2800 light years distant, relatively young at 150 million
    years old, and relatively diffuse, with about 2500 stars spread out
    over a volume 30 light years across. Bright blue stars frequently
    distinguish younger open clusters like M35. Contrastingly, NGC 2158, on
    the upper right, is four times more distant than M35, over 10 times
    older, and much more compact. NGC 2158's bright blue stars have
    self-destructed, leaving cluster light to be dominated by older and
    yellower stars. In general, open star clusters are found in the plane
    of our Milky Way Galaxy, and contain anywhere from 100 to 10,000 stars
    -- all of which formed at nearly the same time. Both open clusters M35
    and NGC 2158 can be found together with a small telescope toward the
    constellation of the Twins (Gemini).

    Tomorrow's picture: beyond uluru
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Tue May 11 00:40:20 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 11

    Lightning and Orion Beyond Uluru
    Image Credit & Copyright: Park Liu

    Explanation: What's happening behind Uluru? A United Nations World
    Heritage Site, Uluru is an extraordinary 350-meter high mountain in
    central Australia that rises sharply from nearly flat surroundings.
    Composed of sandstone, Uluru has slowly formed over the past 300
    million years as softer rock eroded away. In the background of the
    featured image taken in mid-May, a raging thunderstorm is visible. Far
    behind both Uluru and the thunderstorm is a star-filled sky highlighted
    by the constellation of Orion. The Uluru region has been a home to
    humans for over 22,000 years. Local indigenous people have long noted
    that when the stars that compose the modern constellation of Orion
    first appear in the night sky, a hot season involving lightning storms
    will soon be arriving.

    Tomorrow's picture: star spasms
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Wed May 12 02:37:50 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 12

    A Meteor and the Gegenschein
    Image Credit: J.C. Casado, StarryEarth, EELabs, TWAN

    Explanation: Is the night sky darkest in the direction opposite the
    Sun? No. In fact, a rarely discernable faint glow known as the
    gegenschein (German for "counter glow") can be seen 180 degrees around
    from the Sun in an extremely dark sky. The gegenschein is sunlight
    back-scattered off small interplanetary dust particles. These dust
    particles are millimeter sized splinters from asteroids and orbit in
    the ecliptic plane of the planets. Pictured here from last March is one
    of the more spectacular pictures of the gegenschein yet taken. The deep
    exposure of an extremely dark sky over Teide Observatory in Spain's
    Canary Islands shows the gegenschein as part of extended zodiacal
    light. Notable background objects include a bright meteor (on the
    left), the Big Dipper (top right), and Polaris (far right). The meteor
    nearly points toward Mount Teide, Spain's highest mountain, while the
    Pyramid solar laboratory is visible on the right. During the day, a
    phenomenon like the gegenschein called the glory can be seen in
    reflecting air or clouds opposite the Sun from an airplane.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Thu May 13 00:52:42 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 13

    The Comet, the Whale, and the Hockey Stick
    Image Credit & Copyright: Grand Mesa Observatory, Terry Hancock / Tom
    Masterson

    Explanation: Closest to the Sun on March 1, and closest to planet Earth
    on April 23, this Comet ATLAS (C/2020 R4) shows a faint greenish coma
    and short tail in this pretty, telescopic field of view. Captured at
    its position on May 5, the comet was within the boundaries of northern
    constellation Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs), and near the
    line-of-sight to intriguing background galaxies popularly known as the
    Whale and the Hockey Stick. Cetacean in appearance but Milky Way sized,
    NGC 4631 is a spiral galaxy seen edge-on at the top right, some 25
    million light-years away. NGC 4656/7 sports the bent-stick shape of
    interacting galaxies below and left of NGC 4631. In fact, the
    distortions and mingling trails of gas detected at other wavelengths
    suggest the cosmic Whale and Hockey Stick have had close encounters
    with each other in their distant past. Outbound and only about 7
    light-minutes from Earth this Comet ATLAS should revisit the inner
    solar system in just under 1,000 years.

    Tomorrow's picture: and the Hat
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Fri May 14 00:14:28 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 14

    M104: The Sombrero Galaxy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Bray Falls

    Explanation: A gorgeous spiral galaxy, M104 is famous for its nearly
    edge-on profile featuring a broad ring of obscuring dust lanes. Seen in
    silhouette against an extensive central bulge of stars, the swath of
    cosmic dust lends a broad brimmed hat-like appearance to the galaxy
    suggesting a more popular moniker, the Sombrero Galaxy. This sharp
    optical view of the well-known galaxy made from ground-based image data
    was processed to preserve details often lost in overwhelming glare of
    M104's bright central bulge. Also known as NGC 4594, the Sombrero
    galaxy can be seen across the spectrum, and is host to a central
    supermassive black hole. About 50,000 light-years across and 28 million
    light-years away, M104 is one of the largest galaxies at the southern
    edge of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster. Still the colorful spiky foreground
    stars in this field of view lie well within our own Milky Way galaxy.

    Tomorrow's picture: over the cliff
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sat May 15 00:24:04 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 15

    The Southern Cliff in the Lagoon
    Image Credit: Julia I. Arias and Rodolfo H. Barba' (Dept. Fisica, Univ.
    de La Serena), ICATE-CONICET, Gemini Observatory/AURA

    Explanation: Undulating bright ridges and dusty clouds cross this
    close-up of the nearby star forming region M8, also known as the Lagoon
    Nebula. A sharp, false-color composite of narrow band visible and broad
    band near-infrared data from the 8-meter Gemini South Telescope, the
    entire view spans about 20 light-years through a region of the nebula
    sometimes called the Southern Cliff. The highly detailed image explores
    the association of many newborn stars imbedded in the tips of the
    bright-rimmed clouds and Herbig-Haro objects. Abundant in star-forming
    regions, Herbig-Haro objects are produced as powerful jets emitted by
    young stars in the process of formation heat the surrounding clouds of
    gas and dust. The cosmic Lagoon is found some 5,000 light-years away
    toward the constellation Sagittarius and the center of our Milky Way
    Galaxy. (For location and scale, check out this image superimposing the
    close-up of the Southern Cliff within the larger Lagoon Nebula. The
    scale image is courtesy R. Barba'.)

    Tomorrow's picture: and beyond
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sun May 16 00:24:46 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 16

    NGC 602 and Beyond
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) -
    ESA/Hubble Collaboration

    Explanation: The clouds may look like an oyster, and the stars like
    pearls, but look beyond. Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic
    Cloud, a satellite galaxy some 200 thousand light-years distant, lies 5
    million year young star cluster NGC 602. Surrounded by natal gas and
    dust, NGC 602 is featured in this stunning Hubble image of the region.
    Fantastic ridges and swept back shapes strongly suggest that energetic
    radiation and shock waves from NGC 602's massive young stars have
    eroded the dusty material and triggered a progression of star formation
    moving away from the cluster's center. At the estimated distance of the
    Small Magellanic Cloud, the featured picture spans about 200
    light-years, but a tantalizing assortment of background galaxies are
    also visible in this sharp multi-colored view. The background galaxies
    are hundreds of millions of light-years or more beyond NGC 602.

    Tomorrow's picture: edgy galaxy
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Mon May 17 00:18:30 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 17

    NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge
    Image Credit & Copyright: CFHT, Coelum, MegaCam, J.-C. Cuillandre
    (CFHT) & G. A. Anselmi (Coelum)

    Explanation: Is our Milky Way Galaxy this thin? Magnificent spiral
    galaxy NGC 4565 is viewed edge-on from planet Earth. Also known as the
    Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile, bright NGC 4565 is a stop on many
    telescopic tours of the northern sky, in the faint but well-groomed
    constellation Coma Berenices. This sharp, colorful image reveals the
    spiral galaxy's boxy, bulging central core cut by obscuring dust lanes
    that lace NGC 4565's thin galactic plane. An assortment of other
    background galaxies is included in the pretty field of view. Thought
    similar in shape to our own Milky Way Galaxy, NGC 4565 lies about 40
    million light-years distant and spans some 100,000 light-years. Easily
    spotted with small telescopes, sky enthusiasts consider NGC 4565 to be
    a prominent celestial masterpiece Messier missed.

    Tomorrow's picture: stellar necklace
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Tue May 18 00:23:18 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 18

    Jets from the Necklace Nebula
    Image Credit: ESA, Hubble, NASA; Processing: K. Noll

    Explanation: What celestial body wears the Necklace Nebula? First,
    analyses indicate that the Necklace is a planetary nebula, a gas cloud
    emitted by a star toward the end of its life. Also, what appears to be
    diamonds in the Necklace are actually bright knots of glowing gas. In
    the center of the Necklace Nebula are likely two stars orbiting so
    close together that they share a common atmosphere and appear as one in
    the featured image by the Hubble Space Telescope. The red-glowing gas
    clouds on the upper left and lower right are the results of jets from
    the center. Exactly when and how the bright jets formed remains a topic
    of research. The Necklace Nebula is only about 5,000 years old, spans
    about 5 light years, and can best be found with a large telescope
    toward the direction of the constellation of the Arrow (Sagitta).

    Tomorrow's picture: jellyfish in space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Wed May 19 05:40:58 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 19

    The Jellyfish and Mars
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jason Guenzel

    Explanation: Normally faint and elusive, the Jellyfish Nebula is caught
    in this alluring scene. In the telescopic field of view two bright
    yellowish stars, Mu and Eta Geminorum, stand just below and above the
    Jellyfish Nebula at the left. Cool red giants, they lie at the foot of
    the celestial twin. The Jellyfish Nebula itself floats below and left
    of center, a bright arcing ridge of emission with dangling tentacles.
    In fact, the cosmic jellyfish is part of bubble-shaped supernova
    remnant IC 443, the expanding debris cloud from a massive star that
    exploded. Light from that explosion first reached planet Earth over
    30,000 years ago. Like its cousin in astrophysical waters the Crab
    Nebula supernova remnant, the Jellyfish Nebula is known to harbor a
    neutron star, the remnant of the collapsed stellar core. Composed on
    April 30, this telescopic snapshot also captures Mars. Now wandering
    through early evening skies, the Red Planet also shines with a
    yellowish glow on the right hand side of the field of view. Of course,
    the Jellyfish Nebula is about 5,000 light-years away, while Mars is
    currently almost 18 light-minutes from Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Thu May 20 03:32:16 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 20

    M13: The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules
    Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Dufour

    Explanation: In 1716, English astronomer Edmond Halley noted, "This is
    but a little Patch, but it shews itself to the naked Eye, when the Sky
    is serene and the Moon absent." Of course, M13 is now less modestly
    recognized as the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, one of the
    brightest globular star clusters in the northern sky. Sharp telescopic
    views like this one reveal the spectacular cluster's hundreds of
    thousands of stars. At a distance of 25,000 light-years, the cluster
    stars crowd into a region 150 light-years in diameter. Approaching the
    cluster core upwards of 100 stars could be contained in a cube just 3
    light-years on a side. For comparison, the closest star to the Sun is
    over 4 light-years away. The remarkable range of brightness recorded in
    this image follows stars into the dense cluster core. Distant
    background galaxies in the medium-wide field of view include NGC 6207
    at the lower right.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Fri May 21 03:31:04 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 21

    Utopia on Mars
    Image Credit: NASA, The Viking Project, M. Dale-Bannister (Washington
    University)

    Explanation: Expansive Utopia Planitia on Mars is strewn with rocks and
    boulders in this 1976 image. Constructed from the Viking 2 lander's
    color and black and white image data, the scene approximates the
    appearance of the high northern martian plain to the human eye. For
    scale, the prominent rounded rock near center is about 20 centimeters
    (just under 8 inches) across. Farther back on the right side of the
    frame the a dark angular boulder spans about 1.5 meters (5 feet). Also
    in view are two trenches dug by the lander's sampler arm, the ejected
    protective shroud that covered the soil collector head, and one of the
    lander's dust covered footpads at the lower right. On May 14, China's
    Zhurong Mars rover successfully touchdown on Mars and has returned the
    first images of` its landing site in Utopia Planitia.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sat May 22 00:34:32 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 22

    Markarian's Chain
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ginge Anvik

    Explanation: Near the heart of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster the string of
    galaxies known as Markarian's Chain stretches across this deep
    telescopic field of view. Anchored in the frame at bottom center by
    prominent lenticular galaxies, M84 (bottom) and M86, you can follow the
    chain up and to the right. Near center you'll spot the pair of
    interacting galaxies NGC 4438 and NGC 4435, known to some as
    Markarian's Eyes. Its center an estimated 50 million light-years
    distant, the Virgo Cluster itself is the nearest galaxy cluster. With
    up to about 2,000 member galaxies, it has a noticeable gravitational
    influence on our own Local Group of Galaxies. Within the Virgo Cluster
    at least seven galaxies in Markarian's Chain appear to move coherently,
    although others may appear to be part of the chain by chance.

    Tomorrow's picture: the galaxy tree
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Sun May 23 00:17:54 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 23

    The Galaxy Tree
    Image Credit & Copyright: César Vega Toledano ; Rollover Annotation:
    Judy Schmidt

    Explanation: First came the trees. In the town of Salamanca, Spain, the
    photographer noticed how distinctive a grove of oak trees looked after
    being pruned. Next came the galaxy. The photographer stayed up until 2
    am, waiting until the Milky Way Galaxy rose above the level of a
    majestic looking oak. From this carefully chosen perspective, dust
    lanes in the galaxy appear to be natural continuations to branches of
    the tree. Last came the light. A flashlight was used on the far side of
    the tree to project a silhouette. By coincidence, other trees also
    appeared as similar silhouettes across the relatively bright horizon.
    The featured image was captured as a single 30-second frame in 2015 and
    processed to digitally enhance the Milky Way.

    Tomorrow's picture: moon of the goats
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Mon May 24 00:17:14 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 24

    Lightning Eclipse from the Planet of the Goats
    Image Credit & Copyright: Chris Kotsiopoulos (GreekSky)

    Explanation: Thunderstorms almost spoiled this view of the spectacular
    2011 June 15 total lunar eclipse. Instead, storm clouds parted for 10
    minutes during the total eclipse phase and lightning bolts contributed
    to the dramatic sky. Captured with a 30-second exposure the scene also
    inspired one of the more memorable titles (thanks to the
    astrophotographer) in APOD's now 25-year history. Of course, the
    lightning reference clearly makes sense, and the shadow play of the
    dark lunar eclipse was widely viewed across planet Earth in Europe,
    Africa, Asia, and Australia. The picture itself, however, was shot from
    the Greek island of Ikaria at Pezi. That area is known as "the planet
    of the goats" because of the rough terrain and strange looking rocks.
    The next total lunar eclipse will occur on Wednesday.

    Details: Total Lunar Eclipse on 2021 May 26
    Tomorrow's picture: disappearing moon
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Tue May 25 00:20:32 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 25

    The Moon During a Total Lunar Eclipse
    Video Credit: Wang Letian & Zhang Jiajie

    Explanation: How does the Moon's appearance change during a total lunar
    eclipse? The featured time-lapse video was digitally processed to keep
    the Moon bright and centered during the 5-hour eclipse of 2018 January
    31. At first the full moon is visible because only a full moon can
    undergo a lunar eclipse. Stars move by in the background because the
    Moon orbits the Earth during the eclipse. The circular shadow of the
    Earth is then seen moving across the Moon. The light blue hue of the
    shadow's edge is related to why Earth's sky is blue, while the deep red
    hue of the shadow's center is related to why the Sun appears red when
    near the horizon. Tomorrow, people living from southeast Asia, across
    the Pacific, to the southwest Americas may get to see a Blood Supermoon
    Total Lunar Eclipse. Here the term blood refers to the (likely) red
    color of the fully eclipsed Moon, while the term supermoon indicates
    the Moon's slightly high angular size -- due to being relatively close
    to the Earth in its slightly elliptical orbit.

    Details: Total Lunar Eclipse on 2021 May 26
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Wed May 26 00:13:28 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 26

    The Outburst Clouds of Star AG Car
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI; Processing: Judy Schmidt; Text: Anders
    Nyholm

    Explanation: What created these unusual clouds? At the center of this
    2021 Hubble image sits AG Carinae, a supergiant star located about
    20,000 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina. The
    star's emitted power is over a million times that of the Sun, making AG
    Carinae one of the most luminous stars in our Milky Way galaxy. AG
    Carinae and its neighbor Eta Carinae belong to the scarce Luminous Blue
    Variable (LBV) class of stars, known for their rare but violent
    eruptions. The nebula that surrounds AG Car is interpreted as a remnant
    of one or more such outbursts. This nebula measures 5 light-years
    across, is estimated to contain about 10 solar masses of gas, and to be
    at least 10,000 years old. This Hubble image, taken to commemorate
    Hubble's 31st launch anniversary, is the first to capture the whole
    nebula, offering a new perspective on its structure and dust content.
    The LBVs represent a late and short stage in the lives of some
    supergiant stars, but explaining their restlessness remains a challenge
    to humanity's understanding of how massive stars work.

    Your questions answered: Tonight's Blood Supermoon Total Lunar Eclipse
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Thu May 27 00:14:50 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 27

    Mid-Eclipse and Milky Way
    Image Credit & Copyright: John Kraus

    Explanation: May's perigee Full Moon slid through Earth's shadow
    yesterday entertaining night skygazers in regions around the Pacific.
    Seen from western North America, it sinks toward the rugged Sierra
    Nevada mountain range in this time-lapse series of the total lunar
    eclipse. Low on the western horizon the Moon was captured at
    mid-eclipse with two separate exposures. Combined they reveal the
    eclipsed Moon's reddened color against the dark night sky and the
    diffuse starlight band of the Milky Way. Frames taken every five
    minutes from the fixed camera follow the surrounding progression of the
    eclipse partial phases. In the foreground a radio telescope dish at
    California's Owen's Valley Radio Observatory points skyward.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.2 to All on Fri May 28 00:30:26 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 28

    Total Lunar Eclipse from Sydney
    Image Credit & Copyright: Peter Ward (Barden Ridge Observatory)

    Explanation: The reddened shadow of planet Earth plays across the lunar
    disk in this telescopic image taken on May 26 near Sydney, New South
    Wales, Australia. On that crisp, clear autumn night a Perigee Full Moon
    slid through the northern edge of the shadow's dark central umbra.
    Short for a lunar eclipse, its total phase lasted only about 14
    minutes. The Earth's shadow was not completely dark though. Instead it
    was suffused with a faint red light from all the planet's sunsets and
    sunrises seen from the perspective of an eclipsed Moon, the reddened
    sunlight scattered by Earth's atmosphere. The HDR composite of 6
    exposures also shows the wide range of brightness variations within
    Earth's umbral shadow against a faint background of stars.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Sat May 29 00:19:44 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 29

    Lunar Dust and Duct Tape
    Image Credit: Apollo 17, NASA

    Explanation: Why is the Moon so dusty? On Earth, rocks are weathered by
    wind and water, creating soil and sand. On the Moon, the history of
    constant micrometeorite bombardment has blasted away at the rocky
    surface creating a layer of powdery lunar soil or regolith. For the
    Apollo astronauts and their equipment, the pervasive, fine, gritty dust
    was definitely a problem. On the lunar surface in December 1972, Apollo
    17 astronauts Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan needed to repair one
    of their rover's fenders in an effort to keep the rooster tails of dust
    away from themselves and their gear. This picture reveals the wheel and
    fender of their dust covered rover along with the ingenious application
    of spare maps, clamps, and a grey strip of "duct tape".

    Tomorrow's picture: cloudy day on Earth
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Sun May 30 00:27:12 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 30

    Aurora over Clouds
    Image Credit & Copyright: Daniele Boffelli

    Explanation: Auroras usually occur high above the clouds. The auroral
    glow is created when fast-moving particles ejected from the Sun impact
    the Earth's magnetosphere, from which charged particles spiral along
    the Earth's magnetic field to strike atoms and molecules high in the
    Earth's atmosphere. An oxygen atom, for example, will glow in the green
    light commonly emitted by an aurora after being energized by such a
    collision. The lowest part of an aurora will typically occur about 100
    kilometers up, while most clouds exist only below about 10 kilometers.
    The relative heights of clouds and auroras are shown clearly in the
    featured picture in 2015 from Dyrholaey, Iceland. There, a determined
    astrophotographer withstood high winds and initially overcast skies in
    an attempt to capture aurora over a picturesque lighthouse, only to
    take, by chance, the featured picture including elongated lenticular
    clouds, along the way.

    Follow APOD on Instagram in: English, Farsi, Indonesian, Persian, or
    Portuguese
    Tomorrow's picture: thatCÇÖs a moon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Mon May 31 01:15:44 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 May 31

    Mimas: Small Moon with a Big Crater
    Image Credit & Copyright: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Space Science Institute,
    Cassini

    Explanation: Whatever hit Mimas nearly destroyed it. What remains is
    one of the largest impact craters on one of Saturn's smallest round
    moons. Analysis indicates that a slightly larger impact would have
    destroyed Mimas entirely. The huge crater, named Herschel after the
    1789 discoverer of Mimas, Sir William Herschel, spans about 130
    kilometers and is featured here. Mimas' low mass produces a surface
    gravity just strong enough to create a spherical body but weak enough
    to allow such relatively large surface features. Mimas is made of
    mostly water ice with a smattering of rock - so it is accurately
    described as a big dirty snowball. The featured image was taken during
    the closest-ever flyby of the robot spacecraft Cassini past Mimas in
    2010 while in orbit around Saturn.

    Interactive: Take a trek across Mimas
    Tomorrow's picture: streaks of Orion
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Tue Jun 1 00:54:20 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 June 1

    Starlink over Orion
    Image Credit: Amir H. Abolfath

    Explanation: What are those streaks across Orion? Most are reflections
    of sunlight from numerous Earth-orbiting Starlink satellites. Appearing
    by eye as a series of successive points floating across a twilight sky,
    the increasing number of SpaceX Starlink communication satellites are
    causing concern among many astronomers. On the positive side, Starlink
    and similar constellations make the post-sunset sky more dynamic,
    satellite-based global communications faster, and help provide digital
    services to currently underserved rural areas. On the negative side,
    though, these low Earth-orbit satellites make some deep astronomical
    imaging programs more difficult, in particular observing programs that
    need images taken just after sunset and just before dawn. Planned
    future satellite arrays that function in higher orbits may impact
    investigations of the deep universe planned for large ground-based
    telescopes at any time during the night. The featured picture, taken in
    2019 December, is a digital combination of over 65 3-minutes exposures,
    with some images taken to highlight the background Orion Nebula, while
    others to feature the passing satellites.

    SatCon2 Wokshop 12-16 July 2021: Mitigating Satellite Constellations
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Wed Jun 2 07:01:34 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 June 2

    The Galactic Center in Stars, Gas, and Magnetism
    Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/UMass/Q.D. Wang; Radio: NRF/SARAO/MeerKAT

    Explanation: What's going on near the center of our galaxy? To help
    find out, a newly detailed panorama has been composed that explores
    regions just above and below the galactic plane in radio and X-ray
    light. X-ray light taken by the orbiting Chandra Observatory is shown
    in orange (hot), green (hotter), and purple (hottest) and superposed
    with a highly detailed image in radio waves, shown in gray, acquired by
    the MeerKAT array. Interactions are numerous and complex. Galactic
    beasts such as expanding supernova remnants, hot winds from newly
    formed stars, unusually strong and colliding magnetic fields, and a
    central supermassive black hole are all battling in a space only 1000
    light years across. Thin bright stripes appear to result from twisting
    and newly connecting magnetic fields in colliding regions, creating an
    energetic type of inner galactic space weather with similarities to
    that created by our Sun. Continued observations and study hold promise
    to not only shed more light on the history and evolution of our own
    galaxy -- but all galaxies.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jun 4 00:22:18 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 June 4

    Blood Monster Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Chirag Upreti

    Explanation: On May 26, the Full Flower Moon was caught in this single
    exposure as it emerged from Earth's shadow and morning twilight began
    to wash over the western sky. Posing close to the horizon near the end
    of totality, an eclipsed lunar disk is framed against bare oak trees at
    Pinnacles National Park in central California. The Earth's shadow isn't
    completely dark though. Faintly suffused with sunlight scattered by the
    atmosphere, the inner shadow gives the totally eclipsed moon a reddened
    appearance and the very dramatic popular moniker of a Blood Moon.
    Still, the monstrous visage of a gnarled tree in silhouette made this
    view of a total lunar eclipse even scarier.

    Tomorrow's picture: The Shining
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jun 5 00:04:02 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 June 5

    The Shining Clouds of Mars
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS

    Explanation: The weathered and layered face of Mount Mercou looms in
    the foreground of this mosaic from the Curiosity Mars rover's Mast
    Camera. Made up of 21 individual images the scene was recorded just
    after sunset on March 19, the 3,063rd martian day of Curiosity's on
    going exploration of the Red Planet. In the martian twilight high
    altitude clouds still shine above, reflecting the light from the Sun
    below the local horizon like the noctilucent clouds of planet Earth.
    Though water ice clouds drift through the thin martian atmosphere,
    these wispy clouds are also at extreme altitudes and could be composed
    of frozen carbon dioxide, crystals of dry ice. Curiosity's Mast Cam has
    also imaged iridescent or mother of pearl clouds adding subtle colors
    to the martian sky.

    Tomorrow's picture: sunrise on Earth
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jun 6 00:04:36 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 June 6

    A Distorted Sunrise Eclipse
    Image Credit & Copyright: Elias Chasiotis

    Explanation: Yes, but have you ever seen a sunrise like this? Here,
    after initial cloudiness, the Sun appeared to rise in two pieces and
    during partial eclipse, causing the photographer to describe it as the
    most stunning sunrise of his life. The dark circle near the top of the
    atmospherically-reddened Sun is the Moon -- but so is the dark peak
    just below it. This is because along the way, the Earth's atmosphere
    had an inversion layer of unusually warm air which acted like a
    gigantic lens and created a second image. For a normal sunrise or
    sunset, this rare phenomenon of atmospheric optics is known as the
    Etruscan vase effect. The featured picture was captured in December
    2019 from Al Wakrah, Qatar. Some observers in a narrow band of Earth to
    the east were able to see a full annular solar eclipse -- where the
    Moon appears completely surrounded by the background Sun in a ring of
    fire. The next solar eclipse, also an annular eclipse for well-placed
    observers, will occur later this week on June 10.

    Tomorrow's picture: star boom
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jun 7 00:07:26 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 June 7

    A Bright Nova in Cassiopeia
    Image Credit & Copyright: Chuck Ayoub

    Explanation: What's that new spot of light in Cassiopeia? A nova.
    Although novas occur frequently throughout the universe, this nova,
    known as Nova Cas 2021 or V1405 Cas, became so unusually bright in the
    skies of Earth last month that it was visible to the unaided eye. Nova
    Cas 2021 first brightened in mid-March but then, unexpectedly, became
    even brighter in mid-May and remained quite bright for about a week.
    The nova then faded back to early-May levels, but now is slightly
    brightening again and remains visible through binoculars. Identified by
    the arrow, the nova occurred toward the constellation of Cassiopeia,
    not far from the Bubble Nebula. A nova is typically caused by a
    thermonuclear explosion on the surface of a white dwarf star that is
    accreting matter from a binary-star companion -- although details of
    this outburst are currently unknown. Novas don't destroy the underlying
    star, and are sometimes seen to recur. The featured image was created
    from 14 hours of imaging from Detroit, Michigan, USA. Both professional
    and amateur astronomers will likely continue to monitor Nova Cas 2021
    and hypothesize about details of its cause.

    Tomorrow's picture: Jupiter happy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jun 8 00:15:26 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 June 8

    A Face in the Clouds of Jupiter from Juno
    Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Jason Major

    Explanation: What do you see in the clouds of Jupiter? On the largest
    scale, circling the planet, Jupiter has alternating light zones and
    reddish-brown belts. Rising zone gas, mostly hydrogen and helium,
    usually swirls around regions of high pressure. Conversely, falling
    belt gas usually whirls around regions of low pressure, like cyclones
    and hurricanes on Earth. Belt storms can form into large and
    long-lasting white ovals and elongated red spots. NASA's robotic Juno
    spacecraft captured most of these cloud features in 2017 during
    perijove 6, its sixth pass over the giant planet in its looping 2-month
    orbit. But it is surely not these clouds themselves that draws your
    attention to the displayed image, but rather their arrangement. The
    face that stands out, nicknamed Jovey McJupiterFace, lasted perhaps a
    few weeks before the neighboring storm clouds rotated away. Juno has
    now completed 33 orbits around Jupiter and just yesterday made a close
    pass near Ganymede, our Solar System's largest moon.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jun 9 00:14:32 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 June 9

    A Total Lunar Eclipse Corona
    Image Credit & Copyright: Helmut Eder

    Explanation: This moon appears multiply strange. This moon was a full
    moon, specifically called a Flower Moon at this time of the year. But
    that didn't make it strange -- full moons occur once a month (moon-th).
    This moon was a supermoon, meaning that it reached its full phase near
    its closest approach to the Earth in its slightly elliptical orbit.
    Somewhat strange, a supermoon appears a bit larger and brighter than
    the average full moon -- and enables it to be called a Super Flower
    Moon. This moon was undergoing a total lunar eclipse. An eclipsed moon
    can look quite strange, being dark, unevenly lit, and, frequently, red
    -- sometimes called blood red. Therefore, this moon could be called a
    Super Flower Blood Moon. This moon was seen through thin clouds. These
    clouds created a faint corona around the moon, making it look not only
    strange, but colorful. This moon was imaged so deeply that the heart of
    the Milky Way galaxy, far in the background, was visible to its lower
    right. This moon, this shadow, this galaxy and these colors were all
    captured last month near Cassilis, NSW, Australia -- with a single
    shot. (Merged later with two lower shots that better capture the Milky
    Way.)

    Details: Annular Solar Eclipse Tomorrow
    Gallery: Total Eclipse of the Super Flower Blood Moon
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Fri Jun 25 00:15:32 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 June 25

    Andromeda in a Single Shot
    Image Credit & Copyright: Miguel Claro (TWAN, Dark Sky Alqueva)

    Explanation: How far can you see? The Andromeda Galaxy, 2.5 million
    light years away, is the most distant object easily seen by the unaided
    eye. Other denizens of the night sky, like stars, clusters, and
    nebulae, are typically hundreds to thousands of light-years distant.
    That's far beyond the Solar System but well within our own Milky Way
    Galaxy. Also known as M31, the external galaxy poses directly above a
    chimney in this well-planned deep night skyscape from an old mine in
    southern Portugal. The image was captured in a single exposure tracking
    the sky, so the foreground is slightly blurred by the camera's motion
    while Andromeda itself looms large. The galaxy's brighter central
    region, normally all that's visible to the naked-eye, can be seen
    extending to spiral arms with fainter outer reaches spanning over 4
    full moons across the sky. Of course in only 5 billion years or so, the
    stars of Andromeda could span the entire night sky as the Andromeda
    Galaxy merges with the Milky Way.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in the Sun
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Mon Jun 28 00:31:52 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 June 28

    A Paper Moon Solar Eclipse
    Image Credit & Copyright: Wang Letian (Eyes at Night)

    Explanation: It may look like a paper Moon. Sailing past a canvas Sun.
    But those are not cardboard clouds. And it's not make believe. The
    featured picture of an orange colored sky is real -- a digital
    composite of two exposures of the solar eclipse that occurred earlier
    this month. The first exposure was taken with a regular telescope that
    captured an overexposed Sun and an underexposed Moon, while the second
    image was taken with a solar telescope that captured details of the
    chromosphere of the background Sun. The Sun's canvas-like texture was
    brought up by imaging in a very specific shade of red emitted by
    hydrogen. Several prominences can be seen around the Sun's edge. The
    image was captured just before sunset from Xilingol, Inner Mongolia,
    China. It's also not make-believe to imagine that the Moon is made of
    dense rock, the Sun is made of hot gas, and clouds are made of floating
    droplets of water and ice.

    Tomorrow's picture: hubble's orion
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Tue Jun 29 00:19:46 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 June 29

    Orion Nebula: The Hubble View
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive; Processing: Francisco
    Javier Pobes Serrano

    Explanation: Few cosmic vistas excite the imagination like the Orion
    Nebula. Also known as M42, the nebula's glowing gas surrounds hot young
    stars at the edge of an immense interstellar molecular cloud only 1,500
    light-years away. The Orion Nebula offers one of the best opportunities
    to study how stars are born partly because it is the nearest large
    star-forming region, but also because the nebula's energetic stars have
    blown away obscuring gas and dust clouds that would otherwise block our
    view - providing an intimate look at a range of ongoing stages of
    starbirth and evolution. The featured image of the Orion Nebula is
    among the sharpest ever, constructed using data from the Hubble Space
    Telescope. The entire Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is
    located in the same spiral arm of our Galaxy as the Sun.

    Tomorrow's picture: first stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Sat Jul 3 00:18:56 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 July 3

    Along the Milky Way
    Image Credit & Copyright: Rolf Weisenfeld

    Explanation: You can't walk along the Milky Way. Still, under a dark
    sky you can explore it. To the eye the pale luminous trail of light
    arcing through the sky on a dark, moonless night does appear to be a
    path through the heavens. The glowing celestial band is the faint,
    collective light of distant stars cut by swaths of obscuring
    interstellar dust clouds. It lies along the plane of our home galaxy,
    so named because it looks like a milky way. Since Galileo's time, the
    Milky Way has been revealed to telescopic skygazers to be filled with
    congeries of innumerable stars and cosmic wonders.

    Tomorrow's picture: Facing Mars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Sun Jul 4 00:22:44 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 July 4

    The Face on Mars
    Image Credit: NASA, Viking 1 Orbiter

    Explanation: Wouldn't it be fun if clouds were castles? Wouldn't it be
    fun if the laundry on the bedroom chair was a superhero? Wouldn't it be
    fun if rock mesas on Mars were interplanetary monuments to the human
    face? Clouds, though, are floating droplets of water and ice. Laundry
    is cotton, wool, or plastic, woven into garments. Famous Martian rock
    mesas known by names like the Face on Mars appear quite natural when
    seen more clearly on better images. Is reality boring? Nobody knows why
    some clouds make rain. Nobody knows if life ever developed on Mars.
    Nobody knows why the laundry on the bedroom chair smells like root
    beer. Scientific exploration can not only resolve mysteries, but
    uncover new knowledge, greater mysteries, and yet deeper questions. As
    humanity explores our universe, perhaps fun -- through discovery -- is
    just beginning.

    Tomorrow's picture: horse of blue
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Mon Jul 5 00:13:46 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 July 5

    IC 4592: The Blue Horsehead Reflection Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block, Steward Observatory, University
    of Arizona

    Explanation: Do you see the horse's head? What you are seeing is not
    the famous Horsehead nebula toward Orion but rather a fainter nebula
    that only takes on a familiar form with deeper imaging. The main part
    of the here imaged molecular cloud complex is a reflection nebula
    cataloged as IC 4592. Reflection nebulas are actually made up of very
    fine dust that normally appears dark but can look quite blue when
    reflecting the visible light of energetic nearby stars. In this case,
    the source of much of the reflected light is a star at the eye of the
    horse. That star is part of Nu Scorpii, one of the brighter star
    systems toward the constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius). A second
    reflection nebula dubbed IC 4601 is visible surrounding two stars to
    the right of the image center.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: seeing saturn
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Tue Jul 6 00:07:26 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 July 6

    Saturn and Six Moons
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mohammad Ranjbaran; MR Thanks: Amir Ehteshami

    Explanation: How many moons does Saturn have? So far 82 have been
    confirmed, the smallest being only a fraction of a kilometer across.
    Six of its largest satellites can be seen here in a composite image
    with 13 short exposure of the bright planet, and 13 long exposures of
    the brightest of its faint moons, taken over two weeks last month.
    Larger than Earth's Moon and even slightly larger than Mercury,Saturn's
    largest moon Titan has a diameter of 5,150 kilometers and was captured
    making nearly a complete orbit around its ringed parent planet.
    Saturn's first known natural satellite, Titan was discovered in 1655 by
    Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens, in contrast with several newly
    discovered moons announced in 2019. The trail on the far right belongs
    to Iapetus, Saturn's third largest moon. The radius of painted Iapetus'
    orbit is so large that only a portion of it was captured here. Saturn
    leads Jupiter across the night sky this month, rising soon after sunset
    toward the southeast, and remaining visible until dawn.

    Tomorrow's picture: through orion
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Thu Jul 8 00:44:32 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 July 8

    Perihelion to Aphelion
    Image Credit & Copyright: Richard Jaworski

    Explanation: Aphelion for 2021 occurred on July 5th. That's the point
    in Earth's elliptical orbit when it is farthest from the Sun. Of
    course, the distance from the Sun doesn't determine the seasons. Those
    are governed by the tilt of Earth's axis of rotation, so July is still
    summer in the north and winter in the southern hemisphere. But it does
    mean that on July 5 the Sun was at its smallest apparent size when
    viewed from planet Earth. This composite neatly compares two pictures
    of the Sun, both taken with the same telescope and camera. The left
    half was captured close to the date of the 2021 perihelion (January 2),
    the closest point in Earth's orbit. The right was recorded just before
    the aphelion in 2021. Otherwise difficult to notice, the change in the
    Sun's apparent diameter between perihelion and aphelion amounts to a
    little over 3 percent.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Fri Jul 9 00:07:28 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 July 9

    M82: Starburst Galaxy with a Superwind
    Image Credit & Copyright: Team ARO, Alentejo Remote Observatory

    Explanation: M82 is a starburst galaxy with a superwind. In fact,
    through ensuing supernova explosions and powerful winds from massive
    stars, the burst of star formation in M82 is driving a prodigious
    outflow. Evidence for the superwind from the galaxy's central regions
    is clear in sharp telescopic snapshot. The composite image highlights
    emission from long outflow filaments of atomic hydrogen gas in reddish
    hues. Some of the gas in the superwind, enriched in heavy elements
    forged in the massive stars, will eventually escape into intergalactic
    space. Triggered by a close encounter with nearby large galaxy M81, the
    furious burst of star formation in M82 should last about 100 million
    years or so. Also known as the Cigar Galaxy for its elongated visual
    appearance, M82 is about 30,000 light-years across. It lies 12 million
    light-years away near the northern boundary of Ursa Major.

    Tomorrow's picture: Mercury and the Da Vinci Glow
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Sat Jul 10 00:19:02 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 July 10

    Mercury and the Da Vinci Glow
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gabriel Funes

    Explanation: On July 8th early morning risers saw Mercury near an old
    Moon low on the eastern horizon. On that date bright planet, faint glow
    of lunar night side, and sunlit crescent were captured in this predawn
    skyscape from Tenerife's Teide National Park in the Canary Islands.
    Never far from the Sun in planet Earth's sky, the fleeting inner planet
    shines near its brightest in the morning twilight scene. Mercury lies
    just below the zeta star of the constellation Taurus, Zeta Tauri, near
    the tip of the celestial bull's horn. Of course the Moon's ashen glow
    is earthshine, earthlight reflected from the Moon's night side. A
    description of earthshine, in terms of sunlight reflected by Earth's
    oceans illuminating the Moon's dark surface, was written over 500 years
    ago by Leonardo da Vinci. Waiting for the coming dawn in the foreground
    are the Teide Observatory's sentinels of the Sun, also known as (large
    domes left to right) the THEMIS, VTT, and GREGOR solar telescopes.

    Tomorrow's picture: try to see the Moon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Mon Jul 12 00:16:34 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 July 12

    M27: The Dumbbell Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Bray Falls & Keith Quattrocchi

    Explanation: What will become of our Sun? The first hint of our Sun's
    future was discovered inadvertently in 1764. At that time, Charles
    Messier was compiling a list of diffuse objects not to be confused with
    comets. The 27th object on Messier's list, now known as M27 or the
    Dumbbell Nebula, is a planetary nebula, one of the brightest planetary
    nebulae on the sky -- and visible toward the constellation of the Fox
    (Vulpecula) with binoculars. It takes light about 1000 years to reach
    us from M27, featured here in colors emitted by hydrogen and oxygen. We
    now know that in about 6 billion years, our Sun will shed its outer
    gases into a planetary nebula like M27, while its remaining center will
    become an X-ray hot white dwarf star. Understanding the physics and
    significance of M27 was well beyond 18th century science, though. Even
    today, many things remain mysterious about planetary nebulas, including
    how their intricate shapes are created.

    Tomorrow's picture: Iapetus 3D
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Thu Jul 15 00:29:48 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 July 15

    The Dark Tower in Scorpius
    Image Credit & Copyright: Data - Martin Pugh Processing - Rocco Sung

    Explanation: In silhouette against a crowded star field along the tail
    of the arachnalogical constellation Scorpius, this dusty cosmic cloud
    evokes for some the image of an ominous dark tower. In fact, clumps of
    dust and molecular gas collapsing to form stars may well lurk within
    the dark nebula, a structure that spans almost 40 light-years across
    this gorgeous telescopic portrait. Known as a cometary globule, the
    swept-back cloud, is shaped by intense ultraviolet radiation from the
    OB association of very hot stars in NGC 6231, off the upper edge of the
    scene. That energetic ultraviolet light also powers the globule's
    bordering reddish glow of hydrogen gas. Hot stars embedded in the dust
    can be seen as bluish reflection nebulae. This dark tower, NGC 6231,
    and associated nebulae are about 5,000 light-years away.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Fri Jul 16 00:03:56 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 July 16

    Love and War by Moonlight
    Image Credit & Copyright: Shi Huan

    Explanation: Venus, named for the Roman goddess of love, and Mars, the
    war god's namesake, come together by moonlight in this serene skyview,
    recorded on July 11 from Lualaba province, Democratic Republic of
    Congo, planet Earth. Taken in the western twilight sky shortly after
    sunset the exposure also records earthshine illuminating the otherwise
    dark surface of the young crescent Moon. Of course the Moon has moved
    on. Venus still shines in the west though as the evening star, third
    brightest object in Earth's sky, after the Sun and the Moon itself.
    Seen here above a brilliant Venus, Mars moved even closer to the
    brighter planet and by July 13 could be seen only about a Moon's width
    away. Mars has since slowly wandered away from much brighter Venus in
    the twilight, but both are sliding toward bright star Regulus. Alpha
    star of the constellation Leo, Regulus lies off the top of this frame
    and anticipates a visit from Venus and then Mars in twilight skies of
    the coming days.

    Tomorrow's picture: when the moon watches you
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Sat Jul 17 00:18:22 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 July 17

    Alphonsus and Arzachel
    Image Credit & Copyright: Noel Donnard

    Explanation: Point your telescope at tonight's first quarter Moon.
    Along the terminator, the shadow line between night and day, you might
    find these two large craters staring back at you with an owlish gaze.
    Alphonsus (left) and Arzachel are ancient impact craters on the north
    eastern shores of Mare Nubium, the lunar Sea of Clouds. The larger
    Alphonsus is over 100 kilometers in diameter. A low sun angle
    highlights the crater's sharp 1.5 kilometer high central peak in bright
    sunlight and dark shadow. Scouting for potential Apollo moon landing
    sites, the Ranger 9 spacecraft returned closeup photographs of
    Alphonsus before it crashed in the crater just northeast (left) of its
    central mountain in 1965. Alpetragius, between Alphonsus and Arzachel,
    is the small crater with the deeply shadowed floor and overly large
    central peak.

    Tomorrow's picture: 2.5 million light-years away
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Tue Jul 20 07:15:32 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 July 20

    Thor's Helmet
    Image Credit & Copyright: Bernard Miller

    Explanation: Thor not only has his own day (Thursday), but a helmet in
    the heavens. Popularly called Thor's Helmet, NGC 2359 is a hat-shaped
    cosmic cloud with wing-like appendages. Heroically sized even for a
    Norse god, Thor's Helmet is about 30 light-years across. In fact, the
    cosmic head-covering is more like an interstellar bubble, blown with a
    fast wind from the bright, massive star near the bubble's center. Known
    as a Wolf-Rayet star, the central star is an extremely hot giant
    thought to be in a brief, pre-supernova stage of evolution. NGC 2359 is
    located about 15,000 light-years away toward the constellation of the
    Great Overdog. This remarkably sharp image is a mixed cocktail of data
    from broadband and narrowband filters, capturing not only natural
    looking stars but details of the nebula's filamentary structures. The
    star in the center of Thor's Helmet is expected to explode in a
    spectacular supernova sometime within the next few thousand years.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: colors of ring
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Fri Jul 23 00:04:18 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 July 23

    Elephant, Bat, and Squid
    Image Credit & Copyright: Patrick Hsieh

    Explanation: Sprawling emission nebulae IC 1396 and Sh2-129 mix glowing
    interstellar gas and dark dust clouds in this 10 degree wide field of
    view toward the northern constellation Cepheus the King. Energized by
    its bluish central star IC 1396 (left) is hundreds of light-years
    across and some 3,000 light-years distant. The nebula's intriguing dark
    shapes include a winding dark cloud popularly known as the Elephant's
    Trunk below and right of center. Tens of light-years long, it holds the
    raw raw material for star formation and is known to hide protostars
    within. Located a similar distance from planet Earth, the bright knots
    and swept back ridges of emission of Sh2-129 on the right suggest its
    popular name, the Flying Bat Nebula. Within the Flying Bat, the most
    recently recognized addition to this royal cosmic zoo is the faint
    bluish emission from Ou4, the Giant Squid nebula.

    Tomorrow's picture: at the edge of space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Sat Jul 24 09:02:52 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 July 24

    The Edge of Space
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ralf Rohner

    Explanation: Where does space begin? For purposes of spaceflight some
    would say at the Karman line, currently defined as an altitude of 100
    kilometers (60 miles). Others might place a line 80 kilometers (50
    miles) above Earth's mean sea level. But there is no sharp physical
    boundary that marks the end of atmosphere and the beginning of space.
    In fact, the Karman line itself is near the transition between the
    upper mesophere and lower thermosphere. Night shining or noctilucent
    clouds are high-latitude summer apparitions formed at altitudes near
    the top of the mesophere, up to 80 kilometers or so, also known as
    polar mesopheric clouds. Auroral bands of the northern (and southern)
    lights caused by energetic particles exciting atoms in the thermosphere
    can extend above 80 kilometers to over 600 kilometers altitude. Taken
    from a cockpit while flying at an altitude of 10 kilometers (33,000
    feet) in the realm of stratospheric aeronautics, this snapshot captures
    both noctilucent clouds and aurora borealis under a starry sky, looking
    toward planet Earth's horizon and the edge of space.

    Tomorrow's picture: crescent father and son
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Mon Jul 26 00:05:12 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 July 26

    CG4: A Ruptured Cometary Globule
    Image Credit & Copyright: Nicolas Rolland & Martin Pugh

    Explanation: Can a gas cloud grab a galaxy? It's not even close. The
    "claw" of this odd looking "creature" in the featured photo is a gas
    cloud known as a cometary globule. This globule, however, has ruptured.
    Cometary globules are typically characterized by dusty heads and
    elongated tails. These features cause cometary globules to have visual
    similarities to comets, but in reality they are very much different.
    Globules are frequently the birthplaces of stars, and many show very
    young stars in their heads. The reason for the rupture in the head of
    this object is not yet known. The galaxy to the left of the globule is
    huge, very far in the distance, and only placed near CG4 by chance
    superposition.

    Tomorrow's picture: wisp of star death
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Fri Jul 30 00:25:26 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 July 30

    Mimas in Saturnlight
    Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA

    Explanation: Peering from the shadows, the Saturn-facing hemisphere of
    Mimas lies in near darkness alongside a dramatic sunlit crescent. The
    mosaic was captured near the Cassini spacecraft's final close approach
    on January 30, 2017. Cassini's camera was pointed in a nearly sunward
    direction only 45,000 kilometers from Mimas. The result is one of the
    highest resolution views of the icy, crater-pocked, 400 kilometer
    diameter moon. An enhanced version better reveals the Saturn-facing
    hemisphere of the synchronously rotating moon lit by sunlight reflected
    from Saturn itself. To see it, slide your cursor over the image (or
    follow this link). Other Cassini images of Mimas include the small
    moon's large and ominous Herschel Crater.

    Tomorrow's picture: remember when
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Sun Aug 1 00:05:34 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 August 1

    Pluto in Enhanced Color
    Image Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins Univ./APL, Southwest Research Inst.

    Explanation: Pluto is more colorful than we can see. Color data and
    high-resolution images of our Solar System's most famous dwarf planet,
    taken by the robotic New Horizons spacecraft during its flyby in 2015
    July, have been digitally combined to give an enhanced-color view of
    this ancient world sporting an unexpectedly young surface. The featured
    enhanced color image is not only esthetically pretty but scientifically
    useful, making surface regions of differing chemical composition
    visually distinct. For example, the light-colored heart-shaped Tombaugh
    Regio on the lower right is clearly shown here to be divisible into two
    regions that are geologically different, with the leftmost lobe Sputnik
    Planitia also appearing unusually smooth. After Pluto, New Horizons
    continued on, shooting past asteroid Arrokoth in 2019 and has enough
    speed to escape our Solar System completely.

    Pluto-Related Images with Brief Explanations: APOD Pluto Search
    Tomorrow's picture: deep galaxy sounds
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Thu Aug 5 01:05:40 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 August 5

    Tycho and Clavius
    Image Credit & Copyright: Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau

    Explanation: South is up in this detailed telescopic view across the
    Moon's rugged southern highlands. Captured on July 20, the lunar
    landscape features the Moon's young and old, the large craters Tycho
    and Clavius. About 100 million years young, Tycho is the sharp-walled
    85 kilometer diameter crater near center, its 2 kilometer tall central
    peak in bright sunlight and dark shadow. Debris ejected during the
    impact that created Tycho still make it the stand out lunar crater when
    the Moon is near full, producing a highly visible radiating system of
    light streaks, bright rays that extend across much of the lunar near
    side. In fact, some of the material collected at the Apollo 17 landing
    site, about 2,000 kilometers away, likely originated from the Tycho
    impact. One of the oldest and largest craters on the Moon's near side,
    225 kilometer diameter Clavius is due south (above) of Tycho. Clavius
    crater's own ray system resulting from its original impact event would
    have faded long ago. The old crater's worn walls and smooth floor are
    now overlayed by smaller craters from impacts that occurred after
    Clavius was formed. Observations by the Stratospheric Observatory for
    Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) published in 2020 found water at Clavius. Of
    course both young Tycho and old Clavius craters are lunar locations in
    the science fiction epic 2001: A Space Odyssey.

    Tomorrow's picture: stars and dust
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Fri Aug 6 00:16:48 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 August 6

    Stars and Dust Across Corona Australis
    Image Credit & Copyright: Vikas Chander

    Explanation: Cosmic dust clouds cross a rich field of stars in this
    telescopic vista near the northern boundary of Corona Australis, the
    Southern Crown. Less than 500 light-years away the dust clouds
    effectively block light from more distant background stars in the Milky
    Way. Top to bottom the frame spans about 2 degrees or over 15
    light-years at the clouds' estimated distance. At top right is a group
    of lovely reflection nebulae cataloged as NGC 6726, 6727, 6729, and IC
    4812. A characteristic blue color is produced as light from hot stars
    is reflected by the cosmic dust. The dust also obscures from view stars
    in the region still in the process of formation. Just above the bluish
    reflection nebulae a smaller NGC 6729 surrounds young variable star R
    Coronae Australis. To its right are telltale reddish arcs and loops
    identified as Herbig Haro objects associated with energetic newborn
    stars. Magnificent globular star cluster NGC 6723 is at bottom left in
    the frame. Though NGC 6723 appears to be part of the group, its ancient
    stars actually lie nearly 30,000 light-years away, far beyond the young
    stars of the Corona Australis dust clouds.

    Tomorrow's picture: Stereo Saturday
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Mon Aug 9 00:06:54 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 August 9

    Perseus and the Lost Meteors
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tomas Slovinsky (Slovakia) & Petr Horalek
    (Czech Republic; Institute of Physics in Opava)

    Explanation: What's the best way to watch a meteor shower? This
    question might come up later this week when the annual Perseid Meteor
    Shower peaks. One thing that is helpful is a dark sky, as demonstrated
    in the featured composite image of last year's Perseids. Many more
    faint meteors are visible on the left image, taken through a very dark
    sky in Slovakia, than on the right image, taken through a moderately
    dark sky in the Czech Republic. The band of the Milky Way Galaxy
    bridges the two coordinated images, while the meteor shower radiant in
    the constellation of Perseus is clearly visible on the left. In sum,
    many faint meteors are lost through a bright sky. Light pollution is
    shrinking areas across our Earth with dark skies, although inexpensive
    ways to combat this might be implemented.

    Notable Perseids Submissions to APOD: 2018, 2019, 2020
    Tomorrow's picture: fire in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Tue Aug 10 01:44:12 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 August 10

    Fire in Space
    Image Credit: NASA

    Explanation: What does fire look like in space? In the gravity on
    Earth, heated air rises and expands, causing flames to be teardrop
    shaped. In the microgravity of the air-filled International Space
    Station (ISS), however, flames are spheres. Fire is the rapid
    acquisition of oxygen, and space flames meet new oxygen molecules when
    they float by randomly from all directions -- creating the enveloping
    sphere. In the featured image taken in the ISS's Combustion Integration
    Rack, a spherical flame envelopes clusters of hot glowing soot. Without
    oxygen, say in the vacuum of empty space, a fire would go out
    immediately. The many chemical reactions involved with fire are
    complex, and testing them in microgravity is helping humanity not only
    to better understand fire -- but how to put out fire, too.

    Tomorrow's picture: bubble cloud row
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Wed Aug 11 00:14:56 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 August 11

    Mammatus Clouds over Saskatchewan
    Image Credit & Copyright: Michael F Johnston

    Explanation: When do cloud bottoms appear like bubbles? Normally, cloud
    bottoms are flat. This is because moist warm air that rises and cools
    will condense into water droplets at a specific temperature, which
    usually corresponds to a very specific height. As water droplets grow,
    an opaque cloud forms. Under some conditions, however, cloud pockets
    can develop that contain large droplets of water or ice that fall into
    clear air as they evaporate. Such pockets may occur in turbulent air
    near a thunderstorm. Resulting mammatus clouds can appear especially
    dramatic if sunlit from the side. The mammatus clouds pictured here,
    lasting only a few minutes, were photographed over Regina,
    Saskatchewan, Canada, just after a storm in 2012.

    Meteor Shower Tonight: Peak of the Perseids
    Tomorrow's picture: a beautiful trifid
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Fri Aug 13 00:41:20 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 August 13

    A Perfect Spiral
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Processing: Mehmet Hakan Ozsarac

    Explanation: If not perfect then this spiral galaxy is at least one of
    the most photogenic. An island universe of about 100 billion stars, 32
    million light-years away toward the constellation Pisces, M74 presents
    a gorgeous face-on view. Classified as an Sc galaxy, the grand design
    of M74's graceful spiral arms are traced by bright blue star clusters
    and dark cosmic dust lanes. This sharp composite was constructed from
    image data recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for
    Surveys. Spanning about 30,000 light-years across the face of M74, it
    includes exposures recording emission from hydrogen atoms, highlighting
    the reddish glow of the galaxy's large star-forming regions. With a
    lower surface brightness than most galaxies in the Messier catalog, M74
    is sometimes known as the Phantom Galaxy.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Sat Aug 14 01:02:54 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 August 14

    Island Universe, Cosmic Sand
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marzena Rogozinska

    Explanation: Stars in our own Milky Way Galaxy are scattered through
    this eye-catching field of view. From the early hours after midnight on
    August 13, the 30 second exposure of the night sky over Busko-Zdroj,
    Poland records the colorful and bright trail of a Perseid meteor. Seen
    near the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower it flashes from lower
    left to upper right. The hurtling grain of cosmic sand, a piece of dust
    from periodic comet Swift-Tuttle, vaporized as it passed through planet
    Earth's atmosphere at almost 60 kilometers per second. Just above and
    right of center, well beyond the stars of the Milky Way, lies the
    island universe known as M31 or the Andromeda Galaxy. The Andromeda
    Galaxy is the most distant object easily visible to the naked-eye,
    about 2.5 million light-years away. The visible meteor trail begins
    only about 100 kilometers above Earth's surface, though. It points back
    to the meteor shower radiant in the constellation Perseus off the lower
    left edge of the frame. Follow this bright perseid meteor trail below
    and left to the stars of NGC 869and NGC 884, the double star cluster in
    Perseus.

    Notable APOD Image Submissions: Perseid Meteor Shower 2021
    Tomorrow's picture: cosmic ring
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Mon Aug 16 00:30:16 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 August 16

    Perseid Meteor, Red Sprites, and Nova RS Ophiuchus
    Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel Korona

    Explanation: This was an unusual sky. It wasn't unusual because of the
    central band the Milky Way Galaxy, visible along the image left. Most
    dark skies show part of the Milky Way. It wasn't unusual because of the
    bright meteor visible on the upper right. Many images taken during last
    week's Perseid Meteor Shower show meteors, although this Perseid was
    particularly bright. This sky wasn't unusual because of the red
    sprites, visible on the lower right. Although this type of lightning
    has only been noted in the past few decades, images of sprites are
    becoming more common. This sky wasn't unusual because of the nova,
    visible just above the image center. Novas bright enough to be seen
    with the unaided eye occur every few years, with pictured Nova RS
    Ophiuchus discovered about a week ago. What was most unusual, though,
    was to capture all these things together, in a single night, on a
    single sky. The unusual sky occurred above Zacatecas, Mexico.

    Notable APOD Image Submissions: Perseid Meteor Shower 2021
    Tomorrow's picture: deep red sky ring
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Wed Aug 18 00:18:42 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 August 18

    Rings Around the Ring Nebula
    Image Credit: Hubble, Large Binocular Telescope, Subaru Telescope;
    Composition & Copyright: Robert Gendler

    Explanation: The Ring Nebula (M57), is more complicated than it appears
    through a small telescope. The easily visible central ring is about one
    light-year across, but this remarkably deep exposure - a collaborative
    effort combining data from three different large telescopes - explores
    the looping filaments of glowing gas extending much farther from the
    nebula's central star. This composite image includes red light emitted
    by hydrogen as well as visible and infrared light. The Ring Nebula is
    an elongated planetary nebula, a type of nebula created when a Sun-like
    star evolves to throw off its outer atmosphere to become a white dwarf
    star. The Ring Nebula is about 2,500 light-years away toward the
    musical constellation Lyra.

    Amateur Astronomers: Please take the Night Sky Network's Survey
    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space dust
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Fri Aug 20 00:41:46 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 August 20

    Three Perseid Nights
    Image Credit & Copyright: Balint Lengyel

    Explanation: Frames from a camera that spent three moonless nights
    under the stars create this composite night skyscape. They were
    recorded during August 11-13 while planet Earth was sweeping through
    the dusty trail of comet Swift-Tuttle. One long exposure, untracked for
    the foreground, and the many star tracking captures of Perseid shower
    meteors were taken from the village of Magyaregres, Hungary. Each
    aligned against the background stars, the meteor trails all point back
    to the annual shower's radiant in the constellation Perseus heroically
    standing above this rural horizon. Of course the comet dust particles
    are traveling along trajectories parallel to each other. The radiant
    effect is due only to perspective, as the parallel tracks appear to
    converge in the distance against the starry sky.

    Notable APOD Image Submissions: Perseid Meteor Shower 2021
    Tomorrow's picture: mutual events
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Mon Aug 23 08:18:56 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 August 23

    Abell 3827: Cannibal Cluster Gravitational Lens
    Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Massey

    Explanation: Is that one galaxy or three? Toward the right of the
    featured Hubble image of the massive galaxy cluster Abell 3827 is what
    appears to be a most unusual galaxy -- curved and with three centers. A
    detailed analysis, however, finds that these are three images of the
    same background galaxy -- and that there are at least four more images.
    Light we see from the single background blue galaxy takes multiple
    paths through the complex gravity of the cluster, just like a single
    distant light can take multiple paths through the stem of a wine glass.
    Studying how clusters like Abell 3827 and their component galaxies
    deflect distant light gives information about how mass and dark matter
    are distributed. Abell 3827 is so distant, having a redshift of 0.1,
    that the light we see from it left about 1.3 billion years ago --
    before dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Therefore, the cluster's central
    galaxies have now surely all coalesced -- in a feast of galactic
    cannibalism -- into one huge galaxy near the cluster's center.

    Tomorrow's picture: planet-forming space disk
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Tue Aug 24 00:06:56 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 August 24

    PDS 70: Disk, Planets, and Moons
    Image Credit: VLT/MUSE (ESO); M. Benisty et al.

    Explanation: It's not the big disk that's attracting the most
    attention. Although the big planet-forming disk around the star PDS 70
    is clearly imaged and itself quite interesting. It's also not the
    planet on the right, just inside the big disk, thatCÇÖs being talked
    about the most. Although the planet PDS 70c is a newly formed and,
    interestingly, similar in size and mass to Jupiter. It's the fuzzy
    patch around the planet PDS 70c that's causing the commotion. That
    fuzzy patch is thought to be itself a dusty disk that is now forming
    into moons -- and that has never been seen before. The featured image
    was taken by the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) of 66 radio
    telescopes in the high Atacama Desert of northern Chile. Based on ALMA
    data, astronomers infer that the moon-forming exoplanetary disk has a
    radius similar to our Earth's orbit, and may one day form three or so
    Luna-sized moons -- not very different from our Jupiter's four.

    Tomorrow's picture: Earth, Jupiter, or Uranus?
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Thu Aug 26 00:16:12 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 August 26

    A Blue Hour Full Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Giorgia Hofer

    Explanation: Nature photographers and other fans of planet Earth always
    look forward to the blue hour. That's the transition in twilight, just
    before sunrise or after sunset, when the Sun is below the horizon but
    land and sky are still suffused with a beautiful blue light. After
    sunset on August 21, this blue hour snapshot captured the nearly full
    Moon as it rose opposite the Sun, above the rugged Italian Alps from
    Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Sharing bluish hues with the sky, the rocky
    pyramid of Monte Antelao, also known as the King of the Dolomites, is
    the region's prominent alpine peak. The moonlight is yellow, but even
    so this full Moon was known to some as a seasonal Blue Moon. That's
    because by one definition the third full Moon of a season with four
    full moons in it is called a Blue Moon. Recognizing a season as the
    time between a solstice and an equinox, this season's fourth full Moon
    will be rising in the blue hour of September 20, just before
    September's equinox.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Sat Aug 28 00:13:00 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 August 28

    Mars Rock Rochette
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech

    Explanation: Taken on mission sol 180 (August 22) this sharp image from
    a Hazard Camera on the Perseverance rover looks out across a rock
    strewn floor of Jezero crater on Mars. At 52.5 centimeters (21 inches)
    in diameter, one of the rover's steerable front wheels is at lower left
    in the frame. Near center is a large rock nicknamed Rochette. Mission
    planners don't want to avoid Rochette though. Instead Perseverance will
    be instructed to reach out with its 2 meter long robotic arm and abrade
    the rock's surface, to determine whether it has a consistency suitable
    for obtaining a sample, slightly thicker than a pencil, using the
    rover's coring bit. Samples collected by Perseverance would be returned
    to Earth by a future Mars mission.

    Tomorrow's picture: large rocks in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Sun Aug 29 00:36:48 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 August 29

    Orbits of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech

    Explanation: Are asteroids dangerous? Some are, but the likelihood of a
    dangerous asteroid striking the Earth during any given year is low.
    Because some past mass extinction events have been linked to asteroid
    impacts, however, humanity has made it a priority to find and catalog
    those asteroids that may one day affect life on Earth. Pictured here
    are the orbits of the over 1,000 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids
    (PHAs). These documented tumbling boulders of rock and ice are over 140
    meters across and will pass within 7.5 million kilometers of Earth --
    about 20 times the distance to the Moon. Although none of them will
    strike the Earth in the next 100 years -- not all PHAs have been
    discovered, and past 100 years, many orbits become hard to predict.
    Were an asteroid of this size to impact the Earth, it could raise
    dangerous tsunamis, for example. To investigate Earth-saving
    strategies, NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is planned
    for launch later this year. Of course rocks and ice bits of much
    smaller size strike the Earth every day, usually pose no danger, and
    sometimes creating memorable fireball and meteor displays.

    Tomorrow's picture: ice sky fire
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Tue Aug 31 00:03:00 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 August 31

    A Blue Moon in Exaggerated Colors
    Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Fedez

    Explanation: The Moon is normally seen in subtle shades of grey or
    gold. But small, measurable color differences have been greatly
    exaggerated to make this telescopic, multicolored, moonscape captured
    during the Moon's full phase. The different colors are recognized to
    correspond to real differences in the chemical makeup of the lunar
    surface. Blue hues reveal titanium rich areas while orange and purple
    colors show regions relatively poor in titanium and iron. The familiar
    Sea of Tranquility, or Mare Tranquillitatis, is the blue area toward
    the upper right. White lines radiate across the orange-hued southern
    lunar highlands from 85-kilometer wide ray-crater Tycho at bottom
    right. The full moon that occurred earlier this month could be counted
    as a seasonal blue moon because it was, unusually, the third of four
    full moons to occur during northern summer (and hence southern winter).
    The featured 272-image composite demonstrates that the full Moon is
    always blue, but usually not blue enough in hue to ooh.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: galactic ghosts
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Wed Sep 1 00:14:54 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 September 1

    Dancing Ghosts: Curved Jets from Active Galaxies
    Image Credit: Jayanne English & Ray Norris, EMU-ASKAP, DES; Text:
    Jayanne English (U. Manitoba)

    Explanation: Why would galaxies emit jets that look like ghosts? And
    furthermore, why do they appear to be dancing? The curled and fluffy
    jets from the supermassive black holes at the centers of two host
    galaxies (top center and lower left) are unlike anything seen before.
    They were found by astronomers using the Australian Square Kilometer
    Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope when creating maps tracing the
    evolution of galaxies. Images preceding this Evolutionary Map of the
    Universe survey only showed amorphous blobs. Eventually, comparisons of
    relative amounts of energy emitted revealed the glowing elongated
    structures were created by electrons streaming around magnetic field
    lines
    . Overlaying the radio data on an optical view of the sky (Dark Energy
    Survey) confirmed that the electron streams originated from the centers
    of active galaxies. Usually such Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) produce
    straight jets. A leading hypothesis for the geometric origin of these
    unusually graceful shapes involves the flow of large-scale
    intergalactic winds.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 2,500+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: Messier's 51st
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Thu Sep 2 00:14:48 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 September 2

    M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Josep Drudis

    Explanation: Find the Big Dipper and follow the handle away from the
    dipper's bowl until you get to the last bright star. Then, just slide
    your telescope a little south and west and you'll come upon this
    stunning pair of interacting galaxies, the 51st entry in Charles
    Messier's famous catalog. Perhaps the original spiral nebula, the large
    galaxy with well defined spiral structure is also cataloged as NGC
    5194. Its spiral arms and dust lanes clearly sweep in front of its
    companion galaxy (top), NGC 5195. The pair are about 31 million
    light-years distant and officially lie within the angular boundaries of
    the small constellation Canes Venatici. Though M51 looks faint and
    fuzzy to the eye, deep images like this one reveal its striking colors
    and galactic tidal debris.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Sun Sep 5 00:29:42 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 September 5

    Earth and Moon
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL, Galileo Project; Processing & License: Gordan
    Ugarkovic

    Explanation: The Earth and Moon are rarely photographed together. One
    of most spectacular times this occurred was about 30 years ago when the
    Jupiter-bound Galileo spacecraft zoomed past our home planetary system.
    Then, robotic Galileo watched from about 15-times the Earth-Moon
    separation as our only natural satellite glided past our home world.
    The featured video combines 52 historic color-enhanced images. Although
    our Moon may appear small next to the Earth, no other planet in our
    Solar System has a satellite so comparable in size . The Sun, far off
    to the right, illuminated about half of each sphere, and shows the
    spinning Earth's white clouds, blue oceans, and tan continents.

    Tomorrow's picture: firefly milkyway
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Fri Sep 10 00:03:20 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 September 10

    Rosetta's Comet in View
    Image Credit & Copyright: Rolando Ligustri (CARA Project, CAST)

    Explanation: Faint comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) sweeps past
    background stars in the constellation Taurus and even fainter distant
    galaxies in this telescopic frame from September 7. About 5 years ago,
    this comet's 4 kilometer spanning, double-lobed nucleus became the
    final resting place of robots from planet Earth, following the
    completion of the historic Rosetta mission to the comet. After
    wandering out beyond the orbit of Jupiter, Churyumov-Gerasimenko is now
    returning along its 6.4 year periodic orbit toward its next perihelion
    or closest approach to the Sun, on November 2. On November 12, the
    comet's perigee, its closest approach to Earth, will bring it within
    about 0.42 astronomical units. Telescopes should still be required to
    view it even at its brightest, predicted to be in late November and
    December. On September 7 Rosetta's comet was about 0.65 astronomical
    units away or about 5.4 light-minutes from our fair planet.

    Tomorrow's picture: cloudy night
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Sun Sep 12 00:15:34 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 September 12

    A Spiral Aurora over Iceland
    Image Credit & Copyright: Davide Necchi

    Explanation: What's happened to the sky? Aurora! Captured in 2015, this
    aurora was noted by Icelanders for its great brightness and quick
    development. The aurora resulted from a solar storm, with high energy
    particles bursting out from the Sun and through a crack in Earth's
    protective magnetosphere a few days later. Although a spiral pattern
    can be discerned, creative humans might imagine the complex glow as an
    atmospheric apparition of any number of common icons. In the foreground
    of the featured image is the +ûlfus+í River while the lights illuminate a
    bridge in Selfoss City. Just beyond the low clouds is a nearly full
    Moon. The liveliness of the Sun -- and likely the resulting auroras on
    Earth -- is slowly increasing as the Sun emerges from a Solar minimum,
    a historically quiet period in its 11-year cycle.

    Tomorrow's picture: night sky reflected
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Tue Sep 14 00:06:12 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 September 14

    Mars Panorama 360 from Curiosity
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS; Processing & License: Elisabetta
    Bonora & Marco Faccin (aliveuniverse.today)

    Explanation: Which way up Mount Sharp? In early September, the robotic
    rover Curiosity continued its ascent up the central peak of Gale
    Crater, searching for more clues about ancient water and further
    evidence that Mars could once have been capable of supporting life. On
    this recent Martian morning, before exploratory drilling, the rolling
    rover took this 360-degree panorama, in part to help Curiosity's human
    team back on Earth access the landscape and chart possible future
    routes. In the horizontally-compressed featured image, an amazing vista
    across Mars was captured, complete with layered hills, red rocky
    ground, gray drifting sand, and a dusty atmosphere. The hill just left
    of center has been dubbed Maria Gordon Notch in honor of a famous
    Scottish geologist. The current plan is to direct Curiosity to
    approach, study, and pass just to the right of Gordon Notch on its
    exploratory trek.

    Tomorrow's picture: cyclone earth
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Thu Sep 16 00:12:12 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 September 16

    North America and the Pelican
    Image Credit & Copyright: Andrew Klinger

    Explanation: Fans of our fair planet might recognize the outlines of
    these cosmic clouds. On the left, bright emission outlined by dark,
    obscuring dust lanes seems to trace a continental shape, lending the
    popular name North America Nebula to the emission region cataloged as
    NGC 7000. To the right, just off the North America Nebula's east coast,
    is IC 5070, whose avian profile suggests the Pelican Nebula. The two
    bright nebulae are about 1,500 light-years away, part of the same large
    and complex star forming region, almost as nearby as the better-known
    Orion Nebula. At that distance, the 3 degree wide field of view would
    span 80 light-years. This careful cosmic portrait uses narrow band
    images combined to highlight the bright ionization fronts and the
    characteristic glow from atomic hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen gas. These
    nebulae can be seen with binoculars from a dark location. Look
    northeast of bright star Deneb in the constellation Cygnus the Swan.

    Tomorrow's picture: Lynds Dark Nebula
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Sat Sep 18 00:16:02 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 September 18

    Rubin's Galaxy
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, B. Holwerda (University of Louisville)

    Explanation: In this Hubble Space Telescope image the bright, spiky
    stars lie in the foreground toward the heroic northern constellation
    Perseus and well within our own Milky Way galaxy. In sharp focus beyond
    is UGC 2885, a giant spiral galaxy about 232 million light-years
    distant. Some 800,000 light-years across compared to the Milky Way's
    diameter of 100,000 light-years or so, it has around 1 trillion stars.
    That's about 10 times as many stars as the Milky Way. Part of an
    investigation to understand how galaxies can grow to such enormous
    sizes, UGC 2885 was also part of An Interesting Voyage and astronomer
    Vera Rubin's pioneering study of the rotation of spiral galaxies. Her
    work was the first to convincingly demonstrate the dominating presence
    of dark matter in our universe.

    Tomorrow's picture: equinox on Saturn
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Sun Sep 19 00:19:16 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 September 19

    Rings and Seasons of Saturn
    Image Credit & Copyright: Damian Peach/SEN

    Explanation: On Saturn, the rings tell you the season. On Earth,
    Wednesday marks an equinox, the time when the Earth's equator tilts
    directly toward the Sun. Since Saturn's grand rings orbit along the
    planet's equator, these rings appear most prominent -- from the
    direction of the Sun -- when the spin axis of Saturn points toward the
    Sun. Conversely, when Saturn's spin axis points to the side, an equinox
    occurs and the edge-on rings are hard to see from not only the Sun --
    but Earth. In the featured montage, images of Saturn between the years
    of 2004 and 2015 have been superposed to show the giant planet passing
    from southern summer toward northern summer. Saturn was as close as it
    can get to planet Earth last month, and this month the ringed giant is
    still bright and visible throughout much of the night

    Tomorrow's picture: dark nebula 1251
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.3 to All on Mon Sep 20 00:20:58 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 September 20

    Lynds Dark Nebula 1251
    Image Credit & Copyright: Cristiano Gualco

    Explanation: Stars are forming in Lynds Dark Nebula (LDN) 1251. About
    1,000 light-years away and drifting above the plane of our Milky Way
    galaxy, the dusty molecular cloud is part of a complex of dark nebulae
    mapped toward the Cepheus flare region. Across the spectrum,
    astronomical explorations of the obscuring interstellar clouds reveal
    energetic shocks and outflows associated with newborn stars, including
    the telltale reddish glow from scattered Herbig-Haro objects hiding in
    the image. Distant background galaxies also lurk on the scene, almost
    buried behind the dusty expanse. This alluring view spans over two full
    moons on the sky, or 17 light-years at the estimated distance of LDN
    1251.

    Tomorrow's picture: sun spot hill
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Sep 27 00:31:08 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 September 27

    Unwrapped: Five Decade Old Lunar Selfie
    Image Credit: NASA, Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong; Processing: Michael
    Ranger

    Explanation: Here is one of the most famous pictures from the Moon --
    but digitally reversed. Apollo 11 landed on the moon in 1969 and soon
    thereafter many pictures were taken, including an iconic picture of
    Buzz Aldrin taken by Neil Armstrong. The original image captured not
    only the magnificent desolation of an unfamiliar world, but Armstrong
    himself reflected in Aldrin's curved visor. Enter modern digital
    technology. In the featured image, the spherical distortion from
    Aldrin's helmet has been reversed. The result is the famous picture --
    but now featuring Armstrong himself from Aldrin's perspective. Even so,
    since Armstrong took the picture, the image is effectively a
    five-decade old lunar selfie. The original visor reflection is shown on
    the left, while Earth hangs in the lunar sky on the upper right. A
    foil-wrapped leg of the Eagle lander is prominently visible.
    Preparations to return humans to the Moon in the next few years include
    the Artemis program, an international collaboration led by NASA.

    Tomorrow's picture: time-lapse meteor shower
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Sep 28 00:07:24 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 September 28

    Night of the Perseids
    Video Credit & Copyright: Vikas Chander & Dorje Angchuk; Music: Tea
    Time via PremiumBeat

    Explanation: Have you ever experienced a meteor shower? To help capture
    the wonder, a video was taken during the peak of the recent Perseid
    meteor shower above the Indian Astronomical Observatory in Hanle,
    India, high up in the Himalayan mountains. Night descends as the video
    begins, with the central plane of our Milky Way Galaxy approaching from
    the left and Earth-orbiting satellites zipping by overhead. During the
    night, the flash of meteors that usually takes less than a second is
    artificially extended. The green glow of most meteors is typically
    caused by vaporizing nickel. As the video continues, Orion rises and
    meteors flare above the 2-meter Himalayan Chandra Telescope and the
    seven barrels of the High Energy Gamma Ray Telescope (Hagar). The 2
    minute 30 second movie ends with the Sun rising, preceded by a false
    dawn of zodiacal light.

    Tomorrow's picture: jet lightning video
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Sep 29 00:07:10 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 September 29

    Gigantic Jet Lightning from Puerto Rico
    Video Credit & Copyright: Frankie Lucena

    Explanation: Have you ever seen a gigantic jet? They are extremely rare
    but tremendously powerful. Gigantic jets are a type of lightning
    discharge documented only this century that occur between some
    thunderstorms and the Earth's ionosphere high above them. Pictured
    above is the middle and top of one such jet caught last week by a
    lightning and meteor camera from Puerto Rico, USA. The jet traversed
    perhaps 70 kilometers in just under one second. Gigantic jets are much
    different from regular cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning.
    The bottoms of gigantic jets appear similar in appearance to another
    type cloud-to-above strike called blue jets, while the tops appear
    similar to upper-atmosphere red sprites. Although the mechanism and
    trigger that causes gigantic jets is a topic of research, it is clear
    that the jets reduce charge imbalance between different parts of
    Earth's atmosphere. A good way to look for gigantic jets is to watch a
    powerful but distant thunderstorm from a clear location.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


    --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Sep 30 00:31:52 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 September 30

    The Hydrogen Clouds of M33
    Image Credit & Copyright: Luca Fornaciari

    Explanation: Gorgeous spiral galaxy M33 seems to have more than its
    fair share of glowing hydrogen gas. A prominent member of the local
    group of galaxies, M33 is also known as the Triangulum Galaxy and lies
    a mere 3 million light-years away. Sprawling along loose spiral arms
    that wind toward the core, M33's giant HII regions are some of the
    largest known stellar nurseries, sites of the formation of short-lived
    but very massive stars. Intense ultraviolet radiation from the luminous
    massive stars ionizes the surrounding hydrogen gas and ultimately
    produces the characteristic red glow. To highlight the HII regions in
    this telescopic image, broadband data used to produce a color view of
    the galaxy were combined with narrowband data recorded through a
    hydrogen-alpha filter, transmitting the light of the strongest hydrogen
    emission line. Close-ups of cataloged HII regions appear in the sidebar
    insets. Use the individual reference number to find their location
    within the Triangulum Galaxy. For example, giant HII region NGC604 is
    identified in an inset on the right and appears at position number 15.
    That's about 4 o'clock from galaxy center in this portrait of M33.

    Tomorrow's picture: ceci n'est pas une pipe
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.


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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.4 to All on Wed Oct 13 00:23:00 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 October 13

    NGC 7822: Cosmic Question Mark
    Image Credit & Copyright: Yizhou Zhang

    Explanation: It may look like a huge cosmic question mark, but the big
    question really is how does the bright gas and dark dust tell this
    nebula's history of star formation. At the edge of a giant molecular
    cloud toward the northern constellation Cepheus, the glowing star
    forming region NGC 7822 lies about 3,000 light-years away. Within the
    nebula, bright edges and dark shapes stand out in this colorful and
    detailed skyscape. The 9-panel mosaic, taken over 28 nights with a
    small telescope in Texas, includes data from narrowband filters,
    mapping emission from atomic oxygen, hydrogen, and sulfur into blue,
    green, and red hues. The emission line and color combination has become
    well-known as the Hubble palette. The atomic emission is powered by
    energetic radiation from the central hot stars. Their powerful winds
    and radiation sculpt and erode the denser pillar shapes and clear out a
    characteristic cavity light-years across the center of the natal cloud.
    Stars could still be forming inside the pillars by gravitational
    collapse but as the pillars are eroded away, any forming stars will
    ultimately be cut off from their reservoir of star stuff. This field of
    view spans over 40 light-years across at the estimated distance of NGC
    7822.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.




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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.4 to All on Thu Oct 14 00:18:24 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 October 14

    NGC 7293: The Helix Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ignacio Diaz Bobillo

    Explanation: A mere seven hundred light years from Earth, toward the
    constellation Aquarius, a sun-like star is dying. Its last few thousand
    years have produced the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293), a well studied and
    nearby example of a Planetary Nebula, typical of this final phase of
    stellar evolution. A total of 90 hours of exposure time have gone in to
    creating this expansive view of the nebula. Combining narrow band image
    data from emission lines of hydrogen atoms in red and oxygen atoms in
    blue-green hues, it shows remarkable details of the Helix's brighter
    inner region about 3 light-years across. The white dot at the Helix's
    center is this Planetary Nebula's hot, central star. A simple looking
    nebula at first glance, the Helix is now understood to have a
    surprisingly complex geometry.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.




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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.4 to All on Sat Oct 16 00:17:24 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 October 16

    The Moona Lisa
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gianni Sarcone and Marcella Giulia Pace

    Explanation: Only natural colors of the Moon in planet Earth's sky
    appear in this creative visual presentation. Arranged as pixels in a
    framed image, the lunar disks were photographed at different times.
    Their varying hues are ultimately due to reflected sunlight affected by
    changing atmospheric conditions and the alignment geometry of Moon,
    Earth, and Sun. Here, the darkest lunar disks are the colors of
    earthshine. A description of earthshine, in terms of sunlight reflected
    by Earth's oceans illuminating the Moon's dark surface, was written
    over 500 years ago by Leonardo da Vinci. But stand farther back from
    your monitor or just shift your gaze to the smaller versions of the
    image. You might also see one of da Vinci's most famous works of art.

    Tonight: International Observe the Moon Night
    Tomorrow's picture: looking through gravity's lens
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.




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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.4 to All on Mon Oct 18 07:34:54 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 October 18

    Earthshine Moon over Sicily
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dario Giannobile

    Explanation: Why can we see the entire face of this Moon? When the Moon
    is in a crescent phase, only part of it appears directly illuminated by
    the Sun. The answer is earthshine, also known as earthlight and the da
    Vinci glow. The reason is that the rest of the Earth-facing Moon is
    slightly illuminated by sunlight first reflected from the Earth. Since
    the Earth appears near full phase from the Moon -- when the Moon
    appears as a slight crescent from the Earth -- earthshine is then near
    its brightest. Featured here in combined, consecutively-taken, HDR
    images taken earlier this month, a rising earthshine Moon was captured
    passing slowly near the planet Venus, the brightest spot near the image
    center. Just above Venus is the star Dschubba (catalogued as Delta
    Scorpii), while the red star on the far left is Antares. The celestial
    show is visible through scenic cloud decks. In the foreground are the
    lights from Palazzolo Acreide, a city with ancient historical roots in
    Sicily, Italy.

    Tomorrow's picture: colorful star cluster
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.




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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.4 to All on Thu Oct 21 00:32:50 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 October 21

    SH2-308: The Dolphin-Head Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Nik Szymanek

    Explanation: Blown by fast winds from a hot, massive star, this cosmic
    bubble is huge. Cataloged as Sharpless 2-308 it lies some 5,000
    light-years away toward the constellation of the Big Dog (Canis Major)
    and covers slightly more of the sky than a Full Moon. That corresponds
    to a diameter of 60 light-years at its estimated distance. The massive
    star that created the bubble, a Wolf-Rayet star, is the bright one near
    the center of the nebula. Wolf-Rayet stars have over 20 times the mass
    of the Sun and are thought to be in a brief, pre-supernova phase of
    massive star evolution. Fast winds from this Wolf-Rayet star create the
    bubble-shaped nebula as they sweep up slower moving material from an
    earlier phase of evolution. The windblown nebula has an age of about
    70,000 years. Relatively faint emission captured by narrowband filters
    in the deep image is dominated by the glow of ionized oxygen atoms
    mapped to a blue hue. Presenting a mostly harmless outline, SH2-308 is
    also known as The Dolphin-head Nebula.

    Tomorrow's picture: it's a comet
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.4 to All on Fri Oct 22 00:29:06 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 October 22

    A Comet and a Crab
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jose Mtanous

    Explanation: This pretty field of view spans over 2 degrees or 4 full
    moons on the sky, filled with stars toward the constellation Taurus,
    the Bull. Above and right of center in the frame you can spot the faint
    fuzzy reddish appearance of Messier 1 (M1), also known as the Crab
    Nebula. M1 is the first object in 18th century comet hunter Charles
    Messier's famous catalog of things which are definitely not comets.
    Made from image data captured this October 11, there is a comet in the
    picture though. Below center and left lies the faint greenish coma and
    dusty tail of periodic comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko, also known as
    Rosetta's comet. In the 21st century, it became the final resting place
    of robots from planet Earth. Rosetta's comet is now returning to the
    inner solar system, sweeping toward its next perihelion or closest
    approach to the Sun, on November 2. Too faint to be seen by eye alone,
    the comet's next perigee or closest approach to Earth will be November
    12.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.4 to All on Sat Oct 23 01:04:20 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 October 23

    3D Bennu
    Image Credit: NASA, GSFC, U. Arizona - Stereo Image Copyright: Patrick
    Vantuyne

    Explanation: Put on your red/blue glasses and float next to asteroid
    101955 Bennu. Shaped like a spinning toy top with boulders littering
    its rough surface, the tiny Solar System world is about one Empire
    State Building (less than 500 meters) across. Frames used to construct
    this 3D anaglyph were taken by PolyCam on the OSIRIS_REx spacecraft on
    December 3, 2018 from a distance of about 80 kilometers. With a sample
    from the asteroid's rocky surface on board, OSIRIS_REx departed Bennu's
    vicinity this May and is now enroute to planet Earth. The robotic
    spacecraft is scheduled to return the sample to Earth in September
    2023.

    Tomorrow's picture: a cross-quarter day
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.4 to All on Sun Oct 24 00:07:36 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 October 24

    Halloween and the Ghost Head Nebula
    Image Credit: Mohammad Heydari-Malayeri (Observatoire de Paris) et al.,
    ESA, NASA

    Explanation: Halloween's origin is ancient and astronomical. Since the
    fifth century BC, Halloween has been celebrated as a cross-quarter day,
    a day halfway between an equinox (equal day / equal night) and a
    solstice (minimum day / maximum night in the northern hemisphere). With
    a modern calendar however, even though Halloween occurs next week, the
    real cross-quarter day will occur the week after. Another cross-quarter
    day is Groundhog Day. Halloween's modern celebration retains historic
    roots in dressing to scare away the spirits of the dead. Perhaps a
    fitting tribute to this ancient holiday is this view of the Ghost Head
    Nebula taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. Similar to the icon of a
    fictional ghost, NGC 2080 is actually a star forming region in the
    Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way Galaxy.
    The Ghost Head Nebula (NGC 2080) spans about 50 light-years and is
    shown in representative colors.

    Tomorrow's picture: highway to hole
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.4 to All on Thu Oct 28 00:08:24 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 October 28

    Mirach's Ghost
    Image Credit & Copyright: John Chumack

    Explanation: As far as ghosts go, Mirach's Ghost isn't really that
    scary. Mirach's Ghost is just a faint, fuzzy galaxy, well known to
    astronomers, that happens to be seen nearly along the line-of-sight to
    Mirach, a bright star. Centered in this star field, Mirach is also
    called Beta Andromedae. About 200 light-years distant, Mirach is a red
    giant star, cooler than the Sun but much larger and so intrinsically
    much brighter than our parent star. In most telescopic views, glare and
    diffraction spikes tend to hide things that lie near Mirach and make
    the faint, fuzzy galaxy look like a ghostly internal reflection of the
    almost overwhelming starlight. Still, appearing in this sharp image
    just above and to the right of Mirach, Mirach's Ghost is cataloged as
    galaxy NGC 404 and is estimated to be some 10 million light-years away.

    Tomorrow's picture: just the dust
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.4 to All on Fri Oct 29 00:17:00 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 October 29

    Haunting the Cepheus Flare
    Image Credit & Copyright: Leo Shatz

    Explanation: Spooky shapes seem to haunt this dusty expanse, drifting
    through the night in the royal constellation Cepheus. Of course, the
    shapes are cosmic dust clouds visible in dimly reflected starlight. Far
    from your own neighborhood, they lurk above the plane of the Milky Way
    at the edge of the Cepheus Flare molecular cloud complex some 1,200
    light-years away. Over 2 light-years across and brighter than most of
    the other ghostly apparitions, vdB 141 or Sh2-136 is also known as the
    Ghost Nebula, seen at the right of the starry field of view. Inside the
    nebula are the telltale signs of dense cores collapsing in the early
    stages of star formation. With the eerie hue of dust reflecting bluish
    light from hot young stars of NGC 7023, the Iris Nebula stands out
    against the dark just left of center. In the broad telescopic frame,
    these fertile interstellar dust fields stretch almost seven full moons
    across the sky.

    Tomorrow's picture: of light and shadow
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757.4 to All on Sat Oct 30 00:06:44 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 October 30
    See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
    resolution version available.

    A Rorschach Aurora
    Image Credit & Copyright: Göran Strand

    Explanation: If you see this as a monster's face, don't panic. It's
    only pareidolia, often experienced as the tendency to see faces in
    patterns of light and shadow. In fact, the startling visual scene is
    actually a 180 degree panorama of Northern Lights, digitally mirrored
    like inkblots on a folded piece of paper. Frames used to construct it
    were captured on a September night from the middle of a
    waterfall-crossing suspension bridge in Jamtland, Sweden. With
    geomagnetic storms triggered by recent solar activity, auroral displays
    could be very active at planet Earth's high latitudes in the coming
    days. But if you see a monster's face in your own neighborhood tomorrow
    night, it might just be Halloween.

    Tomorrow's picture: The Dark Matter of Halloween
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Nov 4 03:08:02 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 November 4

    NGC 147 and NGC 185
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

    Explanation: Dwarf galaxies NGC 147 (left) and NGC 185 stand side by
    side in this sharp telescopic portrait. The two are not-often-imaged
    satellites of M31, the great spiral Andromeda Galaxy, some 2.5 million
    light-years away. Their separation on the sky, less than one degree
    across a pretty field of view, translates to only about 35 thousand
    light-years at Andromeda's distance, but Andromeda itself is found well
    outside this frame. Brighter and more famous satellite galaxies of
    Andromeda, M32 and M110, are seen closer to the great spiral. NGC 147
    and NGC 185 have been identified as binary galaxies, forming a
    gravitationally stable binary system. But recently discovered faint
    dwarf galaxy Cassiopeia II also seems to be part of their system,
    forming a gravitationally bound group within Andromeda's intriguing
    population of small satellite galaxies.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Nov 6 00:12:44 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 November 6

    The Galaxy Between Two Friends
    Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Lefranc

    Explanation: On an August night two friends enjoyed this view after a
    day's hike on the Plateau d'Emparis in the French Alps. At 2400 meters
    altitude the sky was clear. Light from a setting moon illuminates the
    foreground captured in the simple vertical panorama of images. Along
    the plane of our Milky Way galaxy stars of Cassiopeia and Perseus shine
    along the panorama's left edge. But seen as a faint cloud with a
    brighter core, the Andromeda galaxy, stands directly above the two
    friends in the night. The nearest large spiral galaxy, Andromeda is
    about 2.5 million light-years beyond the stars of the Milky Way. Adding
    to the evening's shared extragalactic perspective, the fainter fuzzy
    spot in the sky right between them is M33, also known as the Triangulum
    galaxy. Third largest in the local galaxy group, after Andromeda and
    Milky Way, the Triangulum galaxy is about 3 million light-years
    distant. On that night, the two friends stood about 3 light-nanoseconds
    apart.

    Tomorrow's picture: cosmic spirograph
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Nov 7 00:43:06 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation w
    ritten by a professional astronomer.

    2021 November 7

    The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical and X-ray
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive; Chandra X-ray Obs.;
    Processing & Copyright: Rudy Pohl

    Explanation: To some it looks like a cat's eye. To others, perhaps like
    a giant cosmic conch shell. It is actually one of brightest and most
    highly detailed planetary nebula known, composed of gas expelled in the
    brief yet glorious phase near the end of life of a Sun-like star. This
    nebula's dying central star may have produced the outer circular
    concentric shells by shrugging off outer layers in a series of regular
    convulsions. The formation of the beautiful, complex-yet-symmetric
    inner structures, however, is not well understood. The featured image
    is a composite of a digitally sharpened Hubble Space Telescope image
    with X-ray light captured by the orbiting Chandra Observatory. The
    exquisite floating space statue spans over half a light-year across. Of
    course, gazing into this Cat's Eye, humanity may well be seeing the
    fate of our sun, destined to enter its own planetary nebula phase of
    evolution ... in about 5 billion years.

    APOD in world languages: Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Beijing),
    Chinese (Taiwan), Croatian, Czech, Dutch, French,
    French (Canada), German, Hebrew, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean,
    Montenegrin, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovenian, Spanish, Taiwanese,
    Turkish, Turkish, and Ukrainian
    Tomorrow's picture: sun jumper
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Nov 8 00:30:20 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation w
    ritten by a professional astronomer.

    2021 November 8

    A Filament Leaps from the Sun
    Video Credit & Copyright: Stéphane Poirier

    Explanation: Why, sometimes, does part of the Sun's atmosphere leap
    into space? The reason lies in changing magnetic fields that thread
    through the Sun's surface. Regions of strong surface magnetism, known
    as active regions, are usually marked by dark sunspots. Active regions
    can channel charged gas along arching or sweeping magnetic fields --
    gas that sometimes falls back, sometimes escapes, and sometimes not
    only escapes but impacts our Earth. The featured one-hour time-lapse
    video -- taken with a small telescope in France -- captured an eruptive
    filament that appeared to leap off the Sun late last month. The
    filament is huge: for comparison, the size of the Earth is shown on the
    upper left. Just after the filament lifted off, the Sun emitted a
    powerful X-class flare while the surface rumbled with a tremendous
    solar tsunami. A result was a cloud of charged particles that rushed
    into our Solar System but mostly missed our Earth -- this time.
    However, enough solar plasma did impact our Earth's magnetosphere to
    create a few faint auroras.

    Tomorrow's picture: fake apods
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Nov 9 00:32:42 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation w
    ritten by a professional astronomer.

    2021 November 9

    All of These Space Images are Fake Except One
    Image Credit: M. J. Smith et al. (U. Hertfordshire)

    Explanation: Why would you want to fake a universe? For one reason --
    to better understand our real universe. Many astronomical projects
    seeking to learn properties of our universe now start with a robotic
    telescope taking sequential images of the night sky. Next,
    sophisticated computer algorithms crunch these digital images to find
    stars and galaxies and measure their properties. To calibrate these
    algorithms, it is useful to test them on fake images from a fake
    universe to see if the algorithms can correctly deduce purposely
    imprinted properties. The featured mosaic of fake images was created to
    specifically mimic the images that have appeared on NASA's Astronomy
    Picture of the Day (APOD). Only one image of the 225 images is real --
    can you find it? The accomplished deceptors have made available
    individual fake APOD images that can be displayed by accessing their
    ThisIsNotAnAPOD webpage or Twitter feed. More useful for calibrating
    and understanding our distant universe, however, are fake galaxies -- a
    sampling of which can be seen at their ThisIsNotAGalaxy webpage.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 2,600+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: gone in a flash
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Nov 10 00:14:54 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation w
    ritten by a professional astronomer.

    2021 November 10

    Video of a Green Flash
    Video Credit & Copyright: Paolo Lazzarotti

    Explanation: Many think it is just a myth. Others think it is true but
    its cause isn't known. Adventurers pride themselves on having seen it.
    It's a green flash from the Sun. The truth is the green flash does
    exist and its cause is well understood. Just as the setting Sun
    disappears completely from view, a last glimmer appears startlingly
    green. The effect is typically visible only from locations with a low,
    distant horizon, and lasts just a few seconds. A green flash is also
    visible for a rising Sun, but takes better timing to spot. A dramatic
    green flash was caught on video last month as the Sun set beyond the
    Ligurian Sea from Tuscany, Italy. The second sequence in the featured
    video shows the green flash in real time, while the first is sped up
    and the last is in slow motion. The Sun itself does not turn partly
    green -- the effect is caused by layers of the Earth's atmosphere
    acting like a prism.

    Discovery + Outreach: Graduate student research position open for APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: 67P
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Nov 11 00:37:12 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 November 11

    NGC 1333: Stellar Nursery in Perseus
    Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Sherick

    Explanation: NGC 1333 is seen in visible light as a reflection nebula,
    dominated by bluish hues characteristic of starlight reflected by
    interstellar dust. A mere 1,000 light-years distant toward the heroic
    constellation Perseus, it lies at the edge of a large, star-forming
    molecular cloud. This telescopic close-up spans about two full moons on
    the sky or just over 15 light-years at the estimated distance of NGC
    1333. It shows details of the dusty region along with telltale hints of
    contrasty red emission from Herbig-Haro objects, jets and shocked
    glowing gas emanating from recently formed stars. In fact, NGC 1333
    contains hundreds of stars less than a million years old, most still
    hidden from optical telescopes by the pervasive stardust. The chaotic
    environment may be similar to one in which our own Sun formed over 4.5
    billion years ago.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Nov 14 00:33:26 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation w
    ritten by a professional astronomer.

    2021 November 14

    How to Identify that Light in the Sky
    Illustration Credit & Copyright: HK (The League of Lost Causes)

    Explanation: What is that light in the sky? Perhaps one of humanity's
    more common questions, an answer may result from a few quick
    observations. For example -- is it moving or blinking? If so, and if
    you live near a city, the answer is typically an airplane, since planes
    are so numerous and so few stars and satellites are bright enough to be
    seen over the din of artificial city lights. If not, and if you live
    far from a city, that bright light is likely a planet such as Venus or
    Mars -- the former of which is constrained to appear near the horizon
    just before dawn or after dusk. Sometimes the low apparent motion of a
    distant airplane near the horizon makes it hard to tell from a bright
    planet, but even this can usually be discerned by the plane's motion
    over a few minutes. Still unsure? The featured chart gives a
    sometimes-humorous but mostly-accurate assessment. Dedicated sky
    enthusiasts will likely note -- and are encouraged to provide -- polite
    corrections.

    Chart translations: Spanish, Italian, Polish, Kannada, Latvian,
    Norwegian, and Turkish
    Tomorrow's picture: volcanic light pillar
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Nov 17 00:27:42 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 November 17

    NGC 3314: When Galaxies Overlap
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Copyright: William
    Ostling (The Astronomy Enthusiast)

    Explanation: Why doesn't the nearby galaxy create a gravitational
    lensing effect on the background galaxy? It does, but since both
    galaxies are so nearby, the angular shift is much smaller than the
    angular sizes of the galaxies themselves. The featured Hubble image of
    NGC 3314 shows two large spiral galaxies which happen to line up
    exactly. The foreground spiral NGC 3314a appears nearly face-on with
    its pinwheel shape defined by young bright star clusters. Against the
    glow of the background galaxy NGC 3314b, though, dark swirling lanes of
    interstellar dust can also be seen tracing the nearer spiral's
    structure. Both galaxies appear on the edge of the Hydra Cluster of
    Galaxies, a cluster that is about 200 million light years away.
    Gravitational lens distortions are much easier to see when the lensing
    galaxy is smaller and further away. Then, the background galaxy may
    even be distorted into a ring around the nearer. Fast gravitational
    lens flashes due to stars in the foreground galaxy momentarily
    magnifying the light from stars in the background galaxy might one day
    be visible in future observing campaigns with high-resolution
    telescopes.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Nov 19 00:18:58 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 November 19

    NGC 281: Starless with Stars
    Image Credit & Copyright: Wido Oerlemans - X-ray: Chandra, Infrared:
    Spitzer

    Explanation: In visible light the stars have been removed from this
    narrow-band image of NGC 281, a star forming region some 10,000
    light-years away toward the constellation Cassiopeia. Stars were
    digitally added back to the resulting starless image though. But
    instead of using visible light image data, the stars were added with
    X-ray data (in purple) from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and infrared
    data (in red) from the Spitzer Space Telescope. The merged
    multiwavelength view reveals a multitude of stars in the region's
    embedded star cluster IC 1590. The young stars are normally hidden in
    visible light images by the natal cloud's gas and obscuring dust. Also
    known to backyard astro-imagers as the Pacman Nebula for its overall
    appearance in visible light, NGC 281 is about 80 light-years across.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Nov 21 00:17:48 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 November 21

    Introducing Comet Leonard
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

    Explanation: Here comes Comet Leonard. Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) was
    discovered as a faint smudge in January 2021 when it was out past Mars
    -- but its orbit will take the giant shedding ice-ball into the inner
    Solar System, passing near both Earth and Venus in December before it
    swoops around the Sun in early January 2022. Although comets are
    notoriously hard to predict, some estimations have Comet Leonard
    brightening to become visible to the unaided eye in December. Comet
    Leonard was captured just over a week ago already sporting a
    green-tinged coma and an extended dust tail. The featured picture was
    composed from 62 images taken through a moderate-sized telescope -- one
    set of exposures tracking the comet, while another set tracking the
    background stars. The exposures were taken from the dark skies above
    the Eastern Sierra Mountains, near June Lake in California, USA. Soon
    after passing near the Earth in mid-December, the comet will shift from
    northern to southern skies.

    APOD Editor (RJN) Online Monday: NASA's Best Space Images (& Videos)
    Tomorrow's picture: moon building
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Nov 22 00:46:52 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 November 22

    Lunar Eclipse over a Skyscraper
    Image Credit & Copyright: Yuri Beletsky (Carnegie Las Campanas
    Observatory, TWAN)

    Explanation: Why is the Moon on top of this building? Planning. It took
    the astrophotographer careful planning -- including figuring out
    exactly where to place the camera and exactly when to take the shot --
    to create this striking superposition. The single image featured was
    taken in the early morning hours of November 19, near the peak of the
    partial lunar eclipse that was occurring as the Moon passed through the
    Earth's shadow. At this time, almost the entire Moon -- 99.1 percent of
    its area -- was in the darkest part of the Earth's shadow. The building
    is the Gran Torre Santiago building in Chile, the tallest building in
    South America. Although the entire eclipse lasted an impressive six
    hours, this image had to be taken within just a few seconds to get the
    alignment right -- the Earth's rotation soon moved the building out of
    alignment. The next Earth-Moon eclipse will be a total eclipse of the
    Sun that will occur on December 4 -- but only be visible from the
    bottom of our world.

    APOD Editor (RJN) Online Monday: NASA's Best Space Images (& Videos)
    Notable APOD Submissions: Lunar Eclipse of 2021 November 19
    Tomorrow's picture: X-raying the Sun
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Nov 26 00:29:54 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 November 26

    Great Refractor and Lunar Eclipse
    Image Credit & Copyright: Laurie Hatch

    Explanation: Rain clouds passed and the dome of the Lick Observatory's
    36 inch Great Refractor opened on November 19. The historic telescope
    was pointed toward a partially eclipsed Moon. Illuminated by dim red
    lighting to preserve an astronomer's night vision, telescope controls,
    coordinate dials, and the refractor's 57 foot long barrel were captured
    in this high dynamic range image. Visible beyond the foreshortened
    barrel and dome slit, growing brighter after its almost total eclipse
    phase, the lunar disk created a colorful halo through lingering clouds.
    From the open dome, the view of the clearing sky above includes the
    Pleiades star cluster about 5 degrees from Moon and Earth's shadow.

    Notable APOD Submissions: Lunar Eclipse of 2021 November 19
    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Nov 28 00:15:52 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 November 28

    A High Cliff on Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko
    Image Credit & Licence: ESA, Rosetta spacecraft, NAVCAM; Additional
    Processing: Stuart Atkinson

    Explanation: This high cliff occurs not on a planet, not on a moon, but
    on a comet. It was discovered to be part of the dark nucleus of Comet
    Churyumov-Gerasimenko (CG) by Rosetta, a robotic spacecraft launched by
    ESA that rendezvoused with the Sun-orbiting comet in 2014. The ragged
    cliff, as featured here, was imaged by Rosetta in 2014. Although
    towering about one kilometer high, the low surface gravity of Comet CG
    would likely make it an accessible climb -- and even a jump from the
    cliff survivable. At the foot of the cliff is relatively smooth terrain
    dotted with boulders as large as 20 meters across. Data from Rosetta
    indicates that the ice in Comet CG has a significantly different
    deuterium fraction -- and hence likely a different origin -- than the
    water in Earth's oceans. Rosetta ended its mission with a controlled
    impact onto Comet CG in 2016. Comet CG has just completed another close
    approach to Earth and remains visible through a small telescope.

    Tomorrow's picture: stellar pinwheel
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Nov 29 00:33:22 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 November 29

    The Extraordinary Spiral in LL Pegasi
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Processing & Copyright: Jonathan
    Lodge

    Explanation: What created the strange spiral structure on the upper
    left? No one is sure, although it is likely related to a star in a
    binary star system entering the planetary nebula phase, when its outer
    atmosphere is ejected. The huge spiral spans about a third of a light
    year across and, winding four or five complete turns, has a regularity
    that is without precedent. Given the expansion rate of the spiral gas,
    a new layer must appear about every 800 years, a close match to the
    time it takes for the two stars to orbit each other. The star system
    that created it is most commonly known as LL Pegasi, but also AFGL 3068
    and IRAS 23166+1655. The featured image was taken in near-infrared
    light by the Hubble Space Telescope. Why the spiral glows is itself a
    mystery, with a leading hypothesis being illumination by light
    reflected from nearby stars.

    Tomorrow's picture: planet with moons
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Dec 1 00:46:58 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 December 1

    A Blue-Banded Blood Moon
    Image Credit: Angel Yu

    Explanation: What causes a blue band to cross the Moon during a lunar
    eclipse? The blue band is real but usually quite hard to see. The
    featured HDR image of last week's lunar eclipse, however -- taken from
    Yancheng, China -- has been digitally processed to equalize the Moon's
    brightness and exaggerate the colors. The gray color of the bottom
    right is the Moon's natural color, directly illuminated by sunlight.
    The upper left part of the Moon is not directly lit by the Sun since it
    is being eclipsed -- it in the Earth's shadow. It is faintly lit,
    though, by sunlight that has passed deep through Earth's atmosphere.
    This part of the Moon is red -- and called a blood Moon -- for the same
    reason that Earth's sunsets are red: because air scatters away more
    blue light than red. The unusual blue band is different -- its color is
    created by sunlight that has passed high through Earth's atmosphere,
    where red light is better absorbed by ozone than blue. A total eclipse
    of the Sun will occur tomorrow but, unfortunately, totality be visible
    only near the Earth's South Pole.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: small galaxy, local group
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Dec 3 00:23:48 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 December 3

    Comet Leonard and the Whale Galaxy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gregg Ruppel

    Explanation: Sweeping through northern predawn skies, on November 24
    Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) was caught between two galaxies in this
    composite telescopic image. Sporting a greenish coma the comet's dusty
    tail seems to harpoon the heart of NGC 4631 (top) also known as the
    Whale Galaxy. Of course NGC 4631 and NGC 4656 (bottom, aka the Hockey
    Stick) are background galaxies some 25 million light-years away. On
    that date the comet was about 6 light-minutes from our fair planet. Its
    closest approach to Earth (and even closer approach to Venus) still to
    come, Comet Leonard will grow brighter in December. Already a good
    object for binoculars and small telescopes, this comet will likely not
    return to the inner Solar System. Its perihelion, or closest approach
    to the Sun, will be on January 3, 2022.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 4 02:17:28 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 December 4

    Iridescent by Moonlight
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marcella Giulia Pace

    Explanation: In this snapshot from November 18, the Full Moon was not
    far from Earth's shadow. In skies over Sicily the brightest lunar phase
    was eclipsed by passing clouds though. The full moonlight was dimmed
    and momentarily diffracted by small but similar sized water droplets
    near the edges of the high thin clouds. The resulting iridescence
    shines with colors like a lunar corona. On that night, the Full Moon
    was also seen close to the Pleiades star cluster appearing at the lower
    left of the iridescent cloud bank. The stars of the Seven Sisters were
    soon to share the sky with a darker, reddened lunar disk.

    Tomorrow's picture: comet by eye
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Dec 6 00:08:12 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 December 6

    Space Station Silhouette on the Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Andrew McCarthy

    Explanation: What's that unusual spot on the Moon? It's the
    International Space Station. Using precise timing, the Earth-orbiting
    space platform was photographed in front of a partially lit gibbous
    Moon last month. The featured composite, taken from Payson, Arizona,
    USA last month, was intricately composed by combining, in part, many
    1/2000-second images from a video of the ISS crossing the Moon. A close
    inspection of this unusually crisp ISS silhouette will reveal the
    outlines of numerous solar panels and trusses. The bright crater Tycho
    is visible on the upper left, as well as comparatively rough, light
    colored terrain known as highlands, and relatively smooth, dark colored
    areas known as maria. On-line tools can tell you when the International
    Space Station will be visible from your area.

    Tomorrow's picture: 90 black holes merging
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Dec 7 00:33:14 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 December 7

    Ninety Gravitational Wave Spectrograms and Counting
    Image Credit: NSF, LIGO, VIRGO, KAGRA, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt U.;
    Graphic : Sudarshan Ghonge & Karan Jani

    Explanation: Every time two massive black holes collide, a loud
    chirping sound is broadcast out into the universe in gravitational
    waves. Humanity has only had the technology to hear these unusual
    chirps for the past seven years, but since then we have heard about 90
    -- during the first three observing runs. Featured above are the
    spectrograms -- plots of gravitational-wave frequency versus time -- of
    these 90 as detected by the giant detectors of LIGO (in the USA), VIRGO
    (in Europe), and KAGRA (in Japan). The more energy received on Earth
    from a collision, the brighter it appears on the graphic. Among many
    science firsts, these gravitational-radiation chirps are giving
    humanity an unprecedented inventory of black holes and neutron stars,
    and a new way to measure the expansion rate of our universe. A fourth
    gravitational wave observing run with increased sensitivity is
    currently planned to begin in 2022 December.

    Tomorrow's picture: comet tails
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Dec 8 00:32:42 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 December 8

    Comet Hale-Bopp Over Val Parola Pass
    Image Credit & Copyright: A. Dimai, (Col Druscie Obs.), AAC

    Explanation: Comet Hale-Bopp, the Great Comet of 1997, became much
    brighter than any surrounding stars. It was seen even over bright city
    lights. Away from city lights, however, it put on quite a spectacular
    show. Here Comet Hale-Bopp was photographed above Val Parola Pass in
    the Dolomite mountains surrounding Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Comet
    Hale-Bopp's blue ion tail, consisting of ions from the comet's nucleus,
    is pushed out by the solar wind. The white dust tail is composed of
    larger particles of dust from the nucleus driven by the pressure of
    sunlight, that orbit behind the comet. Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1)
    remained visible to the unaided eye for 18 months -- longer than any
    other comet in recorded history. The large comet is next expected to
    return around the year 4385. This month, Comet Leonard is brightening
    and may soon become visible to the unaided eye.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Dec 9 00:20:58 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 December 9

    A Total Eclipse of the Sun
    Image Credit & Copyright: Theo Boris, Christian A. Lockwood, David
    Zimmerman (JM Pasachoff Antarctic Expedition)
    Compositing: Zev Hoover and Ronald Dantowitz (MARS Scientific)

    Explanation: Few were able to stand in the Moon's shadow and watch the
    December 4 total eclipse of the Sun. Determined by celestial mechanics
    and not geographical boundaries, the narrow path of totality tracked
    across planet Earth's relatively inaccessible southernmost continent.
    Still, some enthusiastic and well-insulated eclipse chasers were
    rewarded with the dazzling spectacle in Antarctica's cold but clear
    skies. Taken just before the brief totality began, this image from a
    ground-based telescope inside the edge of the shadow path at Union
    Glacier catches a glimmer of sunlight near the top of the silhouetted
    lunar disk. Look closely for the pinkish solar prominences arcing above
    the Sun's limb. During totality, the magnificent solar corona, the
    Sun's outer atmosphere, made its much anticipated appearance, seen in
    the composite view streaming far from the Sun's edge.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 11 03:21:08 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 December 11

    Postcard from the South Pole
    Image Credit & Copyright: Aman Chokshi

    Explanation: From this vantage point about three quarters of a mile
    from planet Earth's geographic South Pole, the December 4 eclipse of
    the Sun was seen as a partial eclipse. At maximum eclipse the New Moon
    blocked 90 percent of the solar disk. Of course, crews at the South
    Pole Telescope (left) and BICEP telescope (right) climbed to the roof
    of Amundsen-Scott station's Dark Sector Laboratory to watch. Centered
    near the local eclipse maximum, the composite timelapse view features
    an image of the Sun in cold antarctic skies taken every four minutes.
    Left to right along the roof line it also features the raised arms of
    Brandon Amat, Aman Chokshi, Cheng Zhang, James Bevington and Allen
    Forster.

    Tomorrow's picture: in darker skies
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Dec 12 00:20:18 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 December 12

    Comet Leonard Before Star Cluster M3
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

    Explanation: Comet Leonard is now visible to the unaided eye -- but
    just barely. Passing nearest to the Earth today, the comet is best seen
    this week soon after sunset, toward the west, low on the horizon.
    Currently best visible in the north, by late December the comet will
    best be seen from south of Earth's equator. The featured image of Comet
    C/2021 A1 (Leonard) was taken a week ago from California, USA. The deep
    exposure shows in great detail the comet's green gas coma and
    developing dust tail. The comet -- across our inner Solar System and
    only light-minutes away -- was captured passing nearly in front of
    globular star cluster M3. In contrast, M3 is about 35,000 light-years
    away. In a week, Comet Leonard will pass unusually close to Venus, but
    will continue on and be at its closest to the Sun in early January.

    Tomorrow's picture: meteor mountain
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Dec 13 00:51:00 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 December 13

    Meteors and Auroras over Iceland
    Image Credit & Copyright: James Boardman-Woodend; Annotation: Judy
    Schmidt

    Explanation: What's going on behind that mountain? Quite a bit. First
    of all, the mountain itself, named Kirkjufell, is quite old and located
    in western Iceland near the town of Grundarfjörður. In front of the
    steeply-sloped structure lies a fjord that had just begun to freeze
    when the above image was taken -- in mid-December of 2012. Although
    quite faint to the unaided eye, the beautiful colors of background
    aurorae became quite apparent on the 25-second exposure. What makes
    this image of particular note, though, is that it also captures streaks
    from the Geminids meteor shower -- meteors that might not have been
    evident were the aurora much brighter. Far in the distance, on the
    left, is the band of our Milky Way Galaxy, while stars from our local
    part of the Milky Way appear spread across the background. Tonight the
    Geminids meteor shower peaks again and may well provide sky enthusiasts
    with their own memorable visual experiences.

    Tomorrow's picture: hidden jet
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Dec 16 14:06:06 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 December 16

    Geminids of the South
    Image Credit & Copyright: Fefo Bouvier

    Explanation: Fireflies flash along a moonlit countryside in this scene
    taken on the night of December 13/14 from southern Uruguay, planet
    Earth. On that night meteors fell in the partly cloudy skies above
    during the annual Geminid meteor shower. Frames recorded over a period
    of 1.5 hours are aligned in the composite image made with the camera
    facing south. That direction was opposite the shower's radiant toward
    the north and so the Geminid meteor streaks appear to converge at an
    antiradiant below the southern horizon. The shower's apparent radiant
    (and antiradiant) is just due to perspective though. As Earth sweeps
    through the dust trail of mysterious asteroid 3200 Phaethon, the dust
    grains that create the Geminid shower meteors are really moving along
    parallel tracks. They enter Earth's atmosphere traveling at about 22
    kilometers per second.

    Tomorrow's picture: Geminids of the North
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Dec 17 01:04:52 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 December 17

    Geminid of the North
    Image Credit & Copyright: Alvin Wu

    Explanation: An arid expanse of the Tengger Desert in north-central
    China, planet Earth fills the foreground of this starry scene. A
    widefield panoramic view, it was recorded shortly after moonset in the
    local predawn hours of December 14. Pictured in the still dark sky,
    stars of the northern winter hexagon surround a luminous Milky Way.
    Seen near the peak of the annual meteor shower, the startling flash of
    a bright Geminid fireball meteor was also captured on that night. Above
    the western horizon and just below bright star Capella, its dagger-like
    trail points back to the meteor shower's radiant in Gemini. Of course,
    the constellation Gemini is easy to spot. Its twin bright stars, bluish
    Castor and yellowish Pollux are near top center in the frame.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Dec 19 00:22:32 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 December 19

    Planetary Alignment over Italy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Antonio Finazzi

    Explanation: It is not a coincidence that planets line up. That's
    because all of the planets orbit the Sun in (nearly) a single sheet
    called the plane of the ecliptic. When viewed from inside that plane --
    as Earth dwellers are likely to do -- the planets all appear confined
    to a single band. It is a coincidence, though, when three of the
    brightest planets all appear in nearly the same direction. Such a
    coincidence was captured earlier this month. Featured above (right to
    left), Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter were all imaged together in a line
    just after sunset, from the San Fermo Hills, Bergamo, Italy. Joining
    the alignment are Earth's Moon, and the position of the more distant
    Uranus. Bands of clouds streak across the sky toward the setting Sun.
    As Comet Leonard fades, this planetary alignment -- absent the Moon --
    should persist for the rest of the month.

    Discovery + Outreach: Graduate student research position open for APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: comet fireball
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Dec 22 00:05:04 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 December 22

    Launch of the IXPE Observatory
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jordan Sirokie

    Explanation: Birds don't fly this high. Airplanes don't go this fast.
    The Statue of Liberty weighs less. No species other than human can even
    comprehend what is going on, nor could any human just a millennium ago.
    The launch of a rocket bound for space is an event that inspires awe
    and challenges description. Pictured here, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
    lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, Florida earlier this month
    carrying the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). IXPE is
    scheduled to observe high-energy objects such as neutron stars, black
    holes, and the centers of distant galaxies to better determine the
    physics and geometries that create and control them. From a standing
    start, the 300,000+ kilogram rocket ship lifted IXPE up to circle the
    Earth, where the outside air is too thin to breathe. Rockets bound for
    space are now launched from somewhere on Earth every few days.

    Launch Update: James Webb Space Telescope
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Dec 24 00:19:34 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 December 24

    M1: The Crab Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Sherick

    Explanation: The Crab Nebula is cataloged as M1, the first object on
    Charles Messier's famous 18th century list of things which are not
    comets. In fact, the Crab is now known to be a supernova remnant,
    debris from the death explosion of a massive star, witnessed by
    astronomers in the year 1054. This sharp, ground-based telescopic view
    combines broadband color data with narrowband data that tracks emission
    from ionized sulfur, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms to explore the tangled
    filaments within the still expanding cloud. One of the most exotic
    objects known to modern astronomers, the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star
    spinning 30 times a second, is visible as a bright spot near the
    nebula's center. Like a cosmic dynamo, this collapsed remnant of the
    stellar core powers the Crab's emission across the electromagnetic
    spectrum. Spanning about 12 light-years, the Crab Nebula is a mere
    6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus.

    Tomorrow's picture: A Christmas Comet
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 25 00:17:08 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 December 25

    The Tail of a Christmas Comet
    Image Credit & Copyright: Rolando Ligustri (CARA Project, CAST) and
    Lukas Demetz

    Explanation: The tail of a comet streams across this three degree wide
    telescopic field of view captured under dark Namibian skies on December
    21. In outburst only a few days ago and just reaching naked eye
    visibility Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) is this year's brightest comet.
    Binoculars will make the diffuse comet easier to spot though, close to
    the western horizon after sunset. Details revealed in the sharp image
    show the comet's coma with a greenish tinge, and follow the interaction
    of the comet's ion tail with magnetic fields in the solar wind. After
    passing closest to Earth on December 12 and Venus on December 18, Comet
    Leonard is heading toward perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun
    on January 3rd. Appearing in late December's beautiful evening skies
    after sunset, Comet Leonard has also become known as 2021's Christmas
    Comet.

    Launch Update: James Webb Space Telescope
    Tomorrow's picture: the icy sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Dec 27 00:20:56 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 December 27

    Comet Leonard behind JWST Launch Plume
    Image Credit & Copyright: Matipon Tangmatitham (NARIT)

    Explanation: Which one of these two streaks is a comet? Although they
    both have comet-like features, the lower streak is the only real comet.
    This lower streak shows the coma and tail of Comet Leonard, a
    city-sized block of rocky ice that is passing through the inner Solar
    System as it continues its looping orbit around the Sun. Comet Leonard
    has recently passed its closest to both the Earth and Venus and will
    round the Sun next week. The comet, still visible to the unaided eye,
    has developed a long and changing tail in recent weeks. In contrast,
    the upper streak is the launch plume of the Ariane V rocket that lifted
    the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) off the Earth two days ago. The
    featured single-exposure image was taken from Thailand, and the
    foreground spire is atop a pagoda in Doi Inthanon National Park. JWST,
    NASA's largest and most powerful space telescope so far, will orbit the
    Sun near the Earth-Sun L2 point and is scheduled to start science
    observations in the summer of 2022.

    Gallery: Comet Leonard 2021
    Gallery: Webb Space Telescope Launch: 2021 December 25
    Tomorrow's picture: sun of ice
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Dec 28 00:43:46 2021
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2021 December 28

    Sun Halo over Sweden
    Video Credit & Copyright: Hokan Hammar (Vemdalen Ski Resort, SkiStar)

    Explanation: What's happened to the Sun? Sometimes it looks like the
    Sun is being viewed through a giant lens. In the featured video,
    however, there are actually millions of tiny lenses: ice crystals.
    Water may freeze in the atmosphere into small, flat, six-sided, ice
    crystals. As these crystals flutter to the ground, much time is spent
    with their faces flat and parallel to the ground. An observer may find
    themselves in the same plane as many of the falling ice crystals near
    sunrise or sunset. During this alignment, each crystal can act like a
    miniature lens, refracting sunlight into our view and creating
    phenomena like parhelia, the technical term for sundogs. The featured
    video was taken in late 2017 on the side of a ski hill at the Vemdalen
    Ski Resort in central Sweden. Visible in the center is the most direct
    image of the Sun, while two bright sundogs glow prominently from both
    the left and the right. Also visible is the bright 22 degree halo -- as
    well as the rarer and much fainter 46 degree halo -- also created by
    sunlight refracting through atmospheric ice crystals.

    Tomorrow's picture: giant storms
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jan 1 00:10:46 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 1

    The Full Moon of 2021
    Image Credit & Copyright: Soumyadeep Mukherjee

    Explanation: Every Full Moon of 2021 shines in this year-spanning
    astrophoto project, a composite portrait of the familiar lunar nearside
    at each brightest lunar phase. Arranged by moonth, the year progresses
    in stripes beginning at the top. Taken with the same camera and lens
    the stripes are from Full Moon images all combined at the same pixel
    scale. The stripes still looked mismatched, but they show that the Full
    Moon's angular size changes throughout the year depending on its
    distance from Kolkata, India, planet Earth. The calendar month, a full
    moon name, distance in kilometers, and angular size is indicated for
    each stripe. Angular size is given in minutes of arc corresponding to
    1/60th of a degree. The largest Full Moon is near a perigee or closest
    approach in May. The smallest is near an apogee, the most distant Full
    Moon in December. Of course the full moons of May and November also
    slid into Earth's shadow during 2021's two lunar eclipses.

    Tomorrow's picture: bright moon halos
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jan 2 00:08:34 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 2

    Quadruple Lunar Halo Over Winter Road
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dani Caxete

    Explanation: Sometimes falling ice crystals make the atmosphere into a
    giant lens causing arcs and halos to appear around the Sun or Moon. One
    Saturday night in 2012 was just such a time near Madrid, Spain, where a
    winter sky displayed not only a bright Moon but four rare lunar halos.
    The brightest object, near the top of the featured image, is the Moon.
    Light from the Moon refracts through tumbling hexagonal ice crystals
    into a somewhat rare 22-degree halo seen surrounding the Moon.
    Elongating the 22-degree arc horizontally is a more rare circumscribed
    halo caused by column ice crystals. Even more rare, some moonlight
    refracts through more distant tumbling ice crystals to form a (third)
    rainbow-like arc 46 degrees from the Moon and appearing here just above
    a picturesque winter landscape. Furthermore, part of a whole 46-degree
    circular halo is also visible, so that an extremely rare -- especially
    for the Moon -- quadruple halo was captured. Far in the background is a
    famous winter skyscape that includes Sirius, the belt of Orion, and
    Betelgeuse -- visible between the inner and outer arcs. Halos and arcs
    typically last for minutes to hours, so if you do see one there should
    be time to invite family, friends or neighbors to share your unusual
    lensed vista of the sky.

    Tomorrow's picture: Saturn moonscape
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 4 00:11:34 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 4

    Moons Beyond Rings at Saturn
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, JPL, Cassini Imaging Team

    Explanation: What's happened to that moon of Saturn? Nothing --
    Saturn's moon Rhea is just partly hidden behind Saturn's rings. In
    2010, the robotic Cassini spacecraft then orbiting Saturn took this
    narrow-angle view looking across the Solar System's most famous rings.
    Rings visible in the foreground include the thin F ring on the outside
    and the much wider A and B rings just interior to it. Although it seems
    to be hovering over the rings, Saturn's moon Janus is actually far
    behind them. Janus is one of Saturn's smaller moons and measures only
    about 180 kilometers across. Farther out from the camera is the heavily
    cratered Rhea, a much larger moon measuring 1,500 kilometers across.
    The top of Rhea is visible only through gaps in the rings. After more
    than a decade of exploration and discovery, the Cassini spacecraft ran
    low on fuel in 2017 and was directed to enter Saturn's atmosphere,
    where it surely melted.

    Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: comet tail-scape
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 7 00:07:16 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 7

    Ecstatic Solar Eclipse
    Image Credit & Copyright: Annie Schmidt (Point Blue Conservation
    Science)

    Explanation: A male Adelie penguin performed this Ecstatic Vocalization
    in silhouette during the December 4 solar eclipse, the final eclipse of
    2021. Of course his Ecstatic Vocalization is a special display that
    male penguins use to claim their territory and advertise their
    condition. This penguin's territory, at Cape Crozier Antarctica, is
    located in one of the largest Adelie penguin colonies. The colony has
    been studied by researchers for over 25 years. From there, last
    December's eclipse was about 80 percent total when seen at its maximum
    phase as the Moon's shadow crossed planet Earth's southernmost
    continent.

    Status Updates: Deploying the James Webb Space Telescope
    Tomorrow's picture: forgotten constellation
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jan 9 00:12:06 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 9

    Hubble's Jupiter and the Shrinking Great Red Spot
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, OPAL Program, STScI; Processing: Karol
    Masztalerz

    Explanation: What will become of Jupiter's Great Red Spot? Gas giant
    Jupiter is the solar system's largest world with about 320 times the
    mass of planet Earth. Jupiter is home to one of the largest and longest
    lasting storm systems known, the Great Red Spot (GRS), visible to the
    left. The GRS is so large it could swallow Earth, although it has been
    shrinking. Comparison with historical notes indicate that the storm
    spans only about one third of the exposed surface area it had 150 years
    ago. NASA's Outer Planets Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) program has been
    monitoring the storm more recently using the Hubble Space Telescope.
    The featured Hubble OPAL image shows Jupiter as it appeared in 2016,
    processed in a way that makes red hues appear quite vibrant. Modern GRS
    data indicate that the storm continues to constrict its surface area,
    but is also becoming slightly taller, vertically. No one knows the
    future of the GRS, including the possibility that if the shrinking
    trend continues, the GRS might one day even do what smaller spots on
    Jupiter have done -- disappear completely.

    Tuesday over Zoom: APOD editor to present the Best APOD Space Images of
    2021
    Tomorrow's picture: wagging comet tail
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 14 00:20:24 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 14

    NGC 1566: The Spanish Dancer Spiral Galaxy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby

    Explanation: An island universe of billions of stars, NGC 1566 lies
    about 60 million light-years away in the southern constellation Dorado.
    Popularly known as the Spanish Dancer galaxy, it's seen face-on from
    our Milky Way perspective. A gorgeous grand design spiral, this
    galaxy's two graceful spiral arms span over 100,000 light-years, traced
    by bright blue star clusters, pinkish starforming regions, and swirling
    cosmic dust lanes. NGC 1566's flaring center makes the spiral one of
    the closest and brightest Seyfert galaxies. It likely houses a central
    supermassive black hole wreaking havoc on surrounding stars, gas, and
    dust. In this sharp southern galaxy portrait, the spiky stars lie well
    within the Milky Way.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jan 15 00:28:28 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 15

    Galileo's Europa
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SETI Institute, Cynthia Phillips,
    Marty Valenti

    Explanation: Looping through the Jovian system in the late 1990s, the
    Galileo spacecraft recorded stunning views of Europa and uncovered
    evidence that the moon's icy surface likely hides a deep, global ocean.
    Galileo's Europa image data has been remastered here, with improved
    calibrations to produce a color image approximating what the human eye
    might see. Europa's long curving fractures hint at the subsurface
    liquid water. The tidal flexing the large moon experiences in its
    elliptical orbit around Jupiter supplies the energy to keep the ocean
    liquid. But more tantalizing is the possibility that even in the
    absence of sunlight that process could also supply the energy to
    support life, making Europa one of the best places to look for life
    beyond Earth. What kind of life could thrive in a deep, dark,
    subsurface ocean? Consider planet Earth's own extreme shrimp.

    Tomorrow's picture: a very cloudy day
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jan 16 00:13:44 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 16

    A Retreating Thunderstorm at Sunset
    Image Credit & Copyright: Alan Dyer (The Amazing Sky)

    Explanation: What type of cloud is that? This retreating cumulonimbus
    cloud, more commonly called a thundercloud, is somewhat unusual as it
    contains the unusual bumpiness of a mammatus cloud on the near end,
    while simultaneously producing falling rain on the far end. Taken in
    mid-2013 in southern Alberta, Canada, the cloud is moving to the east,
    into the distance, as the sun sets in the west, behind the camera. In
    the featured image, graphic sunset colors cross the sky to give the
    already photogenic cloud striking orange and pink hues. A darkening
    blue sky covers the background. Further in the distance, a rising,
    waxing, gibbous moon is visible on the far right.

    Tomorrow's picture: angular space dust
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.
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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 17 01:07:18 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 17

    Chamaeleon Dark Nebulas
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jarmo Ruuth, Telescope Live, Heaven's Mirror
    Observatory

    Explanation: Sometimes the dark dust of interstellar space has an
    angular elegance. Such is the case toward the far-south constellation
    of Chamaeleon. Normally too faint to see, dark dust is best known for
    blocking visible light from stars and galaxies behind it. In this
    four-hour exposure, however, the dust is seen mostly in light of its
    own, with its strong red and near-infrared colors giving creating a
    brown hue. Contrastingly blue, the bright star Beta Chamaeleontis is
    visible just to the right of center, with the dust that surrounds it
    preferentially reflecting blue light from its primarily blue-white
    color. All of the pictured stars and dust occur in our own Milky Way
    Galaxy with -- but one notable exception: the white spot just below
    Beta Chamaeleontis is the galaxy IC 3104 which lies far in the
    distance. Interstellar dust is mostly created in the cool atmospheres
    of giant stars and dispersed into space by stellar light, stellar
    winds, and stellar explosions such as supernovas.

    Tomorrow's picture: icons over australia
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.
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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 18 00:08:42 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 18

    From Orion to the Southern Cross
    Image Credit & Copyright: Lucy Yunxi Hu

    Explanation: This is a sky filled with glowing icons. On the far left
    is the familiar constellation of Orion, divided by its iconic
    three-aligned belt stars and featuring the famous Orion Nebula, both
    partly encircled by Barnard's Loop. Just left of center in the featured
    image is the brightest star in the night: Sirius. Arching across the
    image center is the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. On the far
    right, near the top, are the two brightest satellite galaxies of the
    Milky Way: the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and the Small Magellanic
    Cloud (SMC). Also on the far right -- just above the cloudy horizon --
    is the constellation of Crux, complete with the four stars that make
    the iconic Southern Cross. The featured image is a composite of 18
    consecutive exposures taken by the same camera and from the same
    location in eastern Australia during the last days of last year. In the
    foreground, picturesque basalt columns of the Bombo Quarry part to
    reveal the vast Pacific Ocean.

    Tomorrow's picture: big galaxy approaches
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.
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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jan 19 00:15:54 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 19

    M31: The Andromeda Galaxy
    Image Credit: Subaru (NAOJ), Hubble (NASA/ESA), Mayall (NSF);
    Processing & Copyright: R. Gendler & R. Croman

    Explanation: The most distant object easily visible to the unaided eye
    is M31, the great Andromeda Galaxy. Even at some two and a half million
    light-years distant, this immense spiral galaxy -- spanning over
    200,000 light years -- is visible, although as a faint, nebulous cloud
    in the constellation Andromeda. In contrast, a bright yellow nucleus,
    dark winding dust lanes, and expansive spiral arms dotted with blue
    star clusters and red nebulae, are recorded in this stunning telescopic
    image which combines data from orbiting Hubble with ground-based images
    from Subaru and Mayall. In only about 5 billion years, the Andromeda
    galaxy may be even easier to see -- as it will likely span the entire
    night sky -- just before it merges with our Milky Way Galaxy.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jan 20 00:26:24 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 20

    NGC 7822 in Cepheus
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Carter

    Explanation: Hot, young stars and cosmic pillars of gas and dust seem
    to crowd into NGC 7822. At the edge of a giant molecular cloud toward
    the northern constellation Cepheus, the glowing star forming region
    lies about 3,000 light-years away. Within the nebula, bright edges and
    dark shapes stand out in this colorful telescopic skyscape. The image
    includes data from narrowband filters, mapping emission from atomic
    oxygen, hydrogen, and sulfur into blue, green, and red hues. The
    emission line and color combination has become well-known as the Hubble
    palette. The atomic emission is powered by energetic radiation from the
    central hot stars. Their powerful winds and radiation sculpt and erode
    the denser pillar shapes and clear out a characteristic cavity
    light-years across the center of the natal cloud. Stars could still be
    forming inside the pillars by gravitational collapse but as the pillars
    are eroded away, any forming stars will ultimately be cutoff from their
    reservoir of star stuff. This field of view spans about 40 light-years
    at the estimated distance of NGC 7822.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 21 00:14:40 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 21

    Young Star Jet MHO 2147
    Image Credit & License: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab /
    NSF / AURA
    Acknowledgments: L. Ferrero (Universidad Nacional de C+|rdoba)

    Explanation: Laser guide stars and adaptive optics sharpened this
    stunning ground-based image of stellar jets from the Gemini South
    Observatory, Chilean Andes, planet Earth. These twin outflows of MHO
    2147 are from a young star in formation. It lies toward the central
    Milky Way and the boundary of the constellations Sagittarius and
    Ophiuchus at an estimated distance of some 10,000 light-years. At
    center, the star itself is obscured by a dense region of cold dust. But
    the infrared image still traces the sinuous jets across a frame that
    would span about 5 light-years at the system's estimated distance.
    Driven outward by the young rotating star, the apparent wandering
    direction of the jets is likely due to precession. Part of a multiple
    star system, the young star's rotational axis would slowly precess or
    wobble like a top under the gravitation influence of its nearby
    companions.

    Tomorrow's picture: The Full Moon and the Dancer
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jan 22 00:15:00 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 22

    The Full Moon and the Dancer
    Image Credit & Copyright: Elena Pinna

    Explanation: On Monday, January's Full Moon rose as the Sun set.
    Spotted near the eastern horizon, its warm hues are seen in this photo
    taken near Cagliari, capital city of the Italian island of Sardinia. Of
    course the familiar patterns of light and dark across the Moon's
    nearside are created by bright rugged highlands and dark smooth lunar
    maria. Traditionally the patterns are seen as pareidolia, giving the
    visual illusion of a human face like the Man in the Moon, or familiar
    animal like the Moon rabbit. But for a moment the swarming murmuration,
    also known as a flock of starlings, frozen in the snapshot's field of
    view lends another pareidolic element to the scene. Some see the
    graceful figure of a dancer enchanted by moonlight.

    Tomorrow's picture: moons, rings, and shadows
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jan 23 00:11:24 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 23

    Saturn, Tethys, Rings, and Shadows
    Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA

    Explanation: Seen from ice moon Tethys, rings and shadows would display
    fantastic views of the Saturnian system. Haven't dropped in on Tethys
    lately? Then this gorgeous ringscape from the Cassini spacecraft will
    have to do for now. Caught in sunlight just below and left of picture
    center in 2005, Tethys itself is about 1,000 kilometers in diameter and
    orbits not quite five saturn-radii from the center of the gas giant
    planet. At that distance (around 300,000 kilometers) it is well outside
    Saturn's main bright rings, but Tethys is still one of five major moons
    that find themselves within the boundaries of the faint and tenuous
    outer E ring. Discovered in the 1980s, two very small moons Telesto and
    Calypso are locked in stable along Tethys' orbit. Telesto precedes and
    Calypso follows Tethys as the trio circles Saturn.

    Tomorrow's picture: witch star?
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 24 00:08:52 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 24

    Rigel and the Witch Head Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jos+¬ Mtanous

    Explanation: By starlight this eerie visage shines in the dark, a
    crooked profile evoking its popular name, the Witch Head Nebula. In
    fact, this entrancing telescopic portrait gives the impression that the
    witch has fixed her gaze on Orion's bright supergiant star Rigel. More
    formally known as IC 2118, the Witch Head Nebula spans about 50
    light-years and is composed of interstellar dust grains reflecting
    Rigel's starlight. The blue color of the Witch Head Nebula and of the
    dust surrounding Rigel is caused not only by Rigel's intense blue
    starlight but because the dust grains scatter blue light more
    efficiently than red. The same physical process causes Earth's daytime
    sky to appear blue, although the scatterers in Earth's atmosphere are
    molecules of nitrogen and oxygen. Rigel, the Witch Head Nebula, and gas
    and dust that surrounds them lie about 800 light-years away.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.
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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 25 01:04:08 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 25

    Video: Comet Leonard over One Hour
    Video Credit & Copyright: Matipon Tangmatitham (NARIT); Text: Matipon
    Tangmatitham

    Explanation: Which direction is this comet heading? Judging by the
    tail, one might imagine that Comet Leonard is traveling towards the
    bottom right, but a full 3D analysis shows it traveling almost directly
    away from the camera. With this perspective, the dust tail is trailed
    towards the camera and can only be seen as a short yellow-white glow
    near the head of the comet. The bluish ion tail, however, is made up of
    escaping ions that are forced directly away from the Sun by the solar
    wind -- but channeled along the Sun's magnetic field lines. The Sun's
    magnetic field is quite complex, however, and occasionally solar
    magnetic reconnection will break the ion tail into knots that are
    pushed away from the Sun. One such knot is visible in the featured
    one-hour time-lapse video captured in late December from Thailand.
    Comet Leonard is now fading as it heads out of our Solar System.

    Gallery: Notable images submitted to APOD of Comet Leonard in 2021
    Tomorrow's picture: colorful star clouds
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.
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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jan 26 03:28:22 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 26

    Stars, Dust, and Gas Near Antares
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mario Cogo (Galax Lux)

    Explanation: Why is the sky near Antares and Rho Ophiuchi so dusty yet
    colorful? The colors result from a mixture of objects and processes.
    Fine dust -- illuminated from the front by starlight -- produces blue
    reflection nebulae. Gaseous clouds whose atoms are excited by
    ultraviolet starlight produce reddish emission nebulae. Backlit dust
    clouds block starlight and so appear dark. Antares, a red supergiant
    and one of the brighter stars in the night sky, lights up the
    yellow-red clouds on the lower right of the featured image. The Rho
    Ophiuchi star system lies at the center of the blue reflection nebula
    on the top left. The distant globular cluster of stars M4 is visible
    above and to the right of Antares. These star clouds are even more
    colorful than humans can see, emitting light across the electromagnetic
    spectrum.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jan 27 00:07:56 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 27

    South of Orion
    Image Credit & Copyright: Vikas Chander

    Explanation: South of the large star-forming region known as the Orion
    Nebula, lies bright blue reflection nebula NGC 1999. At the edge of the
    Orion molecular cloud complex some 1,500 light-years distant, NGC
    1999's illumination is provided by the embedded variable star V380
    Orionis. The nebula is marked with a dark sideways T-shape at center
    right in this telescopic vista that spans about two full moons on the
    sky. Its dark shape was once assumed to be an obscuring dust cloud seen
    in silhouette. But infrared data suggest the shape is likely a hole
    blown through the nebula itself by energetic young stars. In fact, this
    region abounds with energetic young stars producing jets and outflows
    with luminous shock waves. Cataloged as Herbig-Haro (HH) objects, named
    for astronomers George Herbig and Guillermo Haro, the shocks have
    intense reddish hues. HH1 and HH2 are just below and right of NGC 1999.
    HH222, also known as the Waterfall nebula, looks like a red gash near
    top right in the frame. To create the shocks stellar jets push through
    the surrounding material at speeds of hundreds of kilometers per
    second.

    Tomorrow's picture: the western eastern sea
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 28 00:08:40 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 27

    Western Moon, Eastern Sea
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tom Glenn

    Explanation: The Mare Orientale, Latin for Eastern Sea, is one of the
    most striking large scale lunar features. The youngest of the large
    lunar impact basins it's very difficult to see from an earthbound
    perspective. Still, taken during a period of favorable tilt, or
    libration of the lunar nearside, the Eastern Sea can be found near top
    center in this sharp telescopic view, extremely foreshortened along the
    Moon's western edge. Formed by the impact of an asteroid over 3 billion
    years ago and nearly 1000 kilometers across, the impact basin's
    concentric circular features, ripples in the lunar crust, are a little
    easier to spot in spacecraft images of the Moon, though. So why is the
    Eastern Sea at the Moon's western edge? The Mare Orientale lunar
    feature was named before 1961. That's when the convention labeling east
    and west on lunar maps was reversed.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jan 29 00:39:42 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 29

    The Fornax Cluster of Galaxies
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marco Lorenzi, Angus Lau, Tommy Tse

    Explanation: Named for the southern constellation toward which most of
    its galaxies can be found, the Fornax Cluster is one of the closest
    clusters of galaxies. About 62 million light-years away, it is almost
    20 times more distant than our neighboring Andromeda Galaxy, and only
    about 10 percent farther than the better known and more populated Virgo
    Galaxy Cluster. Seen across this two degree wide field-of-view, almost
    every yellowish splotch on the image is an elliptical galaxy in the
    Fornax cluster. Elliptical galaxies NGC 1399 and NGC 1404 are the
    dominant, bright cluster members toward the upper left (but not the
    spiky foreground stars). A standout barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 is
    visible on the lower right as a prominent Fornax cluster member.

    Tomorrow's picture: miasma of plasma
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.
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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jan 30 00:09:20 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 30

    A Solar Prominence from SOHO
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, SOHO-EIT Consortium

    Explanation: How can gas float above the Sun? Twisted magnetic fields
    arching from the solar surface can trap ionized gas, suspending it in
    huge looping structures. These majestic plasma arches are seen as
    prominences above the solar limb. In 1999, this dramatic and detailed
    image was recorded by the Extreme ultraviolet Image Telescope (EIT) on
    board the space-based SOHO observatory in the light emitted by ionized
    Helium. It shows hot plasma escaping into space as a fiery prominence
    breaks free from magnetic confinement a hundred thousand kilometers
    above the Sun. These awesome events bear watching as they can affect
    communications and power systems over 100 million kilometers away on
    planet Earth. In late 2020 our Sun passed the solar minimum of its
    11-year cycle and is now showing increased surface activity.

    Tomorrow's picture: stellar icons
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 31 00:13:56 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 January 31

    Carina Nebula North
    Image Credit & Copyright: Roberto Colombari

    Explanation: The Great Carina Nebula is home to strange stars and
    iconic nebulas. Named for its home constellation, the huge star-forming
    region is larger and brighter than the Great Orion Nebula but less well
    known because it is so far south -- and because so much of humanity
    lives so far north. The featured image shows in great detail the
    northern-most part of the Carina Nebula. Visible nebulas include the
    semi-circular filaments surrounding the active star Wolf-Rayet 23
    (WR23) on the far left. Just left of center is the Gabriela Mistral
    Nebula consisting of an emission nebula of glowing gas (IC 2599)
    surrounding the small open cluster of stars (NGC 3324). Above the image
    center is the larger star cluster NGC 3293, while to its right is the
    relatively faint emission nebula designated Loden 153. The most famous
    occupant of the Carina Nebula, however, is not shown. Off the image to
    the lower right is the bright, erratic, and doomed star star known as
    Eta Carinae -- a star once one of the brightest stars in the sky and
    now predicted to explode in a supernova sometime in the next few
    million years.

    Tomorrow's picture: moon date
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Feb 3 02:59:52 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 3

    Embraced by Sunlight
    Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Luis C+ínovas P+¬rez

    Explanation: Even though Venus (left) was the brightest planet in the
    sky it was less than 1/30th the apparent size of the Moon on January
    29. But as both rose before the Sun they shared a crescent phase. For a
    moment their visible disks were each about 12 percent illuminated as
    they stood above the southeastern horizon. The similar sunlit crescents
    were captured in these two separate images. Made at different
    magnifications, each panel is a composite of stacked video frames taken
    with a small telescope. Venus goes through a range of phases like the
    Moon as the inner planet wanders from evening sky to morning sky and
    back again with a period of 584 days. Of course the Moon completes its
    own cycle of phases, a full lunation, in about 29.5 days.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Feb 4 00:09:18 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 4

    Moons at Twilight
    Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Fedez

    Explanation: Even though Jupiter was the only planet visible in the
    evening sky on February 2, it shared the twilight above the western
    horizon with the Solar System's brightest moons. In a single exposure
    made just after sunset, the Solar System's ruling gas giant is at the
    upper right in this telephoto field-of-view from Cancun, Mexico. The
    snapshot also captures our fair planet's own natural satellite in its
    young crescent phase. The Moon's disk looms large, its familiar face
    illuminated mostly by earthshine. But the four points of light lined-up
    with Jupiter are Jupiter's own large Galilean moons. Top to bottom are
    Ganymede, [Jupiter], Io, Europa, and Callisto. Ganymede, Io, and
    Callisto are physically larger than Earth's Moon while water world
    Europa is only slightly smaller.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Feb 5 00:04:50 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 5
    See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
    resolution version available.

    Symbiotic R Aquarii
    Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/R. Montez et al.; Optical: Data:
    NASA/ESA/STScI, Processing: Judy Schmidt (CC BY-NC-SA)

    Explanation: Variable star R Aquarii is actually an interacting binary
    star system, two stars that seem to have a close symbiotic
    relationship. Centered in this space-based optical/x-ray composite
    image it lies about 710 light years away. The intriguing system
    consists of a cool red giant star and hot, dense white dwarf star in
    mutual orbit around their common center of mass. With binoculars you
    can watch as R Aquarii steadily changes its brightness over the course
    of a year or so. The binary system's visible light is dominated by the
    red giant, itself a Mira-type long period variable star. But material
    in the cool giant star's extended envelope is pulled by gravity onto
    the surface of the smaller, denser white dwarf, eventually triggering a
    thermonuclear explosion, blasting material into space. Astronomers have
    seen such outbursts over recent decades. Evidence for much older
    outbursts is seen in these spectacular structures spanning almost a
    light-year as observed by the Hubble Space Telescope (in red and blue).
    Data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (in purple) shows the X-ray
    glow from shock waves created as a jet from the white dwarf strikes
    surrounding material.

    Tomorrow's picture: our fair planet
    __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Feb 6 03:31:22 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 6

    Blue Marble Earth
    Image Credit: NASA, Apollo 17 Crew

    Explanation: Welcome to planet Earth, the third planet from a star
    named the Sun. The Earth is shaped like a sphere and composed mostly of
    rock. Over 70 percent of the Earth's surface is water. The planet has a
    relatively thin atmosphere composed mostly of nitrogen and oxygen. The
    featured picture of Earth, dubbed The Blue Marble, was taken from
    Apollo 17 in 1972 and features Africa and Antarctica. It is thought to
    be one of the most widely distributed photographs of any kind. Earth
    has a single large Moon that is about 1/4 of its diameter and, from the
    planet's surface, is seen to have almost exactly the same angular size
    as the Sun. With its abundance of liquid water, Earth supports a large
    variety of life forms, including potentially intelligent species such
    as dolphins and humans. Please enjoy your stay on planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: galactic rain
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Feb 7 00:20:04 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 7

    NGC 4651: The Umbrella Galaxy
    Image Credit & Copyright: CFHT, Coelum, MegaCam, J.-C. Cuillandre
    (CFHT) & G. A. Anselmi (Coelum)

    Explanation: It's raining stars. What appears to be a giant cosmic
    umbrella is now known to be a tidal stream of stars stripped from a
    small satellite galaxy. The main galaxy, spiral galaxy NGC 4651, is
    about the size of our Milky Way, while its stellar parasol appears to
    extend some 100 thousand light-years above this galaxy's bright disk. A
    small galaxy was likely torn apart by repeated encounters as it swept
    back and forth on eccentric orbits through NGC 4651. The remaining
    stars will surely fall back and become part of a combined larger galaxy
    over the next few million years. The featured image was captured by the
    Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) in Hawaii, USA. The Umbrella
    Galaxy lies about 50 million light-years distant toward the
    well-groomed northern constellation Coma Berenices.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: vote the sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Feb 8 08:26:56 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 8

    Aurora and Light Pillars over Norway
    Image Credit & Copyright: Alexandre Correia

    Explanation: Which half of this sky is your favorite? On the left, the
    night sky is lit up by particles expelled from the Sun that later
    collided with Earth's upper atmosphere CÇö creating bright auroras. On
    the right, the night glows with ground lights reflected by millions of
    tiny ice crystals falling from the sky CÇö creating light pillars. And in
    the center, the astrophotographer presents your choices. The light
    pillars are vertical columns because the fluttering ice-crystals are
    mostly flat to the ground, and their colors are those of the ground
    lights. The auroras cover the sky and ground in the green hue of
    glowing oxygen, while their transparency is clear because you can see
    stars right through them. Distant stars dot the background, including
    bright stars from the iconic constellation of Orion. The featured image
    was captured in a single exposure two months ago near Kautokeino,
    Norway.

    Favorite sky half: Left half (aurora) | Right half (light pillars)
    Tomorrow's picture: to circle a dying star
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Feb 9 01:05:54 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 9

    Eta Car: 3D Model of the Most Dangerous Star Known
    Video Credit: NASA, CXC, April Hobart; Text: Michael F. Corcoran (NASA,
    Catholic U., HEAPOW)

    Explanation: What's the most dangerous star near earth? Many believe
    it's Eta Carinae, a binary star system about 100 times the mass of the
    Sun, just 10,000 light years from earth. Eta Carinae is a ticking time
    bomb, set to explode as a supernova in only a few million years, when
    it may bathe the earth in dangerous gamma rays. The star suffered a
    notorious outburst in the 1840s when it became the brightest star in
    the southern sky, only to fade to obscurity within decades. The star
    was not destroyed, but lies hidden behind a thick, expanding,
    double-lobed structure called the Homunculus which now surrounds the
    binary. Studies of this ejecta provide forensic clues about the
    explosion. Using observations from NASA satellites we can now visualize
    the 3D distribution of the shrapnel, all the way from the infrared,
    through optical and UV, to the outermost shell of million-degree
    material, visible only in X-rays.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Feb 10 00:37:08 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 10

    T Tauri and Hind's Variable Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dawn Lowry, Gian Lorenzo Ferretti, Ewa Pasiak
    and Terry Felty

    Explanation: The star with an orange tint near top center in this dusty
    telescopic frame is T Tauri, prototype of the class of T Tauri variable
    stars. Next to it (right) is a yellow cosmic cloud historically known
    as Hind's Variable Nebula (NGC 1555). About 650 light-years away, at
    the boundary of the local bubble and the Taurus molecular cloud, both
    star and nebula are seen to vary significantly in brightness but not
    necessarily at the same time, adding to the mystery of the intriguing
    region. T Tauri stars are now generally recognized as young (less than
    a few million years old), sun-like stars still in the early stages of
    formation. To further complicate the picture, infrared observations
    indicate that T Tauri itself is part of a multiple system and suggest
    that the associated Hind's Nebula may also contain a very young stellar
    object. The well-composed image spans about 8 light-years at the
    estimated distance of T Tauri.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Feb 11 00:23:38 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 11

    IC 342: The Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis
    Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel Feller

    Explanation: Similar in size to large, bright spiral galaxies in our
    neighborhood, IC 342 is a mere 10 million light-years distant in the
    long-necked, northern constellation Camelopardalis. A sprawling island
    universe, IC 342 would otherwise be a prominent galaxy in our night
    sky, but it is hidden from clear view and only glimpsed through the
    veil of stars, gas and dust clouds along the plane of our own Milky Way
    galaxy. Even though IC 342's light is dimmed and reddened by
    intervening cosmic clouds, this sharp telescopic image traces the
    galaxy's own obscuring dust, young star clusters, and glowing pink star
    forming regions along spiral arms that wind far from the galaxy's core.
    IC 342 may have undergone a recent burst of star formation activity and
    is close enough to have gravitationally influenced the evolution of the
    local group of galaxies and the Milky Way.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Feb 13 06:28:56 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 13

    Earth at Night
    Image Credit: NASA, Suomi NPP VIIRS; Data: Miguel Rom+ín (NASA GSFC);
    Processing: Joshua Stevens

    Explanation: This is what the Earth looks like at night. Can you find
    your favorite country or city? Surprisingly, city lights make this task
    quite possible. Human-made lights highlight particularly developed or
    populated areas of the Earth's surface, including the seaboards of
    Europe, the eastern United States, and Japan. Many large cities are
    located near rivers or oceans so that they can exchange goods cheaply
    by boat. Particularly dark areas include the central parts of South
    America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The featured image, nicknamed
    Black Marble, is actually a composite of hundreds of pictures remade in
    2016 from data taken by the orbiting Suomi NPP satellite.

    Tomorrow's picture: space for the heart
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Feb 14 00:18:48 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 14

    In the Heart of the Heart Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Jensen

    Explanation: What excites the Heart Nebula? First, the large emission
    nebula dubbed IC 1805 looks, in whole, like a human heart. Its shape
    perhaps fitting of the Valentine's Day, this heart glows brightly in
    red light emitted by its most prominent element: excited hydrogen. The
    red glow and the larger shape are all created by a small group of stars
    near the nebula's center. In the heart of the Heart Nebula are young
    stars from the open star cluster Melotte 15 that are eroding away
    several picturesque dust pillars with their energetic light and winds.
    The open cluster of stars contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times
    the mass of our Sun, many dim stars only a fraction of the mass of our
    Sun, and an absent microquasar that was expelled millions of years ago.
    The Heart Nebula is located about 7,500 light years away toward the
    constellation of the mythological Queen of Aethiopia (Cassiopeia).

    Tomorrow's picture: terminator moon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Feb 15 01:09:48 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 15

    Terminator Moon
    Image Credit: NASA, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, SVS; Processing &
    Copyright: Jai & Neil Shet

    Explanation: What's different about this Moon? It's the terminators. In
    the featured image, you can't directly see any terminator -- the line
    that divides the light of day from the dark of night. That's because
    the image is a digital composite of 29 near-terminator lunar strips.
    Terminator regions show the longest and most prominent shadows --
    shadows which, by their contrast and length, allow a flat photograph to
    appear three-dimensional. The original images and data were taken near
    the Moon by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Many of the Moon's
    craters stand out because of the shadows they all cast to the right.
    The image shows in graphic detail that the darker regions known as
    maria are not just darker than the rest of the Moon -- they are
    flatter.

    Dial-A-Moon: Find the phase of the Moon on your birthday.
    Tomorrow's picture: eroding sun tower
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Feb 16 00:32:56 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 16

    Eiffel Tower Prominence on the Sun
    Video Credit & Copyright: Hawk Wolinski

    Explanation: What's that on the Sun? Although it may look like a
    flowing version of the Eiffel Tower, it is a solar prominence that is
    actually much bigger -- about the height of Jupiter. The huge
    prominence emerged about ten days ago, hovered over the Sun's surface
    for about two days, and then erupted -- throwing a coronal mass
    ejection (CME) into the Solar System. The featured video, captured from
    the astrophotographer's backyard in Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA,
    shows an hour time-lapse played both forwards and backwards. That CME
    did not impact the Earth, but our Sun had unleashed other recent CMEs
    that not only triggered Earthly auroras, but puffed out the Earth's
    atmosphere enough to cause just-launched Starlink satellites to fall
    back. Activity on the Sun, including sunspots, prominences, CMEs and
    flares, continues to increase as the Sun evolves away from a deep
    minimum in its 11-year magnetic cycle.

    Birthday Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.
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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Feb 17 00:20:58 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 17

    Chamaeleon I Molecular Cloud
    Image Credit & Copyright: Acquisition: Stas Volskiy (Chilescope.com),
    Processing: Robert Eder

    Explanation: Dark markings and bright nebulae in this telescopic
    southern sky view are telltale signs of young stars and active star
    formation. They lie a mere 650 light-years away, at the boundary of the
    local bubble and the Chamaeleon molecular cloud complex. Regions with
    young stars identified as dusty reflection nebulae from the 1946
    Cederblad catalog include the C-shaped Ced 110 just above and left of
    center, and bluish Ced 111 below it. Also a standout in the frame, the
    orange tinted V-shape of the Chamaeleon Infrared Nebula (Cha IRN) was
    carved by material streaming from a newly formed low-mass star. The
    well-composed image spans 1.5 degrees. That's about 17 light-years at
    the estimated distance of the nearby Chamaeleon I molecular cloud.

    Tomorrow's picture: East of Sirius
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Feb 18 01:40:32 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 18

    Three Clusters in Puppis
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dave Doctor

    Explanation: Galactic or open star clusters are young. The swarms of
    stars are born together near the plane of the Milky Way, but their
    numbers steadily dwindle as cluster members are ejected by galactic
    tides and gravitational interactions. Caught in this telescopic frame
    over three degrees across are three good examples of galactic star
    clusters, seen toward the southern sky's nautical constellation Puppis.
    Below and left, M46 is some 5,500 light-years in the distance. Right of
    center M47 is only 1,600 light-years away and NGC 2423 (top) is about
    2500 light-years distant. Around 300 million years young M46 contains a
    few hundred stars in a region about 30 light-years across. Sharp eyes
    can spot a planetary nebula, NGC 2438, at about 11 o'clock against the
    M46 cluster stars. But that nebula's central star is billions of years
    old, and NGC 2438 is likely a foreground object only by chance along
    the line of sight to youthful M46. Even younger, aged around 80 million
    years, M47 is a smaller and looser star cluster spanning about 10
    light-years. Star cluster NGC 2423 is pushing about 750 million years
    in age though. NGC 2423 is known to harbor an extrasolar planet,
    detected orbiting one of its red giant stars.

    Tomorrow's picture: mammals in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Feb 19 00:05:00 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 19

    Peculiar Galaxies of Arp 273
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jason Guenzel

    Explanation: The spiky stars in the foreground of this backyard
    telescopic frame are well within our own Milky Way Galaxy. But the two
    eye-catching galaxies lie far beyond the Milky Way, at a distance of
    over 300 million light-years. Their distorted appearance is due to
    gravitational tides as the pair engage in close encounters. Cataloged
    as Arp 273 (also as UGC 1810), the galaxies do look peculiar, but
    interacting galaxies are now understood to be common in the universe.
    Nearby, the large spiral Andromeda Galaxy is known to be some 2 million
    light-years away and approaching the Milky Way. The peculiar galaxies
    of Arp 273 may offer an analog of their far future encounter. Repeated
    galaxy encounters on a cosmic timescale can ultimately result in a
    merger into a single galaxy of stars. From our perspective, the bright
    cores of the Arp 273 galaxies are separated by only a little over
    100,000 light-years.

    Tomorrow's picture: aurora over white dome
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Feb 20 00:23:58 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 20

    Aurora Over White Dome Geyser
    Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Howell

    Explanation: Sometimes both heaven and Earth erupt. Colorful auroras
    erupted unexpectedly a few years ago, with green aurora appearing near
    the horizon and brilliant bands of red aurora blooming high overhead. A
    bright Moon lit the foreground of this picturesque scene, while
    familiar stars could be seen far in the distance. With planning, the
    careful astrophotographer shot this image mosaic in the field of White
    Dome Geyser in Yellowstone National Park in the western USA. Sure
    enough, just after midnight, White Dome erupted -- spraying a stream of
    water and vapor many meters into the air. Geyser water is heated to
    steam by scalding magma several kilometers below, and rises through
    rock cracks to the surface. About half of all known geysers occur in
    Yellowstone National Park. Although the geomagnetic storm that caused
    the auroras subsided within a day, eruptions of White Dome Geyser
    continue about every 30 minutes.

    Tomorrow's picture: barred spiral
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Feb 21 00:07:40 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 21

    Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 6217
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team

    Explanation: Many spiral galaxies have bars across their centers. Even
    our own Milky Way Galaxy is thought to have a modest central bar.
    Prominently barred spiral galaxy NGC 6217, featured here, was captured
    in spectacular detail in this image taken by the Advanced Camera for
    Surveys on the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope in 2009. Visible are
    dark filamentary dust lanes, young clusters of bright blue stars, red
    emission nebulas of glowing hydrogen gas, a long bar of stars across
    the center, and a bright active nucleus that likely houses a
    supermassive black hole. Light takes about 60 million years to reach us
    from NGC 6217, which spans about 30,000 light years across and can be
    found toward the constellation of the Little Bear (Ursa Minor).

    Tomorrow's picture: quasar illustrated
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Feb 22 00:37:18 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 22

    Illustration: An Early Quasar
    Illustration Credit & License: ESO, M. Kornmesser

    Explanation: What did the first quasars look like? The nearest quasars
    are now known to involve supermassive black holes in the centers of
    active galaxies. Gas and dust that falls toward a quasar glows
    brightly, sometimes outglowing the entire home galaxy. The quasars that
    formed in the first billion years of the universe are more mysterious,
    though. Featured, recent data has enabled an artist's impression of an
    early-universe quasar as it might have been: centered on a massive
    black hole, surrounded by sheets of gas and an accretion disk, and
    expelling a powerful jet. Quasars are among the most distant objects we
    see and give humanity unique information about the early and
    intervening universe. The oldest quasars currently known are seen at
    just short of redshift 8 -- only 700 million years after the Big Bang
    -- when the universe was only a few percent of its current age.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Feb 23 00:21:00 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 23

    Orion over Green Bank
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dave Green

    Explanation: What will the huge Green Bank Telescope discover tonight?
    Pictured, the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) on the lower
    right is the largest fully-pointable single-dish radio telescope in the
    world. With a central dish larger than a football field, the GBT is
    nestled in the hills of West Virginia, USA in a radio quiet zone where
    the use of cell phones, WiFi emitters, and even microwave ovens are
    limited. The GBT explores our universe not only during the night -- but
    during the day, too, since the daytime sky is typically dark in radio
    waves. Taken in late January, the featured image was planned for months
    to get the setting location of Orion just right. The image is a
    composite of a foreground shot taken over a kilometer away from the
    GBT, and a background shot built up of long exposures during the
    previous night. The deep background image of Orion is fitting because
    the GBT is famous for, among many discoveries, mapping the unusual
    magnetic field in the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex.

    Tomorrow's picture: colorful stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Feb 24 00:33:08 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 24

    Beautiful Albireo AB
    Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Eder

    Explanation: Beta Cygni is a single bright star to the naked eye. About
    420 light-years away it marks the foot of the Northern Cross, famous
    asterism in the constellation Cygnus. But a view through the eyepiece
    of a small telescope will transform it into a beautiful double star, a
    treasure of the night sky in blue and gold. Beta Cygni is also known as
    Albireo, designated Albireo AB to indicate its two bright component
    stars. Their visually striking color difference is illustrated in this
    telescopic snapshot, along with their associated visible spectrum of
    starlight shown in insets to the right. Albireo A, top inset, shows the
    spectrum of a K-type giant star, cooler than the Sun and emitting most
    of its energy at yellow and red wavelengths. Below, Albireo B has the
    spectrum of a main sequence star much hotter than the Sun, emitting
    more energy in blue and violet. Albireo A is known to be a binary star,
    two stars together orbiting a common center of mass, though the two
    stars are too close together to be seen separately with a small
    telescope. Well-separated Albireo A and B most likely represent an
    optical double star and not a physical binary system because the two
    components have clearly different measured motions through space.

    Tomorrow's picture: mars with moxie
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Feb 25 01:09:06 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 25

    Perseverance Sol 354
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Processing; Kenneth Kremer

    Explanation: This Navcam mosaic from Perseverance looks out over the
    car-sized rover's deck, across the floor of Jezero crater on Mars.
    Frames used to construct the mosaic view were captured on mission sol
    354. That corresponds to Earth calendar date February 17, 2022, nearly
    one Earth year after the rover's landing. With a mass of over 1,000
    kilograms, six-wheeled Perseverance is the heaviest rover to touch down
    on Mars. During its first year of exploration the rover has collected
    six (so far) rock core samples for later return to planet Earth, served
    as the base station for Ingenuity, the first helicopter on Mars, and
    tested MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment),
    converting some of the Red PlanetCÇÖs thin, carbon dioxide-rich
    atmosphere into oxygen.

    Tomorrow's picture: big space swirl
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Feb 26 00:54:48 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 26

    Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 4945
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dietmar Hager, Eric Benson

    Explanation: Large spiral galaxy NGC 4945 is seen nearly edge-on in
    this cosmic galaxy close-up. It's almost the size of our Milky Way
    Galaxy. NGC 4945's own dusty disk, young blue star clusters, and pink
    star forming regions stand out in the colorful telescopic frame. About
    13 million light-years distant toward the expansive southern
    constellation Centaurus, NGC 4945 is only about six times farther away
    than Andromeda, the nearest large spiral galaxy to the Milky Way.
    Though this galaxy's central region is largely hidden from view for
    optical telescopes, X-ray and infrared observations indicate
    significant high energy emission and star formation in the core of NGC
    4945. Its obscured but active nucleus qualifies the gorgeous island
    universe as a Seyfert galaxy and home to a central supermassive black
    hole.

    Tomorrow's picture: really famous picture -- remastered
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Feb 27 00:24:34 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 27

    Earthrise 1: Historic Image Remastered
    Image Credit: NASA, Apollo 8 Crew, Bill Anders; Processing and License:
    Jim Weigang

    Explanation: "Oh my God! Look at that picture over there! Here's the
    Earth coming up. Wow is that pretty!" Soon after that pronouncement, 50
    years ago today, one of the most famous images ever taken was snapped
    from the orbit of the Moon. Now known as "Earthrise", the iconic image
    shows the Earth rising above the limb of the Moon, as taken by the crew
    of Apollo 8. But the well-known Earthrise image was actually the second
    image taken of the Earth rising above the lunar limb -- it was just the
    first in color. With modern digital technology, however, the real first
    Earthrise image -- originally in black and white -- has now been
    remastered to have the combined resolution and color of the first three
    images. Behold! The featured image is a close-up of the picture that
    Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders was talking about. Thanks to modern
    technology and human ingenuity, now we can all see it. (Historical
    note: A different historic black & white image of the Earth setting
    behind the lunar limb was taken by the robotic Lunar Orbiter 1 two
    years earlier.)

    Tomorrow's picture: moon holder
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Feb 28 00:26:14 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 February 28

    Direct Projection: The Moon in My Hands
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Graphy

    Explanation: You don't have to look through a telescope to know where
    it's pointing. Allowing the telescope to project its image onto a large
    surface can be useful because it dilutes the intense brightness of very
    bright sources. Such dilution is useful for looking at the Sun, for
    example during a solar eclipse. In the featured single-exposure image,
    though, it is a too-bright full moon that is projected. This February
    full moon occurred two weeks ago and is called the Snow Moon by some
    northern cultures. The projecting instrument is the main 62-centimeter
    telescope at the Saint-V+¬ran Observatory high in the French Alps.
    Seeing a full moon directly is easier because it is not too bright,
    although you won't see this level of detail. Your next chance will
    occur on March 17.

    Tomorrow's picture: dueling bands
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Mar 1 00:16:06 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 March 1

    Dueling Bands in the Night
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN)

    Explanation: What are these two bands in the sky? The more commonly
    seen band is the one on the right and is the central band of our Milky
    Way galaxy. Our Sun orbits in the disk of this spiral galaxy, so that
    from inside, this disk appears as a band of comparable brightness all
    the way around the sky. The Milky Way band can also be seen all year --
    if out away from city lights. The less commonly seem band, on the left,
    is zodiacal light -- sunlight reflected from dust orbiting the Sun in
    our Solar System. Zodiacal light is brightest near the Sun and so is
    best seen just before sunrise or just after sunset. On some evenings in
    the north, particularly during the months of March and April, this
    ribbon of zodiacal light can appear quite prominent after sunset. It
    was determined only this century that zodiacal dust was mostly expelled
    by comets that have passed near Jupiter. Only on certain times of the
    year will the two bands be seen side by side, in parts of the sky, like
    this. The featured image, including the Andromeda galaxy and a meteor,
    was captured in late January over a frozen lake in Kanding, Sichuan,
    China.

    Tomorrow's picture: it came from the sun
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Mar 2 00:25:50 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 March 2

    Record Prominence Imaged by Solar Orbiter
    Image Credit: Solar Orbiter, EUI Team, ESA & NASA; h/t: Bum-Suk Yeom

    Explanation: What's happened to our Sun? Last month, it produced the
    largest prominence ever imaged together with a complete solar disk. The
    record image, featured, was captured in ultraviolet light by the
    Sun-orbiting Solar Orbiter spacecraft. A quiescent solar prominence is
    a cloud of hot gas held above the Sun's surface by the Sun's magnetic
    field. This solar prominence was huge -- spanning a length rivaling the
    diameter of the Sun itself. Solar prominences may erupt unpredictably
    and expel hot gas into the Solar System via a Coronal Mass Ejection
    (CME). When a CME strikes the Earth and its magnetosphere, bright
    auroras may occur. This prominence did produce a CME, but it was
    directed well away from the Earth. Although surely related to the Sun's
    changing magnetic field, the energy mechanism that creates and sustains
    a solar prominence remains a topic of research.

    Tomorrow's picture: spiral galaxy NGC 2841
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Mar 3 00:12:06 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 March 3

    Spiral Galaxy NGC 2841
    Image Credit & Copyright: Vitali Pelenjow

    Explanation: A mere 46 million light-years distant, spiral galaxy NGC
    2841 can be found in the northern constellation of Ursa Major. This
    deep view of the gorgeous island universe was captured during 32 clear
    nights in November, December 2021 and January 2022. It shows off a
    striking yellow nucleus, galactic disk, and faint outer regions. Dust
    lanes, small star-forming regions, and young star clusters are embedded
    in the patchy, tightly wound spiral arms. In contrast, many other
    spirals exhibit grand, sweeping arms with large star-forming regions.
    NGC 2841 has a diameter of over 150,000 light-years, even larger than
    our own Milky Way. X-ray images suggest that resulting winds and
    stellar explosions create plumes of hot gas extending into a halo
    around NGC 2841.

    Tomorrow's picture: multiwavelength crab
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Mar 4 00:36:38 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 March 4

    The Multiwavelength Crab
    NASA, ESA, G. Dubner (IAFE, CONICET-University of Buenos Aires) et al.;
    A. Loll et al.; T. Temim et al.; F. Seward et al.; VLA/NRAO/AUI/NSF;
    Chandra/CXC;
    Spitzer/JPL-Caltech; XMM-Newton/ESA; Hubble/STScI

    Explanation: The Crab Nebula is cataloged as M1, the first object on
    Charles Messier's famous list of things which are not comets. In fact,
    the Crab is now known to be a supernova remnant, expanding debris from
    massive star's death explosion, witnessed on planet Earth in 1054 AD.
    This brave new image offers a 21st century view of the Crab Nebula by
    presenting image data from across the electromagnetic spectrum as
    wavelengths of visible light. From space, Chandra (X-ray) XMM-Newton
    (ultraviolet), Hubble (visible), and Spitzer (infrared), data are in
    purple, blue, green, and yellow hues. From the ground, Very Large Array
    radio wavelength data is shown in red. One of the most exotic objects
    known to modern astronomers, the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star spinning
    30 times a second, is the bright spot near picture center. Like a
    cosmic dynamo, this collapsed remnant of the stellar core powers the
    Crab's emission across the electromagnetic spectrum. Spanning about 12
    light-years, the Crab Nebula is 6,500 light-years away in the
    constellation Taurus.

    Tomorrow's picture: from somewhere else
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Mar 6 11:24:58 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 March 6

    Venus and the Triply Ultraviolet Sun
    Image Credit: NASA/SDO & the AIA, EVE, and HMI teams; Digital
    Composition: Peter L. Dove

    Explanation: This was a very unusual type of solar eclipse. Typically,
    it is the Earth's Moon that eclipses the Sun. In 2012, though, the
    planet Venus took a turn. Like a solar eclipse by the Moon, the phase
    of Venus became a continually thinner crescent as Venus became
    increasingly better aligned with the Sun. Eventually the alignment
    became perfect and the phase of Venus dropped to zero. The dark spot of
    Venus crossed our parent star. The situation could technically be
    labeled a Venusian annular eclipse with an extraordinarily large ring
    of fire. Pictured here during the occultation, the Sun was imaged in
    three colors of ultraviolet light by the Earth-orbiting Solar Dynamics
    Observatory, with the dark region toward the right corresponding to a
    coronal hole. Hours later, as Venus continued in its orbit, a slight
    crescent phase appeared again. The next Venusian transit across the Sun
    will occur in 2117.

    Tomorrow's picture: a truth about orion
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Mar 7 00:43:24 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 March 7

    A Lion in Orion
    Image Credit & Copyright: Maroun Mahfoud

    Explanation: Yes, but can you see the lion? A deep exposure shows the
    famous dark indentation that looks like a horse's head, visible just
    left and below center, and known unsurprisingly as the Horsehead
    Nebula. The Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33) is part of a vast complex of
    dark absorbing dust and bright glowing gas. To bring out details of the
    Horsehead's pasture, an astrophotographer artistically combined light
    accumulated for over 20 hours in hydrogen (orange), oxygen (blue), and
    sulfur (green). The resulting spectacular picture captured from
    Raachine, Lebanon, details an intricate tapestry of gaseous wisps and
    dust-laden filaments that were created and sculpted over eons by
    stellar winds and ancient supernovas. The featured composition brings
    up another pareidolic animal icon -- that of a lion's head -- in the
    expansive orange colored gas above the horse's head. The Flame Nebula
    is visible just to the left of the Horsehead. The Horsehead Nebula lies
    1,500 light years distant towards the constellation of Orion.

    Tomorrow's picture: oddly inverted moon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Mar 8 00:12:16 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 March 8

    Moon in Inverted Colors
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dawid Glawdzin

    Explanation: Which moon is this? It's Earth's moon -- but in inverted
    colors. Here, the pixel values corresponding to light and dark areas
    have been translated in reverse, or inverted, producing a false-color
    representation reminiscent of a black and white photographic negative.
    However, this is an inverted color image -- where the muted colors of
    the moon are real but digitally exaggerated before inversion. Normally
    bright rays from the large crater Tycho dominate the southern (bottom)
    features as easily followed dark green lines emanating from the
    85-kilometer diameter impact site. Normally dark lunar mare appear
    light and silvery. The image was acquired in Southend-on-Sea, England,
    UK. Historically, astronomical images recorded on photographic plates
    were directly examined on inverted-color negatives because it helped
    the eye pick out faint details.

    Tomorrow's picture: martian rock flower
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Mar 10 00:25:58 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 March 10

    Globular Star Cluster 47 Tuc
    Image Credit & Copyright: Bernard Miller

    Explanation: Globular star cluster 47 Tucanae is a jewel of the
    southern sky. Also known as NGC 104, it roams the halo of our Milky Way
    Galaxy along with some 200 other globular star clusters. The second
    brightest globular cluster (after Omega Centauri) as seen from planet
    Earth, 47 Tuc lies about 13,000 light-years away. It can be spotted
    with the naked-eye close on the sky to the Small Magellanic Cloud in
    the constellation of the Toucan. The dense cluster is made up of
    hundreds of thousands of stars in a volume only about 120 light-years
    across. Red giant stars on the outskirts of the cluster are easy to
    pick out as yellowish stars in this sharp telescopic portrait. Tightly
    packed globular cluster 47 Tuc is also home to a star with the closest
    known orbit around a black hole.

    Tomorrow's picture: a rainbow smiles
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Mar 16 03:38:14 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 March 16

    The Observable Universe
    Illustration Credit & Licence: Wikipedia, Pablo Carlos Budassi

    Explanation: How far can you see? Everything you can see, and
    everything you could possibly see, right now, assuming your eyes could
    detect all types of radiations around you -- is the observable
    universe. In light, the farthest we can see comes from the cosmic
    microwave background, a time 13.8 billion years ago when the universe
    was opaque like thick fog. Some neutrinos and gravitational waves that
    surround us come from even farther out, but humanity does not yet have
    the technology to detect them. The featured image illustrates the
    observable universe on an increasingly compact scale, with the Earth
    and Sun at the center surrounded by our Solar System, nearby stars,
    nearby galaxies, distant galaxies, filaments of early matter, and the
    cosmic microwave background. Cosmologists typically assume that our
    observable universe is just the nearby part of a greater entity known
    as "the universe" where the same physics applies. However, there are
    several lines of popular but speculative reasoning that assert that
    even our universe is part of a greater multiverse where either
    different physical constants occur, different physical laws apply,
    higher dimensions operate, or slightly different-by-chance versions of
    our standard universe exist.

    Available: High res image version with readable annotations | Clickable
    annotation version
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Mar 20 00:49:26 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 March 20

    A Picturesque Equinox Sunset
    Image Credit & Copyright: Roland Christen

    Explanation: What's that at the end of the road? The Sun. Many towns
    have roads that run east - west, and on two days each year, the Sun
    rises and sets right down the middle. Today is one of those days: an
    equinox. Not only is today a day of equal night ("aequus"-"nox") and
    day time, but also a day when the sun rises precisely to the east and
    sets due west. Featured here is a picturesque road in northwest
    Illinois, USA that runs approximately east -west. The image was taken
    during the March Equinox of 2015, and shows the Sun down the road at
    sunset. In many cultures, this March equinox is taken to be the first
    day of a season, typically spring in Earth's northern hemisphere, and
    autumn in the south. Does your favorite street run east - west?
    Tonight, at sunset, you can find out with a quick glance.

    Tomorrow's picture: every single day last year
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Mar 21 00:17:12 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 March 21

    The Sky in 2021
    Image Credit & Copyright: Cees Bassa (Netherlands Institute for Radio
    Astronomy)

    Explanation: What if you could see the entire sky -- all at once -- for
    an entire year? That, very nearly, is what is pictured here. Every 15
    minutes during 2021, an all-sky camera took an image of the sky over
    the Netherlands. Central columns from these images were then aligned
    and combined to create the featured keogram, with January at the top,
    December at the bottom, and the middle of the night running vertically
    just left of center. What do we see? Most obviously, the daytime sky is
    mostly blue, while the nighttime sky is mostly black. The twelve light
    bands crossing the night sky are caused by the glow of the Moon. The
    thinnest part of the black hourglass shape occurs during the summer
    solstice when days are the longest, while the thickest part occurs at
    the winter solstice. Yesterday was an equinox -- when night and day
    were equal -- and the northern-spring equinox from one year ago can
    actually be located in the keogram -- about three-quarters of the way
    up.

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    Tomorrow's picture: a whale of an aurora
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Mar 22 00:05:54 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 March 22

    A Whale of an Aurora over Swedish Forest
    Image Credit & Copyright: G++ran Strand

    Explanation: What's that in the sky? An aurora. A large coronal mass
    ejection occurred on our Sun earlier this month, throwing a cloud of
    fast-moving electrons, protons, and ions toward the Earth. Part of this
    cloud impacted our Earth's magnetosphere and, bolstered by a sudden
    gap, resulted in spectacular auroras being seen at some high northern
    latitudes. Featured here is a particularly photogenic auroral corona
    captured above a forest in Sweden from a scenic perch overlooking the
    city of +ûstersund. To some, this shimmering green glow of recombining
    atmospheric oxygen might appear like a large whale, but feel free to
    share what it looks like to you. The unusually quiet Sun of the past
    few years has now passed. As our Sun now approaches a solar maximum in
    its 11-year solar magnetic cycle, dramatic auroras like this are sure
    to continue.

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    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: big bubble
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Mar 24 00:23:28 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 March 24

    Arp 78: Peculiar Galaxy in Aries
    Image Credit & License: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab /
    NSF / AURA
    Processing: T.A. Rector (Univ. Alaska Anchorage), J. Miller (Gemini
    Observatory/NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin

    Explanation: Peculiar spiral galaxy Arp 78 is found within the
    boundaries of the head strong constellation Aries. Some 100 million
    light-years beyond the stars and nebulae of our Milky Way galaxy, the
    island universe is over 100,000 light-years across. Also known as NGC
    772, it sports a prominent, outer spiral arm in this detailed cosmic
    portrait from the large Gemini North telescope near the summit of
    Maunakea, Hawaii, planet Earth. Tracking along sweeping dust lanes and
    lined with young blue star clusters, Arp 78's spiral arm is likely
    pumped-up by galactic-scale gravitational tidal interactions The close
    companion galaxy responsible is NGC 770, located off the upper right of
    this frame. But more distant background galaxies are clearly visible in
    the cosmic field of view.

    Tomorrow's picture: serpentine protectress
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Mar 31 00:44:28 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 March 31

    Exploring the Antennae
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dietmar Hager, Eric Benson

    Explanation: Some 60 million light-years away in the southerly
    constellation Corvus, two large galaxies are colliding. Stars in the
    two galaxies, cataloged as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039, very rarely collide
    in the course of the ponderous cataclysm that lasts for hundreds of
    millions of years. But the galaxies' large clouds of molecular gas and
    dust often do, triggering furious episodes of star formation near the
    center of the cosmic wreckage. Spanning over 500 thousand light-years,
    this stunning view also reveals new star clusters and matter flung far
    from the scene of the accident by gravitational tidal forces. The
    remarkably sharp ground-based image, an accumulation of 88 hours of
    exposure captured during 2012-2021, follows the faint tidal tails and
    distant background galaxies in the field of view. The suggestive
    overall visual appearance of the extended arcing structures gives the
    galaxy pair, also known as Arp 244, its popular name - The Antennae.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Apr 3 00:58:14 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 April 3

    CMB Dipole: Speeding Through the Universe
    Image Credit: DMR, COBE, NASA, Four-Year Sky Map

    Explanation: Our Earth is not at rest. The Earth moves around the Sun.
    The Sun orbits the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Milky Way Galaxy
    orbits in the Local Group of Galaxies. The Local Group falls toward the
    Virgo Cluster of Galaxies. But these speeds are less than the speed
    that all of these objects together move relative to the cosmic
    microwave background radiation (CMBR). In the featured all-sky map from
    the COBE satellite in 1993, microwave light in the Earth's direction of
    motion appears blueshifted and hence hotter, while microwave light on
    the opposite side of the sky is redshifted and colder. The map
    indicates that the Local Group moves at about 600 kilometers per second
    relative to this primordial radiation. This high speed was initially
    unexpected and its magnitude is still unexplained. Why are we moving so
    fast? What is out there?

    Tomorrow's picture: auroral vortex
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Apr 4 00:25:18 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 April 4

    A Vortex Aurora over Iceland
    Image Credit & Copyright: Christophe Suarez

    Explanation: No, the car was not in danger of being vacuumed into space
    by the big sky vortex. For one reason, the vortex was really an aurora,
    and since auroras are created by particles striking the Earth from
    space, they do not create a vacuum. This rapidly developing auroral
    display was caused by a Coronal Mass Ejection from the Sun that passed
    by the Earth closely enough to cause a ripple in Earth's magnetosphere.
    The upper red parts of the aurora occur over 250 kilometers high with
    its red glow created by atmospheric atomic oxygen directly energized by
    incoming particles. The lower green parts of the aurora occur over 100
    kilometers high with its green glow created by atmospheric atomic
    oxygen energized indirectly by collisions with first-energized
    molecular nitrogen. Below 100 kilometers, there is little atomic
    oxygen, which is why auroras end abruptly. The concentric cylinders
    depict a dramatic auroral corona as seen from the side. The featured
    image was created from a single 3-second exposure taken in mid-March
    over Lake Myvatn in Iceland.

    April is: Global Astronomy Month
    Tomorrow's picture: california seven
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Apr 7 00:13:38 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 April 7

    Messier 24: Sagittarius Star Cloud
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gabriel Rodrigues Santos

    Explanation: Unlike most entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog of
    deep sky objects, M24 is not a bright galaxy, star cluster, or nebula.
    It's a gap in nearby, obscuring interstellar dust clouds that allows a
    view of the distant stars in the Sagittarius spiral arm of our Milky
    Way galaxy. When you gaze at the star cloud with binoculars or small
    telescope you are looking through a window over 300 light-years wide at
    stars some 10,000 light-years or more from Earth. Sometimes called the
    Small Sagittarius Star Cloud, M24's luminous stars fill this gorgeous
    starscape. Covering over 3 degrees or the width of 6 full moons in the
    constellation Sagittarius, the telescopic field of view includes dark
    markings B92 and B93 just above center, along with other clouds of dust
    and glowing nebulae toward the center of the Milky Way.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Apr 8 00:32:20 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 April 8

    Hale-Bopp: The Great Comet of 1997
    Image Credit & Copyright: Stefan Seip (TWAN)

    Explanation: Only twenty-five years ago, Comet Hale-Bopp rounded the
    Sun and offered a dazzling spectacle in planet Earth's night skies.
    Digitized from the original astrophoto on 35mm color slide film, this
    classic image of the Great Comet of 1997 was recorded a few days after
    its perihelion passage on April 1, 1997. Made with a camera and
    telephoto lens piggy-backed on a small telescope, the 10 minute long,
    hand-guided exposure features the memorable tails of Hale-Bopp, a
    whitish dust tail and blue ion tail. Here, the ion tail extends well
    over ten degrees across the northern sky. In all, Hale-Bopp was
    reported as visible to the naked eye from late May 1996 through
    September 1997. Also known as C/1995 O1, Hale-Bopp is recognized as one
    of the most compositionally pristine comets to pass through the inner
    Solar System. A visitor from the distant Oort cloud, the comet's next
    perihelion passage should be around the year 4380 AD. Do you remember
    Hale-Bopp?

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Apr 14 00:15:14 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 April 14

    Messier 96
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby

    Explanation: Spiral arms seem to swirl around the core of Messier 96 in
    this colorful, detailed portrait of a beautiful island universe. Of
    course M96 is a spiral galaxy, and counting the faint arms extending
    beyond the brighter central region it spans 100 thousand light-years or
    so. That's about the size of our own Milky Way. M96 is known to be 38
    million light-years distant, a dominant member of the Leo I galaxy
    group. Background galaxies and smaller Leo I group members can be found
    by examining the picture. The most intriguing one is itself a spiral
    galaxy seen nearly edge on behind the outer spiral arm near the 1
    o'clock position from center. Its bright central bulge cut by its own
    dark dust clouds, the edge-on background spiral appears to be about 1/5
    the size of M96. If that background galaxy is similar in actual size to
    M96, then it would be about 5 times farther away.

    Tomorrow's picture: the red planet rocks
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Apr 15 00:27:10 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 April 15

    The Gator-back Rocks of Mars
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS

    Explanation: Wind-sharpened rocks known as ventifacts, cover this broad
    sloping plain in the foot hills of Mount Sharp, Gale crater, Mars.
    Dubbed gator-back rocks their rugged, scaly appearance is captured in
    these digitally stitched Mastcam frames from the Curiosity rover on
    mission sol 3,415 (March 15, 2022). Driving over gator-back rocks
    before has resulted in damage to the rover's wheels, so Curiosity team
    members decided to turn around and take another path to continue the
    rover's climb. Curiosity has been on an ascent of Gale crater's central
    5.5 kilometer high mountain since 2014. As it climbs, it's been able to
    study layers shaped by water on Mars billions of years ago.

    Tomorrow's picture: the pines of Orion
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Apr 18 02:59:14 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 April 18

    Stars and Planets over Portugal
    Image Credit & Copyright: Miguel Claro (TWAN, Dark Sky Alqueva)

    Explanation: The mission was to document night-flying birds -- but it
    ended up also documenting a beautiful sky. The featured wide-angle
    mosaic was taken over the steppe golden fields in M+¬rtola, Portugal in
    2020. From such a dark location, an immediately-evident breathtaking
    glow arched over the night sky: the central band of our Milky Way
    galaxy. But this sky had much more. Thin clouds crossed the sky like
    golden ribbons. The planet Mars appeared on the far left, while the
    planets Saturn and Jupiter were also simultaneously visible -- but on
    the opposite side of the sky, here seen on the far right. Near the top
    of the image the bright star Vega can be found, while the far-distant
    and faint Andromeda Galaxy can be seen toward the left, just below
    Milky Way's arch. As the current month progresses, several planets are
    lining up in the pre-dawn sky: Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Saturn.

    Did you know? Many APODs have links for adventure & humor
    Tomorrow's picture: giant chicken
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Apr 23 00:20:18 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 April 23

    Messier 104
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive;
    Processing & Copyright: Ignacio Diaz Bobillo

    Explanation: A gorgeous spiral galaxy, Messier 104 is famous for its
    nearly edge-on profile featuring a broad ring of obscuring dust lanes.
    Seen in silhouette against an extensive central bulge of stars, the
    swath of cosmic dust lends a broad brimmed hat-like appearance to the
    galaxy suggesting a more popular moniker, the Sombrero Galaxy. This
    sharp view of the well-known galaxy was made from over 10 hours of
    Hubble Space Telescope image data, processed to bring out faint details
    often lost in the overwhelming glare of M104's bright central bulge.
    Also known as NGC 4594, the Sombrero galaxy can be seen across the
    spectrum, and is host to a central supermassive black hole. About
    50,000 light-years across and 28 million light-years away, M104 is one
    of the largest galaxies at the southern edge of the Virgo Galaxy
    Cluster. Still, the spiky foreground stars in this field of view lie
    well within our own Milky Way.

    Tomorrow's picture: just press the button
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Apr 22 00:35:34 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 April 22

    Planet Earth at Twilight
    Image Credit: ISS Expedition 2 Crew, Gateway to Astronaut Photography
    of Earth, NASA

    Explanation: No sudden, sharp boundary marks the passage of day into
    night in this gorgeous view of ocean and clouds over our fair planet
    Earth. Instead, the shadow line or terminator is diffuse and shows the
    gradual transition to darkness we experience as twilight. With the Sun
    illuminating the scene from the right, the cloud tops reflect gently
    reddened sunlight filtered through the dusty troposphere, the lowest
    layer of the planet's nurturing atmosphere. A clear high altitude
    layer, visible along the dayside's upper edge, scatters blue sunlight
    and fades into the blackness of space. This picture was taken in June
    of 2001 from the International Space Station orbiting at an altitude of
    211 nautical miles. Of course from home, you can check out the Earth
    Now.

    Celebrate: Today is Earth Day
    Tomorrow's picture: Messier 104
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Apr 24 00:09:20 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 April 24

    Split the Universe
    Image Credit: NASA, Erwin Schr++dinger's cat

    Explanation: Just now, before you hit the button, two future universes
    are possible. After pressing the button, though, you will live in only
    one. A real-web version of the famous Schr++dinger's cat experiment
    clicking the red button in the featured astronaut image should
    transform that image into a picture of the same astronaut holding one
    of two cats -- one living, or one dead. The timing of your click,
    combined with the wiring of your brain and the millisecond timing of
    your device, will all conspire together to create a result dominated,
    potentially, by the randomness of quantum mechanics. Some believe that
    your personally-initiated quantum decision will split the universe in
    two, and that both the live-cat and dead-cat universes exist in
    separate parts of a larger multiverse. Others believe that the result
    of your click will collapse the two possible universes into one -- in a
    way that could not have been predicted beforehand. Yet others believe
    that the universe is classically deterministic, so that by pressing the
    button you did not really split the universe, but just carried out an
    action predestined since time began. We at APOD believe that however
    silly you may feel clicking the red button, and regardless of the
    outcome, you should have a thought-provoking day. Or two.

    Tomorrow's picture: great carina
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Apr 25 00:16:08 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 April 25

    The Great Nebula in Carina
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ignacio Javier Diaz Bobillo

    Explanation: In one of the brightest parts of Milky Way lies a nebula
    where some of the oddest things occur. NGC 3372, known as the Great
    Nebula in Carina, is home to massive stars and changing nebulas. The
    Keyhole Nebula (NGC 3324), the bright structure just below the image
    center, houses several of these massive stars. The entire Carina
    Nebula, captured here, spans over 300 light years and lies about 7,500
    light-years away in the constellation of Carina. Eta Carinae, the most
    energetic star in the nebula, was one of the brightest stars in the sky
    in the 1830s, but then faded dramatically. While Eta Carinae itself
    maybe on the verge of a supernova explosion, X-ray images indicate that
    much of the Great Nebula in Carina has been a veritable supernova
    factory.

    Tomorrow's picture: opera of the planets
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Apr 26 00:10:50 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 April 26

    Planet Parade over Sydney Opera House
    Image Credit & Copyright: Prasun Agrawal

    Explanation: The world is waking up to a picturesque planet parade.
    Just before dawn, the eastern skies over much of planet Earth are
    decorated by a notable line of familiar planets. In much of Earth's
    northern hemisphere, this line of planets appears most nearly
    horizontal, but in much of Earth's southern hemisphere, the line
    appears more nearly vertical. Pictured over the Sydney Opera House in
    southern Australia, the planet line was captured nearly vertical about
    five days ago. From top to bottom, the morning planets are Saturn,
    Mars, Venus, and Jupiter. As April ends, the angular distance between
    Venus and Jupiter will gradually pass below a degree as they switch
    places. Then, as May ends, Jupiter will pass near Mars as those two
    planets switch places. In June, the parade will briefly expand to
    include Mercury.

    Notable Submissions to APOD: Morning Planet Parade 2022
    Tomorrow's picture: Jupiter eclipse
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri May 6 00:11:34 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 May 6

    NGC 3572 and the Southern Tadpoles
    Image Credit & Copyright: Carlos Taylor

    Explanation: This cosmic skyscape features glowing gas and dark dust
    clouds along side the young stars of NGC 3572. A beautiful emission
    nebula and star cluster it sails far southern skies within the nautical
    constellation Carina. Stars from NGC 3572 are toward top center in the
    telescopic frame that would measure about 100 light-years across at the
    cluster's estimated distance of 9,000 light-years. The visible
    interstellar gas and dust is part of the star cluster's natal molecular
    cloud. Dense streamers of material within the nebula, eroded by stellar
    winds and radiation, clearly trail away from the energetic young stars.
    They are likely sites of ongoing star formation with shapes reminiscent
    of the Tadpoles of IC 410 better known to northern skygazers. In the
    coming tens to hundreds of millions of years, gas and stars in the
    cluster will be dispersed though, by gravitational tides and by violent
    supernova explosions that end the short lives of the massive cluster
    stars.

    Tomorrow's picture: firefall by moonlight
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon May 9 00:29:14 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 May 9

    A Martian Eclipse: Phobos Crosses the Sun
    Video Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, ASU MSSS, SSI

    Explanation: What's that passing in front of the Sun? It looks like a
    moon, but it can't be Earth's Moon, because it isn't round. It's the
    Martian moon Phobos. The featured video was taken from the surface of
    Mars a month ago by the Perseverance rover. Phobos, at 11.5 kilometers
    across, is 150 times smaller than Luna (our moon) in diameter, but also
    50 times closer to its parent planet. In fact, Phobos is so close to
    Mars that it is expected to break up and crash into Mars within the
    next 50 million years. In the near term, the low orbit of Phobos
    results in more rapid solar eclipses than seen from Earth. The featured
    video is shown in real time -- the transit really took about 40
    seconds,as shown. The videographer -- the robotic rover Perseverance
    (Percy) -- continues to explore Jezero Crater on Mars, searching not
    only for clues to the watery history of the now dry world, but evidence
    of ancient microbial life.

    New Social Mirror: APOD now available on mastodon
    Tomorrow's picture: giant space paw
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu May 19 00:12:52 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 May 19

    A Digital Lunar Eclipse
    Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Cain

    Explanation: Recorded on May 15/16 this sequence of exposures follows
    the Full Moon during a total lunar eclipse as it arcs above treetops in
    the clearing skies of central Florida. A frame taken every 5 minutes by
    a digital camera shows the progression of the eclipse over three hours.
    The bright lunar disk grows dark and red as it glides through planet
    Earth's shadow. In fact, counting the central frames in the sequence
    measures the roughly 90 minute duration of the total phase of this
    eclipse. Around 270 BC, the Greek astronomer Aristarchus also measured
    the duration of total lunar eclipses, but probably without the benefit
    of digital watches and cameras. Still, using geometry he devised a
    simple and impressively accurate way to calculate the Moon's distance
    in terms of the radius of planet Earth, from the eclipse duration.

    Tomorrow's picture: a view from Earth's shadow
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jun 1 00:34:18 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 June 1

    Tau Herculids Meteors over Kitt Peak Telescopes
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jianwei Lyu (Steward Obs., U. Arizona)

    Explanation: It wasn't the storm of the century -- but it was a night
    to remember. Last night was the peak of the Tau Herculids meteor
    shower, a usually modest dribble of occasional meteors originating from
    the disintegrating Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3. This year,
    calculations showed that the Earth might be passing through a
    particularly dense stream of comet debris -- at best creating a storm
    of bright meteors streaking out from the constellation of Hercules.
    What actually happened fell short of a meteor storm, but could be
    called a decent meteor shower. Featured here is a composite image taken
    at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, USA accumulated over 2.5
    hours very late on May 30. Over that time, 19 Tau Herculids meteors
    were captured, along with 4 unrelated meteors. (Can you find them?) In
    the near foreground is the Bok 2.3-meter Telescope with the 4.0-meter
    Mayall Telescope just behind it. Next year, the annual Tau Herculids
    are expected to return to its normal low rate, with the next active
    night forecast for 2049.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jun 5 00:26:32 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 June 5

    Two Black Holes Dancing in 3C 75
    Image Credit: X-Ray: NASA/CXC/D. Hudson, T. Reiprich et al. (AIfA);
    Radio: NRAO/VLA/ NRL

    Explanation: What's happening at the center of active galaxy 3C 75? The
    two bright sources at the center of this composite x-ray (blue)/ radio
    (pink) image are co-orbiting supermassive black holes powering the
    giant radio source 3C 75. Surrounded by multimillion degree x-ray
    emitting gas, and blasting out jets of relativistic particles the
    supermassive black holes are separated by 25,000 light-years. At the
    cores of two merging galaxies in the Abell 400 galaxy cluster they are
    some 300 million light-years away. Astronomers conclude that these two
    supermassive black holes are bound together by gravity in a binary
    system in part because the jets' consistent swept back appearance is
    most likely due to their common motion as they speed through the hot
    cluster gas at about 1200 kilometers per second. Such spectacular
    cosmic mergers are thought to be common in crowded galaxy cluster
    environments in the distant universe. In their final stages, the
    mergers are expected to be intense sources of gravitational waves.

    Tomorrow's picture: Milky Way doomed
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jun 11 00:27:28 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 June 11

    The Road and the Milky Way
    Image Credit & Copyright: David Cruz

    Explanation: At night you can follow this road as it passes through the
    Dark Sky Alqueva reserve not too far from Alentejo, Portugal. Or you
    could stop, look up, and follow the Milky Way through the sky. Both
    stretch from horizon to horizon in this 180 degree panorama recorded on
    June 3. Our galaxy's name, the Milky Way, does refer to its appearance
    as a milky path in the sky. The word galaxy itself derives from the
    Greek for milk. From our fair planet the arc of the Milky Way is most
    easily visible on moonless nights from dark sky areas, though not quite
    so bright or colorful as in this image. The glowing celestial band is
    due to the collective light of myriad stars along the galactic plane
    too faint to be distinguished individually. The diffuse starlight is
    cut by dark swaths of the galaxy's obscuring interstellar dust clouds.
    Standing above the Milky Way arc near the top of this panoramic
    nightscape is bright star Vega, with the galaxy's central bulge near
    the horizon at the right.

    Tomorrow's picture: pareidolia in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jun 15 00:31:22 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 June 15

    In the Heart of the Virgo Cluster
    Image Credit & Copyright: Saulius Adomaitis

    Explanation: The Virgo Cluster of Galaxies is the closest cluster of
    galaxies to our Milky Way Galaxy. The Virgo Cluster is so close that it
    spans more than 5 degrees on the sky - about 10 times the angle made by
    a full Moon. With its heart lying about 70 million light years distant,
    the Virgo Cluster is the nearest cluster of galaxies, contains over
    2,000 galaxies, and has a noticeable gravitational pull on the galaxies
    of the Local Group of Galaxies surrounding our Milky Way Galaxy. The
    cluster contains not only galaxies filled with stars but also gas so
    hot it glows in X-rays. Motions of galaxies in and around clusters
    indicate that they contain more dark matter than any visible matter we
    can see. Pictured here, the heart of the Virgo Cluster includes bright
    Messier galaxies such as Markarian's Eyes on the upper left, M86 just
    to the upper right of center, M84 on the far right, as well as spiral
    galaxy NGC 4388 at the bottom right.

    Celestial Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Birthday? Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jun 17 00:12:06 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 June 17

    Good Morning Planets from Chile
    Image Credit & Copyright: Elke Schulz (Daniel Verschatse Observatory)

    Explanation: On June 15, innermost planet Mercury had wandered about as
    far from the Sun as it ever gets in planet Earth's sky. Near the
    eastern horizon just before sunrise it stands over distant Andes
    mountain peaks in this predawn snapshot from the valley of Rio Hurtado
    in Chile. June's other morning planets are arrayed above it, as all the
    naked-eye planets of the Solar System stretch in a line along the
    ecliptic in the single wide-field view. Tilted toward the north, the
    Solar System's ecliptic plane arcs steeply through southern hemisphere
    skies. Northern hemisphere early morning risers will see the lineup of
    planets along the ecliptic at a shallower angle tilting toward the
    south. From both hemispheres June's beautiful morning planetary display
    finds the visible planets in order of their increasing distance from
    the Sun.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jun 20 00:15:16 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 June 20

    Rock Fingers on Mars
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS

    Explanation: There, just right of center, what is that? The surface of
    Mars keeps revealing new surprises with the recent discovery of
    finger-like rock spires. The small nearly-vertical rock outcrops were
    imaged last month by the robotic Curiosity rover on Mars. Although
    similar in size and shape to small snakes, the leading explanation for
    their origin is as conglomerations of small minerals left by water
    flowing through rock crevices. After these relatively dense minerals
    filled the crevices, they were left behind when the surrounding rock
    eroded away. Famous rock outcrops on Earth with a similar origin are
    called hoodoos. NASA's Curiosity Rover continues to search for new
    signs of ancient water in Gale Crater on Mars, while also providing a
    geologic background important for future human exploration.

    Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: city suns
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jun 27 00:23:32 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 June 27

    The Gum Nebula over Snowy Mountains
    Image Credit & Copyright: Wang Jin

    Explanation: The Gum Nebula is so large and close it is actually hard
    to see. This interstellar expanse of glowing hydrogen gas frequently
    evades notice because it spans 35 degrees -- over 70 full Moons --
    while much of it is quite dim. This featured spectacular 90-degree wide
    mosaic, however, was designed to be both wide and deep enough to bring
    up the Gum -- visible in red on the right. The image was acquired late
    last year with both the foreground -- including Haba Snow Mountain --
    and the background -- including the Milky Way's central band --
    captured by the same camera and from the same location in Shangri-La,
    Yunnan, China. The Gum Nebula is so close that we are only about 450
    light-years from the front edge, while about 1,500 light-years from the
    back edge. Named for a cosmic cloud hunter, Australian astronomer Colin
    Stanley Gum (1924-1960), the origin of this complex nebula is still
    being debated. A leading theory for the origin of the Gum Nebula is
    that it is the remnant of a million year-old supernova explosion, while
    a competing theory holds that the Gum is a molecular cloud shaped over
    eons by multiple supernovas and the outflowing winds of several massive
    stars.

    Tomorrow's picture: moon planet
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jun 28 00:18:42 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 June 28

    Mercury from Passing BepiColombo
    Image Credit & License: ESA, JAXA, BepiColombo, MTM

    Explanation: Which part of the Moon is this? No part -- because this is
    the planet Mercury. Mercury's old surface is heavily cratered like that
    of Earth's Moon. Mercury, while only slightly larger than Luna, is much
    denser and more massive than any Solar System moon because it is made
    mostly of iron. In fact, our Earth is the only planet more dense.
    Because Mercury rotates exactly three times for every two orbits around
    the Sun, and because Mercury's orbit is so elliptical, visitors on
    Mercury could see the Sun rise, stop in the sky, go back toward the
    rising horizon, stop again, and then set quickly over the other
    horizon. From Earth, Mercury's proximity to the Sun causes it to be
    visible only for a short time just after sunset or just before sunrise.
    The featured image was captured last week by ESA and JAXA's passing
    BepiColombo spacecraft as it sheds energy and prepares to orbit the
    innermost planet starting in 2025.

    Tomorrow's picture: solar system family portrait
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jun 29 00:16:50 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 June 29

    Solar System Family Portrait
    Image Credit & Copyright: Alexis Trigo

    Explanation: Yes, but have you ever seen all of the planets at once? A
    rare roll-call of planets has been occurring in the morning sky for
    much of June. The featured fisheye all-sky image, taken a few mornings
    ago near the town of San Pedro de Atacama in Chile, caught not only the
    entire planet parade, but the Moon between Mars and Venus. In order,
    left to right along the ecliptic plane, members of this Solar System
    family portrait are Earth, Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter, Mars, Uranus,
    Venus, Mercury, and Earth. To emphasize their locations, Neptune and
    Uranus have been artificially enhanced. The volcano just below Mercury
    is Licancabur. In July, Mercury will move into the Sun's glare but
    reappear a few days later on the evening side. Then, in August, Saturn
    will drift past the direction opposite the Sun and so become visible at
    dusk instead of dawn. The next time that all eight planets will be
    simultaneously visible in a morning sky will be in 2122.

    Notable Submissions to APOD: Morning Planet Parade 2022 June
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jul 3 00:22:56 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 July 3

    Phobos: Doomed Moon of Mars
    Image Credit: HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA

    Explanation: This moon is doomed. Mars, the red planet named for the
    Roman god of war, has two tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos, whose names
    are derived from the Greek for Fear and Panic. These martian moons may
    well be captured asteroids originating in the main asteroid belt
    between Mars and Jupiter or perhaps from even more distant reaches of
    our Solar System. The larger moon, Phobos, is indeed seen to be a
    cratered, asteroid-like object in this stunning color image from the
    robotic Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, with objects as small as 10 meters
    visible. But Phobos orbits so close to Mars - about 5,800 kilometers
    above the surface compared to 400,000 kilometers for our Moon - that
    gravitational tidal forces are dragging it down. In perhaps 50 million
    years, Phobos is expected to disintegrate into a ring of debris.

    Tomorrow's picture: strawberry supermoon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jul 5 00:18:14 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 July 5

    A Molten Galaxy Einstein Ring
    Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, S. Jha; Processing: Jonathan Lodge

    Explanation: It is difficult to hide a galaxy behind a cluster of
    galaxies. The closer cluster's gravity will act like a huge lens,
    pulling images of the distant galaxy around the sides and greatly
    distorting them. This is just the case observed in the featured image
    recently re-processed image from the Hubble Space Telescope. The
    cluster GAL-CLUS-022058c is composed of many galaxies and is lensing
    the image of a yellow-red background galaxy into arcs seen around the
    image center. Dubbed a molten Einstein ring for its unusual shape, four
    images of the same background galaxy have been identified. Typically, a
    foreground galaxy cluster can only create such smooth arcs if most of
    its mass is smoothly distributed -- and therefore not concentrated in
    the cluster galaxies visible. Analyzing the positions of these
    gravitational arcs gives astronomers a method to estimate the dark
    matter distribution in galaxy clusters, as well as infer when the stars
    in these early galaxies began to form.

    New APOD Social Mirrors in Arabic: On Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
    Tomorrow's picture: star streamers
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jul 10 00:31:26 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 July 10

    In the Center of the Cat's Eye Nebula
    Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Reprocessing & Copyright: Raul
    Villaverde

    Explanation: Three thousand light-years away, a dying star throws off
    shells of glowing gas. This image from the Hubble Space Telescope
    reveals the Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543), to be one of the most complex
    planetary nebulae known. Spanning half a light-year, the features seen
    in the Cat's Eye are so complex that astronomers suspect the bright
    central object may actually be a binary star system. The term planetary
    nebula, used to describe this general class of objects, is misleading.
    Although these objects may appear round and planet-like in small
    telescopes, high resolution images with large telescopes reveal them to
    be stars surrounded by cocoons of gas blown off in the late stages of
    stellar evolution. Gazing into this Cat's Eye, astronomers may well be
    seeing more than detailed structure, they may be seeing the fate of our
    Sun, destined to enter its own planetary nebula phase of evolution ...
    in about 5 billion years.

    Tomorrow's picture: sahara andromeda
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jul 19 00:44:24 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 July 19

    Pleiades over Half Dome
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dheera Venkatraman

    Explanation: Stars come in bunches. The most famous bunch of stars on
    the sky is the Pleiades, a bright cluster that can be easily seen with
    the unaided eye. The Pleiades lies only about 450 light years away,
    formed about 100 million years ago, and will likely last about another
    250 million years. Our Sun was likely born in a star cluster, but now,
    being about 4.5 billion years old, its stellar birth companions have
    long since dispersed. The Pleiades star cluster is pictured over Half
    Dome, a famous rock structure in Yosemite National Park in California,
    USA. The featured image is a composite of 28 foreground exposures and
    174 images of the stellar background, all taken from the same location
    and by the same camera on the same night in October 2019. After
    calculating the timing of a future juxtaposition of the Pleiades and
    Half Dome, the astrophotrographer was unexpectedly rewarded by an
    electrical blackout, making the background sky unusually dark.

    Tomorrow's picture: webb of ring
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jul 20 02:34:12 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 July 20

    Jupiter and Ring in Infrared from Webb
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Processing & License: Judy Schmidt

    Explanation: Why does Jupiter have rings? Jupiter's main ring was
    discovered in 1979 by NASA's passing Voyager 1 spacecraft, but its
    origin was then a mystery. Data from NASA's Galileo spacecraft that
    orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003, however, confirmed the hypothesis
    that this ring was created by meteoroid impacts on small nearby moons.
    As a small meteoroid strikes tiny Metis, for example, it will bore into
    the moon, vaporize, and explode dirt and dust off into a Jovian orbit.
    The featured image of Jupiter in infrared light by the James Webb Space
    Telescope shows not only Jupiter and its clouds, but this ring as well.
    Also visible is Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) -- in comparatively
    light color on the right, Jupiter's large moon Europa -- in the center
    of diffraction spikes on the left, and Europa's shadow -- next to the
    GRS. Several features in the image are not yet well understood,
    including the seemingly separated cloud layer on Jupiter's right limb.

    Celestial Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jul 26 00:12:14 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 July 26

    Comet NEOWISE Rising over the Adriatic Sea
    Video Credit & Copyright: Paolo Girotti

    Explanation: This sight was worth getting out of bed early. Two years
    ago this month, Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) rose before dawn to the
    delight of northern sky enthusiasts awake that early. Up before sunrise
    on July 8th, the featured photographer was able to capture in dramatic
    fashion one of the few comets visible to the unaided eye this century,
    an inner-Solar System intruder that has become known as the Great Comet
    of 2020. The resulting video detailed Comet NEOWISE from Italy rising
    over the Adriatic Sea. The time-lapse video combines over 240 images
    taken over 30 minutes. The comet was seen rising through a foreground
    of bright and undulating noctilucent clouds, and before a background of
    distant stars. Comet NEOWISE remained unexpectedly bright until 2020
    August, with its ion and dust tails found to emanate from a nucleus
    spanning about five kilometers across.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 2,800+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: crepuscular moonrise
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jul 31 00:17:26 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 July 31

    Starburst Galaxy M94 from Hubble
    Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

    Explanation: Why does this galaxy have a ring of bright blue stars?
    Beautiful island universe Messier 94 lies a mere 15 million light-years
    distant in the northern constellation of the Hunting Dogs (Canes
    Venatici). A popular target for Earth-based astronomers, the face-on
    spiral galaxy is about 30,000 light-years across, with spiral arms
    sweeping through the outskirts of its broad disk. But this Hubble Space
    Telescope field of view spans about 7,000 light-years across M94's
    central region. The featured close-up highlights the galaxy's compact,
    bright nucleus, prominent inner dust lanes, and the remarkable bluish
    ring of young massive stars. The ring stars are all likely less than 10
    million years old, indicating that M94 is a starburst galaxy that is
    experiencing an epoch of rapid star formation from inspiraling gas. The
    circular ripple of blue stars is likely a wave propagating outward,
    having been triggered by the gravity and rotation of a oval matter
    distributions. Because M94 is relatively nearby, astronomers can better
    explore details of its starburst ring.

    Tomorrow's picture: space mountain
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Aug 3 00:18:42 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 August 3

    Halo of the Cat's Eye
    Image Credit & Copyright: Bray Falls

    Explanation: What created the unusual halo around the Cat's Eye nebula?
    No one is sure. What is sure is that the Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is
    one of the best known planetary nebulae on the sky. Although haunting
    symmetries are seen in the bright central region, this image was taken
    to feature its intricately structured outer halo, which spans over
    three light-years across. Planetary nebulae have long been appreciated
    as a final phase in the life of a Sun-like star. Only recently however,
    have some planetaries been found to have expansive halos, likely formed
    from material shrugged off during earlier puzzling episodes in the
    star's evolution. While the planetary nebula phase is thought to last
    for around 10,000 years, astronomers estimate the age of the outer
    filamentary portions of the Cat's Eye Nebula's halo to be 50,000 to
    90,000 years.

    Tomorrow's picture: herculean stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Aug 7 00:11:46 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 August 7

    Meteor before Galaxy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Fritz Helmut Hemmerich

    Explanation: What's that green streak in front of the Andromeda galaxy?
    A meteor. While photographing the Andromeda galaxy in 2016, near the
    peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower, a small pebble from deep space
    crossed right in front of our Milky Way Galaxy's far-distant companion.
    The small meteor took only a fraction of a second to pass through this
    10-degree field. The meteor flared several times while braking
    violently upon entering Earth's atmosphere. The green color was
    created, at least in part, by the meteor's gas glowing as it vaporized.
    Although the exposure was timed to catch a Perseid meteor, the
    orientation of the imaged streak seems a better match to a meteor from
    the Southern Delta Aquariids, a meteor shower that peaked a few weeks
    earlier. Not coincidentally, the Perseid Meteor Shower peaks later this
    week, although this year the meteors will have to outshine a sky
    brightened by a nearly full moon.

    Tomorrow's picture: celestial lagoon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Aug 10 00:16:16 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 August 10

    Dust Clouds of the Pacman Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Douglas J. Struble (Future World Media)

    Explanation: Stars can create huge and intricate dust sculptures from
    the dense and dark molecular clouds from which they are born. The tools
    the stars use to carve their detailed works are high energy light and
    fast stellar winds. The heat they generate evaporates the dark
    molecular dust as well as causing ambient hydrogen gas to disperse and
    glow red. Pictured here, a new open cluster of stars designated IC 1590
    is nearing completion around the intricate interstellar dust structures
    in the emission nebula NGC 281, dubbed the Pac-man Nebula because of
    its overall shape. The dust cloud on the upper left is classified as a
    Bok Globule as it may gravitationally collapse and form a star -- or
    stars. The Pacman Nebula lies about 10,000 light years away toward the
    constellation of Cassiopeia.

    Tomorrow's picture: MAGIC meteors
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Aug 14 00:28:04 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 August 14

    4000 Exoplanets
    Video Credit: SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida); Data: NASA
    Exoplanet Archive

    Explanation: Over 4000 planets are now known to exist outside our Solar
    System. Known as exoplanets, this milestone was passed last month, as
    recorded by NASA's Exoplanet Archive. The featured video highlights
    these exoplanets in sound and light, starting chronologically from the
    first confirmed detection in 1992 and continuing into 2019. The entire
    night sky is first shown compressed with the central band of our Milky
    Way Galaxy making a giant U. Exoplanets detected by slight jiggles in
    their parents-star's colors (radial velocity) appear in pink, while
    those detected by slight dips in their parent star's brightness
    (transit) are shown in purple. Further, those exoplanets imaged
    directly appear in orange, while those detected by gravitationally
    magnifying the light of a background star (microlensing) are shown in
    green. The faster a planet orbits its parent star, the higher the
    accompanying tone played. The retired Kepler satellite has discovered
    about half of these first 4000 exoplanets in just one region of the
    sky, while the TESS mission is on track to find even more, all over the
    sky, orbiting the brightest nearby stars. Finding exoplanets not only
    helps humanity to better understand the potential prevalence of life
    elsewhere in the universe, but also how our Earth and Solar System were
    formed.

    Tomorrow's picture: wall of stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Aug 19 00:28:00 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 August 19

    Saturn: 1993 - 2022
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel (TWAN)

    Explanation: Saturn is the most distant planet of the Solar System
    easily visible to the unaided eye. With this extraordinary, long-term
    astro-imaging project begun in 1993, you can follow the ringed gas
    giant for one Saturn year as it wanders once around the ecliptic plane,
    finishing a single orbit around the Sun by 2022. Constructed from
    individual images made over 29 Earth years, the split panorama is
    centered along the ecliptic and crossed by the plane of our Milky Way
    galaxy. Saturn's position in 1993 is at the right side, upper panel in
    the constellation Capricornus and progresses toward the left. It
    returns to the spot in Capricornus at left in the lower panel in 2022.
    The consistent imaging shows Saturn appears slightly brighter during
    the years 2000-2005 and 2015-2019, periods when its beautiful rings
    were tilted more face-on to planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Aug 21 17:49:28 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 August 21

    The Spinning Pulsar of the Crab Nebula
    Image Credit: NASA: X-ray: Chandra (CXC), Optical: Hubble (STScI),
    Infrared: Spitzer (JPL-Caltech)

    Explanation: At the core of the Crab Nebula lies a city-sized,
    magnetized neutron star spinning 30 times a second. Known as the Crab
    Pulsar, it is the bright spot in the center of the gaseous swirl at the
    nebula's core. About twelve light-years across, the spectacular picture
    frames the glowing gas, cavities and swirling filaments near the Crab
    Nebula's center. The featured picture combines visible light from the
    Hubble Space Telescope in purple, X-ray light from the Chandra X-ray
    Observatory in blue, and infrared light from the Spitzer Space
    Telescope in red. Like a cosmic dynamo the Crab pulsar powers the
    emission from the nebula, driving a shock wave through surrounding
    material and accelerating the spiraling electrons. With more mass than
    the Sun and the density of an atomic nucleus,the spinning pulsar is the
    collapsed core of a massive star that exploded. The outer parts of the
    Crab Nebula are the expanding remnants of the star's component gasses.
    The supernova explosion was witnessed on planet Earth in the year 1054.

    Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: climate spiral
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Aug 23 00:36:16 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 August 23

    Meteor & Milky Way over the Mediterranean
    Image Credit & Copyright: Julien Looten

    Explanation: Careful planning made this a nightscape to remember.
    First, the night itself was chosen to occur during the beginning of
    this year's Perseid Meteor Shower. Next, the time of night was chosen
    to be before the bright Moon would rise and dominate the night sky's
    brightness. The picturesque foreground was selected to be a rocky beach
    of the Mediterranean Sea in Le Dramont, France, with, at the time, +«le
    dCÇÖOr island situated near the ominously descending central band of our
    Milky Way Galaxy. Once everything was set and with the weather
    cooperating, all of the frames for this seemingly surreal nightscape
    were acquired within 15 minutes. What you can't see is that, on this
    night, the astrophotographer brought along his father who, although
    unskilled in modern sky-capture techniques, once made it a point to
    teach his child about the sky.

    Perseid Meteor Shower 2022 Gallery: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: wheel of galaxy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Aug 25 00:33:54 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 August 25

    Tiangong Space Station Transits the Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Lucy Yunxi Hu

    Explanation: The rugged lunar south polar region lies at the top of
    this colorful portrait of a last quarter Moon made on August 20.
    Constructed from video frames and still images taken at Springrange,
    New South Wales, Australia it also captures a transit of China's
    Tiangong Space Station. The transit itself was fleeting, taking the
    space station less than a second to cross the shadowed and sunlit lunar
    disk. The low Earth orbiting Tiangong is at an altitude of about 400
    kilometers, while the Moon is some 400,000 kilometers away. Subtle
    color differences along the bright lunar surface are revealed in the
    multiple stacked frames. Not visible to the eye, they indicate real
    differences in chemical makeup across the lunar surface.

    Tomorrow's picture: little planet
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Sep 1 00:28:58 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 1

    The Tulip and Cygnus X-1
    Image Credit & Copyright: Peter Kohlmann

    Explanation: Framing a bright emission region, this telescopic view
    looks out along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward the nebula
    rich constellation Cygnus the Swan. Popularly called the Tulip Nebula,
    the reddish glowing cloud of interstellar gas and dust is also found in
    the 1959 catalog by astronomer Stewart Sharpless as Sh2-101. Nearly 70
    light-years across, the complex and beautiful Tulip Nebula blossoms
    about 8,000 light-years away. Ultraviolet radiation from young
    energetic stars at the edge of the Cygnus OB3 association, including O
    star HDE 227018, ionizes the atoms and powers the emission from the
    Tulip Nebula. Also in the field of view is microquasar Cygnus X-1, one
    of the strongest X-ray sources in planet Earth's sky. Blasted by
    powerful jets from a lurking black hole its fainter bluish curved shock
    front is only just visible though, beyond the cosmic Tulip's petals
    near the right side of the frame.

    Back to School? Learn Science with NASA
    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Sep 2 00:30:38 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 2

    M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Fabian Neyer

    Explanation: Find the Big Dipper and follow the handle away from the
    dipper's bowl until you get to the last bright star. Then, just slide
    your telescope a little south and west and you'll come upon this
    stunning pair of interacting galaxies, the 51st entry in Charles
    Messier's famous catalog. Perhaps the original spiral nebula, the large
    galaxy with well defined spiral structure is also cataloged as NGC
    5194. Its spiral arms and dust lanes clearly sweep in front of its
    companion galaxy (left), NGC 5195. The pair are about 31 million
    light-years distant and officially lie within the angular boundaries of
    the small constellation Canes Venatici. In direct telescopic views, M51
    looks faint and fuzzy to the eye. But this remarkably deep image shows
    off details of the interacting galaxy's striking colors and galactic
    tidal debris. The image includes nearly 90 hours of narrowband data
    that also reveals a vast glowing cloud of reddish ionized hydrogen gas
    discovered in the M51 system.

    Tomorrow's picture: 29 seconds later
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Sep 3 00:05:28 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 3

    Sun and Moon and ISS
    Image Credit & Copyright: Wang Letian (Eyes at Night), Jin Ma (Beijing
    Planetarium)

    Explanation: On August 25 Sun and Moon could both be seen in planet
    Earth's daytime skies. And so could the International Space Station.
    The ISS crossed the disk of the waning crescent Moon as seen from
    Shunyi district, Beijing, China at about 11:02 am local time. Some 40
    kilometers to the southwest, in Fengtai district, the ISS was seen to
    cross the Sun's disk too. The solar transit was observed only 29
    seconds later. Both transits are compared in these panels, composed of
    processed and stacked video frames from the two locations. The
    coordinated captures were made with different equipment, but adjusted
    to show the Sun and Moon at the same scale. The ISS was at a calculated
    range of 435 kilometers for the lunar transit and 491 kilometers when
    passing in front of the Sun.

    Artemis I: Launch Update
    Tomorrow's picture: sea and sky
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Sep 4 00:17:46 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 4

    Sea and Sky Glows over the Oregon Coast
    Image Credit & Copyright: Rudy Montoya

    Explanation: Every step caused the sand to light up blue. That glow was
    bioluminescence -- a blue radiance that also lights the surf in this
    surreal scene captured in mid-2018 at Meyer's Creek Beach in Oregon,
    USA. Volcanic stacks dot the foreground sea, while a thin fog layer
    scatters light on the horizon. The rays of light spreading from the
    left horizon were created by car headlights on the Oregon Coast Highway
    (US 101), while the orange light on the right horizon emanates from a
    fishing boat. Visible far in the distance is the band of our Milky Way
    Galaxy, appearing to rise from a dark rocky outcrop. Sixteen images
    were added together to bring up the background Milky Way and to reduce
    noise.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: space cliffs
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Sep 5 00:33:16 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 5

    Carina Cliffs from the Webb Space Telescope
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

    Explanation: Stars created these cliffs. Specifically, the destructive
    winds and energetic light from the stars in the open cluster NGC 3324
    eroded away part of a mountain of dark interstellar dust in the
    northern part of the Carina Nebula. Several of these stars are visible
    toward the top of this highly detailed image taken recently by the
    James Webb Space Telescope, the largest astronomical telescope ever
    launched. Webb's large mirror and ability to see dust-piercing infrared
    light has enabled it to capture fascinating details in the dust,
    hundreds of previously hidden stars, and even some galaxies far in the
    distance. The featured jagged cliffs occur in part of Carina known as
    the Gabriela Mistral Nebula -- because when viewed in another
    orientation, they appear similar to the facial profile of the famous
    Chilean poet. These nebular cliffs occur about 7,600 light years away
    toward the southern constellation of Carina.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 2,800+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: rainbow cloud top
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Sep 6 00:25:24 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 6

    An Iridescent Pileus Cloud over China
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jiaqi Sun n'êo¡Öoÿëtɬn'ë

    Explanation: Yes, but how many dark clouds have a multicolored lining?
    Pictured, behind this darker cloud, is a pileus iridescent cloud, a
    group of water droplets that have a uniformly similar size and so
    together diffract different colors of sunlight by different amounts.
    The featured image was taken last month in Pu'er, Yunnan Province,
    China. Also captured were unusual cloud ripples above the pileus cloud.
    The formation of a rare pileus cloud capping a common cumulus cloud is
    an indication that the lower cloud is expanding upward and might well
    develop into a storm.

    Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: big red
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Sep 7 00:11:44 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 7

    Tarantula Stars R136 from Webb
    Images Credit & Copyright: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production
    Team

    Explanation: Near the center of a nearby star-forming region lies a
    massive cluster containing some of the largest and hottest stars known.
    Collectively known as star cluster NGC 2070, these stars are part of
    the vast Tarantula Nebula and were captured in two kinds of infrared
    light by the new Webb Space Telescope. The main image shows the group
    of stars at NGC 2070's center -- known as R136 -- in near-infrared,
    light just a bit too red for humans to see. In contrast, the rollover
    image captures the cluster center in mid-infrared light, light closer
    to radio waves. Since R136's brightest stars emit more of their light
    in the near infrared, they are much more prominent on that image. This
    LMC cluster's massive stars emit particle winds and energetic light
    that are evaporating the gas cloud from which they formed. The Webb
    images, released yesterday, shows details of R136 and its surroundings
    that have never been seen before, details that are helping humanity to
    better understanding of how all stars are born, evolve and die.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Sep 8 00:29:40 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 8

    North America and the Pelican
    Image Credit & Copyright: Frank Sackenheim

    Explanation: Fans of our fair planet might recognize the outlines of
    these cosmic clouds. On the left, bright emission outlined by dark,
    obscuring dust lanes seems to trace a continental shape, lending the
    popular name North America Nebula to the emission region cataloged as
    NGC 7000. To the right, just off the North America Nebula's east coast,
    is IC 5070, whose avian profile suggests the Pelican Nebula. The two
    bright nebulae are about 1,500 light-years away, part of the same large
    and complex star forming region, almost as nearby as the better-known
    Orion Nebula. At that distance, the 3 degree wide field of view would
    span 80 light-years. This careful cosmic portrait uses narrowband
    images combined to highlight the bright ionization fronts and the
    characteristic glow from atomic hydrogen, and oxygen gas. These nebulae
    can be seen with binoculars from a dark location. Look northeast of
    bright star Deneb in Cygnus the Swan, soaring high in the northern
    summer night sky.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Sep 9 00:11:12 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 9

    Interstellar Voyager
    Poster Illustration Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Voyager

    Explanation: Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were launched in 1977 on a grand
    tour of the outer planets of the Solar System. They have become the
    longest operating and most distant spacecraft from Earth. Both have
    traveled beyond the heliosphere, the realm defined by the influence of
    the solar wind and the Sun's magnetic field. On the 45th year of their
    journey toward the stars Voyager 1 and 2 reached nearly 22 light-hours
    and 18 light-hours from the Sun respectively and remain the only
    spacecraft currently exploring interstellar space. Each spacecraft
    carries a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk with recordings of sounds,
    pictures and messages. The Golden Records are intended to communicate a
    story of life and culture on planet Earth, preserved in a medium that
    can survive an interstellar journey for a billion years.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Sep 10 00:37:24 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 10

    Galaxy by the Lake
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gerardo Ferrarino

    Explanation: This 180 degree panoramic night skyscape captures our
    Milky Way Galaxy as it arcs above the horizon on a winter's night in
    August. Near midnight, the galactic center is close to the zenith with
    the clear waters of Lake Traful, Neuquen, Argentina, South America,
    planet Earth below. Zodiacal light, dust reflected sunlight along the
    Solar System's ecliptic plane, is also visible in the region's very
    dark night sky. The faint band of light reaches up from the distant
    snowy peaks toward the galaxy's center. Follow the arc of the Milky Way
    to the left to find the southern hemisphere stellar beacons Alpha and
    Beta Centauri. Close to the horizon bright star Vega is reflected in
    the calm mountain lake.

    Tomorrow's picture: tilt and spin
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Sep 11 00:26:58 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 11

    Planets of the Solar System: Tilts and Spins
    Video Credit: NASA, Animation: James O'Donoghue (JAXA)

    Explanation: How does your favorite planet spin? Does it spin rapidly
    around a nearly vertical axis, or horizontally, or backwards? The
    featured video animates NASA images of all eight planets in our Solar
    System to show them spinning side-by-side for an easy comparison. In
    the time-lapse video, a day on Earth -- one Earth rotation -- takes
    just a few seconds. Jupiter rotates the fastest, while Venus spins not
    only the slowest (can you see it?), but backwards. The inner rocky
    planets, across the top, most certainly underwent dramatic
    spin-altering collisions during the early days of the Solar System. The
    reasons why planets spin and tilt as they do remains a topic of
    research with much insight gained from modern computer modeling and the
    recent discovery and analysis of hundreds of exoplanets: planets
    orbiting other stars.

    Tomorrow's picture: stars and sprites
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Sep 12 00:23:46 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 12

    Red Sprite Lightning over the Czech Republic
    Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel +á-ìerba

    Explanation: What are those red filaments in the sky? They are a rarely
    seen form of lightning confirmed only about 35 years ago: red sprites.
    Research has shown that following a powerful positive cloud-to-ground
    lightning strike, red sprites may start as 100-meter balls of ionized
    air that shoot down from about 80-km high at 10 percent the speed of
    light. They are quickly followed by a group of upward streaking ionized
    balls. The featured image was taken late last month from the Jeseniky
    Mountains in northern Moravia in the Czech Republic. The distance to
    the red sprites is about 200 kilometers. Red sprites take only a
    fraction of a second to occur and are best seen when powerful
    thunderstorms are visible from the side.

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    Tomorrow's picture: sun snake
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Sep 13 03:36:32 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 13

    A Long Snaking Filament on the Sun
    Image Credit & Copyright: Alan Friedman (Averted Imagination)

    Explanation: Earlier this month, the Sun exhibited one of the longer
    filaments on record. Visible as the bright curving streak around the
    image center, the snaking filament's full extent was estimated to be
    over half of the Sun's radius -- more than 350,000 kilometers long. A
    filament is composed of hot gas held aloft by the Sun's magnetic field,
    so that viewed from the side it would appear as a raised prominence. A
    different, smaller prominence is simultaneously visible at the Sun's
    edge. The featured image is in false-color and color-inverted to
    highlight not only the filament but the Sun's carpet chromosphere. The
    bright dot on the upper right is actually a dark sunspot about the size
    of the Earth. Solar filaments typically last from hours to days,
    eventually collapsing to return hot plasma back to the Sun. Sometimes,
    though, they explode and expel particles into the Solar System, some of
    which trigger auroras on Earth. The pictured filament appeared in early
    September and continued to hold steady for about a week.

    Tomorrow's picture: waving space lizard
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Sep 14 00:14:00 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 14

    Waves of the Great Lacerta Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jarmo Ruuth, Telescope Live; Text: Ata
    Sarajedini (Florida Atlantic U., Astronomy Minute podcast)

    Explanation: It is one of the largest nebulas on the sky -- why isn't
    it better known? Roughly the same angular size as the Andromeda Galaxy,
    the Great Lacerta Nebula can be found toward the constellation of the
    Lizard (Lacerta). The emission nebula is difficult to see with
    wide-field binoculars because it is so faint, but also usually
    difficult to see with a large telescope because it is so great in angle
    -- spanning about three degrees. The depth, breadth, waves, and beauty
    of the nebula -- cataloged as Sharpless 126 (Sh2-126) -- can best be
    seen and appreciated with a long duration camera exposure. The featured
    image is one such combined exposure -- in this case 10 hours over five
    different colors and over six nights during this past June and July at
    the IC Astronomy Observatory in Spain. The hydrogen gas in the Great
    Lacerta Nebula glows red because it is excited by light from the bright
    star 10 Lacertae, one of the bright blue stars just above the
    red-glowing nebula's center. The stars and nebula are about 1,200 light
    years distant.

    Harvest Full Moon 2022: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Sep 15 00:23:00 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 15

    Harvest Moon over Sicily
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dario Giannobile

    Explanation: For northern hemisphere dwellers, September's Full Moon
    was the Harvest Moon. Reflecting warm hues at sunset it rises over the
    historic town of Castiglione di Sicilia in this telephoto view from
    September 9. Famed in festival, story, and song Harvest Moon is just
    the traditional name of the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox.
    According to lore the name is a fitting one. Despite the diminishing
    daylight hours as the growing season drew to a close, farmers could
    harvest crops by the light of a full moon shining on from dusk to dawn.

    Harvest Full Moon 2022: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Sep 16 00:12:24 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 16

    The Tarantula Zone
    Image Credit & Copyright: Processing - Robert Gendler, Roberto
    Colombari
    Data - Hubble Tarantula Treasury, European Southern Observatory, James
    Webb Space Telescope, Amateur Sources

    Explanation: The Tarantula Nebula, also known as 30 Doradus, is more
    than a thousand light-years in diameter, a giant star forming region
    within nearby satellite galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud. About 180
    thousand light-years away, it's the largest, most violent star forming
    region known in the whole Local Group of galaxies. The cosmic arachnid
    sprawls across this magnificent view, an assembly of image data from
    large space- and ground-based telescopes. Within the Tarantula (NGC
    2070), intense radiation, stellar winds, and supernova shocks from the
    central young cluster of massive stars cataloged as R136 energize the
    nebular glow and shape the spidery filaments. Around the Tarantula are
    other star forming regions with young star clusters, filaments, and
    blown-out bubble-shaped clouds. In fact, the frame includes the site of
    the closest supernova in modern times, SN 1987A, at lower right. The
    rich field of view spans about 2 degrees or 4 full moons, in the
    southern constellation Dorado. But were the Tarantula Nebula closer,
    say 1,500 light-years distant like the Milky Way's own star forming
    Orion Nebula, it would take up half the sky.

    Tomorrow's picture: pathfinder to perseverance
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Sep 17 00:37:48 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 17

    Perseverance in Jezero Crater's Delta
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS, ASU

    Explanation: The Perseverance rover's Mastcam-Z captured images to
    create this mosaic on August 4, 2022. The car-sized robot was
    continuing its exploration of the fan-shaped delta of a river that,
    billions of years ago, flowed into Jezero Crater on Mars. Sedimentary
    rocks preserved in Jezero's delta are considered one of the best places
    on Mars to search for potential signs of ancient microbial life and
    sites recently sampled by the rover, dubbed Wildcat Ridge and Skinner
    Ridge, are at lower left and upper right in the frame. The samples
    taken from these areas were sealed inside ultra-clean sample tubes,
    ultimately intended for return to Earth by future missions. Starting
    with the Pathfinder Mission and Mars Global Surveyor in 1997, the last
    25 years of a continuous robotic exploration of the Red Planet has
    included orbiters, landers, rovers, and a helicopter from planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: stone circle analemma
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Sep 18 00:29:38 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 18

    Analemma over the Callanish Stones
    Image Credit & Copyright: Giuseppe Petricca

    Explanation: If you went outside at the same time every day and took a
    picture that included the Sun, how would the Sun's position change? A
    more visual answer to that question is an analemma, a composite image
    taken from the same spot at the same time over the course of a year.
    The featured analemma was composed from images taken every few days at
    noon near the village of Callanish in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland,
    UK. In the foreground are the Callanish Stones, a stone circle built
    around 2700 BC during humanity's Bronze Age. It is not known if the
    placement of the Callanish Stones has or had astronomical significance.
    The ultimate causes for the figure-8 shape of this and all analemmas
    are the tilt of the Earth axis and the ellipticity of the Earth's orbit
    around the Sun. At the solstices, the Sun will appear at the top or
    bottom of an analemma. The featured image was taken near the December
    solstice and so the Sun appears near the bottom. Equinoxes, however,
    correspond to analemma middle points -- not the intersection point.
    This coming Friday at 1:04 am (UT) -- Thursday in the Americas -- is
    the equinox ("equal night"), when day and night are equal over all of
    planet Earth. Many cultures celebrate a change of season at an equinox.

    Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: lightning layer
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Sep 19 00:07:04 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 19

    Star Trails and Lightning over the Pyrenees
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marc Sell+¬s Llim+|s

    Explanation: The beauty in this image comes in layers. On the bottom
    layer is the picturesque village of Manlleu in Barcelona, Spain. The
    six-minute exposure makes car lights into streaks. The next layer is a
    mountain -- Serra de Bellmunt -- of Europe's famous Pyrenees. Next up
    is a tremendous lightning storm emanating from a classically-shaped
    anvil cloud. The long exposure allowed for the capture of many
    intricate lightning bolts. Finally, at the top and furthest in the
    distance are stars. Here, the multi-minute exposure made stars into
    trails. The trailing effect is caused by the rotation of the Earth, and
    the curvature of the trails indicates their distance from the north
    spin pole of the Earth above. Taken after sunset in early June, the
    lightning storm soon moved off. The stars, though, will continue to
    circle the poll for as long as the Earth spins -- surely billions of
    years into the future.

    Tomorrow's picture: star shells
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Sep 20 00:37:54 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 20

    Star Forming Region NGC 3582 without Stars
    Image Credit & Copyright: Chris Willocks

    Explanation: What's happening in the Statue of Liberty nebula? Bright
    stars and interesting molecules are forming and being liberated. The
    complex nebula resides in the star forming region called RCW 57, and
    besides the iconic monument, to some looks like a flying superhero or a
    weeping angel. By digitally removing the stars, this re-assigned color
    image showcases dense knots of dark interstellar dust, fields of
    glowing hydrogen gas ionized by these stars, and great loops of gas
    expelled by dying stars. A detailed study of NGC 3576, also known as
    NGC 3582 and NGC 3584, uncovered at least 33 massive stars in the end
    stages of formation, and the clear presence of the complex carbon
    molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs are
    thought to be created in the cooling gas of star forming regions, and
    their development in the Sun's formation nebula five billion years ago
    may have been an important step in the development of life on Earth.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: horse red nebula
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Sep 22 00:14:58 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 22

    NGC 7331 Close Up
    Image Credit & License: ESA/Hubble & NASA/D. Milisavljevic (Purdue
    University)

    Explanation: Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 7331 is often touted as
    an analog to our own Milky Way. About 50 million light-years distant in
    the northern constellation Pegasus, NGC 7331 was recognized early on as
    a spiral nebula and is actually one of the brighter galaxies not
    included in Charles Messier's famous 18th century catalog. Since the
    galaxy's disk is inclined to our line-of-sight, long telescopic
    exposures often result in an image that evokes a strong sense of depth.
    This Hubble Space Telescope close-up spans some 40,000 light-years. The
    galaxy's magnificent spiral arms feature dark obscuring dust lanes,
    bright bluish clusters of massive young stars, and the telltale reddish
    glow of active star forming regions. The bright yellowish central
    regions harbor populations of older, cooler stars. Like the Milky Way,
    a supermassive black hole lies at the core of spiral galaxy NGC 7331.

    Tomorrow's picture: ringed planet Neptune
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Sep 23 00:06:32 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 23

    Ringed Ice Giant Neptune
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, NIRCam

    Explanation: Ringed, ice giant Neptune lies near the center of this
    sharp near-infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope. The dim
    and distant world is the farthest planet from the Sun, about 30 times
    farther away than planet Earth. But in the stunning Webb view the
    planet's dark and ghostly appearance is due to atmospheric methane that
    absorbs infrared light. High altitude clouds that reach above most of
    Neptune's absorbing methane easily stand out in the image though.
    Coated with frozen nitrogen, Neptune's largest moon Triton is brighter
    than Neptune in reflected sunlight and is seen at upper left sporting
    the Webb's characteristic diffraction spikes. Including Triton, seven
    of Neptune's 14 known moons can be identified in the field of view.
    Neptune's faint rings are striking in this new space-based planetary
    portrait. Details of the complex ring system are seen here for the
    first time since Neptune was visited by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in
    August 1989.

    Tomorrow's picture: shadows in the sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Sep 25 00:15:16 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 25

    The Fairy of Eagle Nebula
    Image Credit: Image Credit: NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team
    (STScI/AURA)

    Explanation: The dust sculptures of the Eagle Nebula are evaporating.
    As powerful starlight whittles away these cool cosmic mountains, the
    statuesque pillars that remain might be imagined as mythical beasts.
    Featured here is one of several striking dust pillars of the Eagle
    Nebula that might be described as a gigantic alien fairy. This fairy,
    however, is ten light years tall and spews radiation much hotter than
    common fire. The greater Eagle Nebula, M16, is actually a giant
    evaporating shell of gas and dust inside of which is a growing cavity
    filled with a spectacular stellar nursery currently forming an open
    cluster of stars. This great pillar, which is about 7,000 light years
    away, will likely evaporate away in about 100,000 years. The featured
    image is in scientifically re-assigned colors and was taken by the
    Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.

    Tomorrow's picture: earth without water
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Sep 26 00:10:46 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 26

    All the Water on Planet Earth
    Illustration Credit: Jack Cook, Adam Nieman, Woods Hole Oceanographic
    Institution; Data source: Igor Shiklomanov

    Explanation: How much of planet Earth is made of water? Very little,
    actually. Although oceans of water cover about 70 percent of Earth's
    surface, these oceans are shallow compared to the Earth's radius. The
    featured illustration shows what would happen if all of the water on or
    near the surface of the Earth were bunched up into a ball. The radius
    of this ball would be only about 700 kilometers, less than half the
    radius of the Earth's Moon, but slightly larger than Saturn's moon Rhea
    which, like many moons in our outer Solar System, is mostly water ice.
    The next smallest ball depicts all of Earth's liquid fresh water, while
    the tiniest ball shows the volume of all of Earth's fresh-water lakes
    and rivers. How any of this water came to be on the Earth and whether
    any significant amount is trapped far beneath Earth's surface remain
    topics of research.

    Tomorrow's picture: furious sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Sep 27 00:12:18 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 27

    DART: Impact on Asteroid Dimorphos
    Video Credit: NASA, JHUAPL, DART

    Explanation: Could humanity deflect an asteroid headed for Earth? Yes.
    Deadly impacts from large asteroids have happened before in Earth's
    past, sometimes causing mass extinctions of life. To help protect our
    Earth from some potential future impacts, NASA tested a new planetary
    defense mechanism yesterday by crashing the robotic Double Asteroid
    Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft into Dimorphos, a small asteroid
    spanning about 170-meters across. As shown in the featured video, the
    impact was a success. Ideally, if impacted early enough, even the kick
    from a small spacecraft can deflect a large asteroid enough to miss the
    Earth. In the video, DART is seen in a time-lapse video first passing
    larger Didymos, on the left, and then approaching the smaller
    Dimorphos. Although the video ends abruptly with DART's crash,
    observations monitoring the changed orbit of Dimorphos -- from
    spacecraft and telescopes around the world -- have just begun.

    Tomorrow's picture: furious sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Sep 28 00:25:44 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 28

    A Furious Sky over Mount Shasta
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ralf Rohner

    Explanation: Is the sky angry with Mount Shasta? According to some
    ancient legends, the spirits of above and below worlds fight there,
    sometimes quite actively during eruptions of this enormous volcano in
    California, USA. Such drama can well be imagined in this deep sky image
    taken in late June. Evident above the snow-covered peak is the central
    band of our Milky Way Galaxy, on the left, and a picturesque sky toward
    the modern constellations of Scorpius and Ophiuchus, above and to the
    right. The bright orange star Antares and the colorful rho Ophiuchi
    cloud complex are visible just to the right of Mount Shasta, while the
    red emission nebula surrounding the star zeta Ophiuchi appears on the
    top right. The static earth image in the featured composite was taken
    during the blue hour, while a two-panel panorama tracking the
    background sky was taken later that night with the same camera and from
    the same location. Within a few million years, Antares, some stars in
    the rho Ophiuchi system, and zeta Ophiuchi will all likely explode as
    supernovas.

    Tomorrow's picture: asteroid safety
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Sep 29 00:15:34 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 29

    DART Asteroid Impact from Space
    Image Credit: ASI / NASA

    Explanation: Fifteen days before impact, the DART spacecraft deployed a
    small companion satellite to document its historic planetary defense
    technology demonstration. Provided by the Italian Space Agency, the
    Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging Asteroids, aka LICIACube, recorded
    this image of the event's aftermath. A cloud of ejecta is seen near the
    right edge of the frame captured only minutes following DART's impact
    with target asteroid Dimorphos while LICIACube was about 80 kilometers
    away. Presently about 11 million kilometers from Earth, 160 meter
    diameter Dimorphos is a moonlet orbiting 780 meter diameter asteroid
    Didymos. Didymos is seen off center in the LICIACube image. Over the
    coming weeks, ground-based telescopic observations will look for a
    small change in Dimorphos' orbit around Didymos to evaluate how
    effectively the DART impact deflected its target.

    Tomorrow's picture: 24 sunrises
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Sep 30 00:10:02 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 September 30

    Equinox Sunrise Around the World
    Collage Image Copyright: Luca Vanzella

    Explanation: A planet-wide collaboration resulted in this remarkable
    array of sunrise photographs taken around the September 2022 equinox.
    The images were contributed by 24 photographers, one in each of 24
    nautical time zones around the world. Unlike more complicated civil
    time zone boundaries, the 24 nautical time zones are simply 15 degree
    longitude bands corresponding to 1 hour steps that span the globe.
    Start at the upper right for the first to experience a sunrise in the
    nautical time zone corresponding to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) +
    12 hours. In that time zone, the photographer was located in
    Christchurch, New Zealand. Travel to the west by looking down the
    column and then moving to the column toward the left for later sunrises
    as the time zone offset in hours from UTC decreases. Or, you can watch
    a video of September 2022 equinox sunrises around planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: Observe the Moon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Oct 1 00:21:04 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 1

    Lunation Matrix
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel (TWAN)

    Explanation: Observe the Moon every night and you'll see its visible
    sunlit portion gradually change. In phases progressing from New Moon to
    Full Moon to New Moon again, a lunar cycle or lunation is completed in
    about 29.5 days. Top left to bottom right, this 7x4 matrix of
    telescopic images captures the range of lunar phases for 28 consecutive
    nights, from the evening of July 29 to the morning of August 26,
    following an almost complete lunation. No image was taken 24 hours or
    so just after and just before New Moon, when the lunar phase is at best
    a narrow crescent, close to the Sun and really hard to see. Finding
    mostly clear Mediterranean skies required an occasional road trip to
    complete this lunar cycle project, imaging in early evening for the
    first half and late evening and early morning for the second half of
    the lunation. Since all the images are registered at the same scale you
    can use this matrix to track the change in the Moon's apparent size
    during the single lunation. For extra credit, find the lunar phase that
    occurred closest to perigee.

    Tonight: International Observe the Moon Night
    Tomorrow's picture: cosmic cannon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Oct 2 03:12:04 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 2

    Supernova Cannon Expels Pulsar J0002
    Image Credit: F. Schinzel et al. (NRAO, NSF), Canadian Galactic Plane
    Survey (DRAO), NASA (IRAS);
    Composition: Jayanne English (U. Manitoba)

    Explanation: What could shoot out a neutron star like a cannon ball? A
    supernova. About 10,000 years ago, the supernova that created the
    nebular remnant CTB 1 not only destroyed a massive star but blasted its
    newly formed neutron star core -- a pulsar -- out into the Milky Way
    Galaxy. The pulsar, spinning 8.7 times a second, was discovered using
    downloadable software Einstein@Home searching through data taken by
    NASA's orbiting Fermi Gamma-Ray Observatory. Traveling over 1,000
    kilometers per second, the pulsar PSR J0002+6216 (J0002 for short) has
    already left the supernova remnant CTB 1, and is even fast enough to
    leave our Galaxy. Pictured, the trail of the pulsar is visible
    extending to the lower left of the supernova remnant. The featured
    image is a combination of radio images from the VLA and DRAO radio
    observatories, as well as data archived from NASA's orbiting IRAS
    infrared observatory. It is well known that supernovas can act as
    cannons, and even that pulsars can act as cannonballs -- what is not
    known is how supernovas do it.

    Tomorrow's picture: flyby europa
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Oct 3 05:30:46 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 3

    Jupiter's Europa from Spacecraft Juno
    Image Credit & License: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SwRI, MSSS; Processing:
    Andrea Luck

    Explanation: What mysteries might be solved by peering into this
    crystal ball? In this case, the ball is actually a moon of Jupiter, the
    crystals are ice, and the moon is not only dirty but cracked beyond
    repair. Nevertheless, speculation is rampant that oceans exist under
    Europa's fractured ice-plains that could support life. Europa, roughly
    the size of Earth's Moon, is pictured here in an image taken a few days
    ago when the Jupiter-orbiting robotic spacecraft Juno passed within 325
    kilometers of its streaked and shifting surface. Underground oceans are
    thought likely because Europa undergoes global flexing due to its
    changing gravitational attraction with Jupiter during its slightly
    elliptical orbit, and this flexing heats the interior. Studying Juno's
    close-up images may further humanity's understanding not only of Europa
    and the early Solar System but also of the possibility that life exists
    elsewhere in the universe.

    Tomorrow's picture: big eagle
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Oct 4 00:09:06 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 4

    Star-Forming Eagle Nebula without Stars
    Image Credit & Copyright: Yannick Akar

    Explanation: The whole thing looks like an eagle. A closer look at the
    Eagle Nebula's center, however, shows the bright region is actually a
    window into the center of a larger dark shell of dust. Through this
    window, a brightly-lit workshop appears where a whole open cluster of
    stars is being formed. In this cavity tall pillars and round globules
    of dark dust and cold molecular gas remain where stars are still
    forming. Paradoxically, it is perhaps easier to appreciate this
    impressive factory of star formation by seeing it without its stars --
    which have been digitally removed in the featured image. The Eagle
    emission nebula, tagged M16, lies about 6500 light years away, spans
    about 20 light-years, and is visible with binoculars toward the
    constellation of the Serpent (Serpens). Creating this picture involved
    over 22 hours of imaging and combining colors emitted specifically by
    hydrogen (red), and oxygen (blue).

    Tomorrow's picture: space dart debris
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Oct 5 00:16:16 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 5

    Expanding Plume from DART's Impact
    Video Credit: Les Makes Observatory, J. Berthier, F. Vachier, A. Klotz,
    P. Thierry, T. Santana-Ros, ESA NEOCC, D. F++hring, E. Petrescu, M.
    Micheli

    Explanation: What happens if you crash a spaceship into an asteroid? In
    the case of NASA's DART spaceship and the small asteroid Dimorphos, as
    happened last week, you get quite a plume. The goal of the planned
    impact was planetary protection -- to show that the path of an asteroid
    can be slightly altered, so that, if done right, a big space rock will
    miss the Earth. The high brightness of the plume, though, was
    unexpected by many, and what it means remains a topic of research. One
    possibility is that 170-meter wide Dimorphos is primarily a rubble pile
    asteroid and the collision dispersed some of the rubble in the pile.
    The featured time-lapse video covers about 20 minutes and was taken
    from the Les Makes Observatory on France's Reunion Island, off the
    southeast coast of southern Africa. One of many Earth-based
    observatories following the impact, the initial dot is primarily
    Dimorphos's larger companion: asteroid Didymos. Most recently, images
    show that the Didymos - Dimorphos system has developed comet-like
    tails.

    DART Impact on Dimorphos: Notable images submitted to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Oct 6 01:51:54 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 6

    NGC 4631: The Whale Galaxy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Sherick

    Explanation: NGC 4631 is a big beautiful spiral galaxy. Seen edge-on,
    it lies only 25 million light-years away in the well-trained northern
    constellation Canes Venatici. The galaxy's slightly distorted wedge
    shape suggests to some a cosmic herring and to others its popular
    moniker, The Whale Galaxy. Either way, it is similar in size to our own
    Milky Way. In this sharp color image, the galaxy's yellowish core, dark
    dust clouds, bright blue star clusters, and red star forming regions
    are easy to spot. A companion galaxy, the small elliptical NGC 4627 is
    just above the Whale Galaxy. Faint star streams seen in deep images are
    the remnants of small companion galaxies disrupted by repeated
    encounters with the Whale in the distant past. The Whale Galaxy is also
    known to have spouted a halo of hot gas glowing in X-rays.

    Tomorrow's picture: jovian close-up
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Oct 7 00:21:24 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 7

    In Ganymede's Shadow
    Image Credit & Copyright: Andrew McCarthy

    Explanation: At opposition, opposite the Sun in Earth's sky, late last
    month Jupiter is also approaching perihelion, the closest point to the
    Sun in its elliptical orbit, early next year. That makes Jupiter
    exceptionally close to our fair planet, currently resulting in
    excellent views of the Solar System's ruling gas giant. On September
    27, this sharp image of Jupiter was recorded with a small telescope
    from a backyard in Florence, Arizona. The stacked video frames reveal
    the massive world bounded by planet girdling winds. Dark belts and
    light zones span the gas giant, along with rotating oval storms and its
    signature Great Red Spot. Galilean moon Ganymede is below and right in
    the frame. The Solar System's largest moon and its shadow are in
    transit across the southern Jovian cloud tops.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Oct 8 00:23:04 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 8

    Two Comets in Southern Skies
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jose J. Chambo (Cometografia)

    Explanation: Heading for its closest approach to the Sun or perihelion
    on December 20, comet C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) remains a sight for
    telescopic observers as it sweeps through planet Earth's southern
    hemisphere skies. First time visitor from the remote Oort cloud this
    comet PanSTARRS sports a greenish coma and whitish dust tail about half
    a degree long at the upper left in a deep image from September 21. It
    also shares the starry field of view toward the constellation Scorpius
    with another comet, 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, seen about 1 degree
    below and right of PanSTARRS. Astronomers estimate that first time
    visitor comet C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) has been inbound from the Oort
    cloud for some 3 million years along a hyperbolic orbit.
    Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 is more familiar though. The periodic comet
    loops through its own elliptical orbit, from just beyond the orbit of
    Jupiter to the vicinity of Earth's orbit, once every 5.4 years. Just
    passing in the night, this comet PanSTARRS is about 20 light-minutes
    from Earth in the September 21 image. Seen to be disintegrating since
    1995, Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 was about 7.8 light-minutes away.

    Tomorrow's picture: northern skylights
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Oct 9 00:43:40 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 9

    Auroras over Northern Canada
    Image Credit & Copyright: Kwon, O Chul (TWAN)

    Explanation: Gusting solar winds and blasts of charged particles from
    the Sun resulted in several rewarding nights of auroras back in 2014
    December, near the peak of the last 11-year solar cycle. The featured
    image captured dramatic auroras stretching across a sky near the town
    of Yellowknife in northern Canada. The auroras were so bright that they
    not only inspired awe, but were easily visible on an image exposure of
    only 1.3 seconds. A video taken concurrently shows the dancing sky
    lights evolving in real time as tourists, many there just to see
    auroras, respond with cheers. The conical dwellings on the image right
    are tipis, while far in the background, near the image center, is the
    constellation of Orion. Auroras may increase again over the next few
    years as our Sun again approaches solar maximum.

    Tomorrow's picture: double lunar analemma
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Oct 10 00:24:04 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 10

    A Double Lunar Analemma over Turkey
    Image Credit & Copyright: Betul Turksoy

    Explanation: An analemma is that figure-8 curve you get when you mark
    the position of the Sun at the same time each day for one year. But the
    trick to imaging an analemma of the Moon is to wait bit longer. On
    average the Moon returns to the same position in the sky about 50
    minutes and 29 seconds later each day. So photograph the Moon 50
    minutes 29 seconds later on successive days. Over one lunation or lunar
    month it will trace out an analemma-like curve as the Moon's actual
    position wanders due to its tilted and elliptical orbit. Since the
    featured image was taken over two months, it actually shows a double
    lunar analemma. Crescent lunar phases too thin and faint to capture
    around the New moon are missing. The two months the persistent
    astrophotographer chose were during a good stretch of weather during
    July and August, and the location was Kayseri, Turkey

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Oct 11 00:40:26 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 11

    Stars, Dust, Pillars, and Jets in the Pelican Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Adriano Almeida

    Explanation: What dark structures arise within the Pelican Nebula? On
    the whole, the nebula appears like a bird (a pelican) and is seen
    toward the constellation of a different bird: Cygnus, a Swan. But
    inside, the Pelican Nebula is a place lit up by new stars and befouled
    by dark dust. Smoke-sized dust grains start as simple carbon compounds
    formed in the cool atmospheres of young stars but are dispersed by
    stellar winds and explosions. Two impressive Herbig-Haro jets are seen
    emitted by the star HH 555 on the right, and these jets are helping to
    destroy the light year-long dust pillar that contains it. Other pillars
    and jets are also visible. The featured image was
    scientifically-colored to emphasize light emitted by small amounts of
    heavy elements in a nebula made predominantly of the light elements
    hydrogen and helium. The Pelican Nebula (IC 5067 and IC 5070) is about
    2,000 light-years away and can be found with a small telescope to the
    northeast of the bright star Deneb.

    Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: squid game
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Oct 12 00:10:24 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 12

    Ou4: The Giant Squid Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tommy Lease

    Explanation: A mysterious squid-like cosmic cloud, this nebula is very
    faint, but also very large in planet Earth's sky. In the image,
    composed with 30 hours of narrowband image data, it spans nearly three
    full moons toward the royal constellation Cepheus. Discovered in 2011
    by French astro-imager Nicolas Outters, the Squid Nebula's bipolar
    shape is distinguished here by the telltale blue-green emission from
    doubly ionized oxygen atoms. Though apparently surrounded by the
    reddish hydrogen emission region Sh2-129, the true distance and nature
    of the Squid Nebula have been difficult to determine. Still, a more
    recent investigation suggests Ou4 really does lie within Sh2-129 some
    2,300 light-years away. Consistent with that scenario, the cosmic squid
    would represent a spectacular outflow of material driven by a triple
    system of hot, massive stars, cataloged as HR8119, seen near the center
    of the nebula. If so, this truly giant squid nebula would physically be
    over 50 light-years across.

    Tomorrow's picture: dust shells in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Oct 13 00:32:12 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 13

    Dust Shells around WR 140 from Webb
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, JWST, MIRI, ERS Program 1349; Processing:
    Judy Schmidt

    Explanation: What are those strange rings? Rich in dust, the rings are
    likely 3D shells -- but how they were created remains a topic of
    research. Where they were created is well known: in a binary star
    system that lies about 6,000 light years away toward the constellation
    of the Swan (Cygnus) -- a system dominated by the Wolf-Rayet star WR
    140. Wolf-Rayet stars are massive, bright, and known for their
    tumultuous winds. They are also known for creating and dispersing heavy
    elements such as carbon which is a building block of interstellar dust.
    The other star in the binary is also bright and massive -- but not as
    active. The two great stars joust in an oblong orbit as they approach
    each other about every eight years. When at closest approach, the X-ray
    emission from the system increases, as, apparently, does the dust
    expelled into space -- creating another shell. The featured infrared
    image by the new Webb Space Telescope resolves greater details and more
    dust shells than ever before.

    Tomorrow's picture: falcon and hunter
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Oct 14 00:29:04 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 14

    The Falcon and the Hunter's Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Seeley

    Explanation: The Full Moon of October 9th was the second Full Moon
    after the northern hemisphere autumnal equinox, traditionally called
    the Hunter's Moon. According to lore, the name is a fitting one because
    this Full Moon lights the night during a time for hunting in
    preparation for the coming winter months. In this snapshot, a nearly
    full Hunter's Moon was captured just after sunset on October 8, rising
    in skies over Florida's Space Coast. Rising from planet Earth a Falcon
    9 rocket pierces the bright lunar disk from the photographer's vantage
    point. Ripples and fringes along the edge of the lunar disk appear as
    supersonic shock waves generated by the rocket's passage change the
    atmosphere's index of refraction.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Oct 15 00:15:26 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 15

    GRB 221009A
    Image Credit: NASA, DOE, Fermi LAT Collaboration

    Explanation: Gamma-ray burst GRB 221009A likely signals the birth of a
    new black hole, formed at the core of a collapsing star long ago in the
    distant universe. The extremely powerful blast is depicted in this
    animated gif constructed using data from the Fermi Gamma Ray Space
    Telescope. Fermi captured the data at gamma-ray energies, detecting
    photons with over 100 million electron volts. In comparison visible
    light photons have energies of about 2 electron volts. A steady, high
    energy gamma-ray glow from the plane of our Milky Way galaxy runs
    diagonally through the 20 degree wide frame at the left, while the
    transient gamma-ray flash from GRB 221009A appears at center and then
    fades. One of the brightest gamma-ray bursts ever detected GRB 221009A
    is also close as far as gamma-ray bursts go, but still lies about 2
    billion light-years away. In low Earth orbit Fermi's Large Area
    Telescope recorded gamma-ray photons from the burst for more than 10
    hours as high-energy radiation from GRB 221009A swept over planet Earth
    last Sunday, October 9.

    Tomorrow's picture: barred spiral
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Oct 16 02:11:40 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 16

    Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1300
    Image Credit: NASA ESA, Hubble Heritage

    Explanation: Across the center of this spiral galaxy is a bar. And at
    the center of this bar is smaller spiral. And at the center of that
    spiral is a supermassive black hole. This all happens in the big,
    beautiful, barred spiral galaxy cataloged as NGC 1300, a galaxy that
    lies some 70 million light-years away toward the constellation of the
    river Eridanus. This Hubble Space Telescope composite view of the
    gorgeous island universe is one of the most detailed Hubble images ever
    made of a complete galaxy. NGC 1300 spans over 100,000 light-years and
    the Hubble image reveals striking details of the galaxy's dominant
    central bar and majestic spiral arms. How the giant bar formed, how it
    remains, and how it affects star formation remains an active topic of
    research.

    Tomorrow's picture: burst rings
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Oct 17 00:52:30 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 17

    X-Ray Rings Around a Gamma Ray Burst
    Image Credit: NASA Swift Obs.; Data: B. Cenko (NASA's GSFC), A.
    Beardmore (U. Leicester) et al.; Processing: J. Miller (U. Michigan)

    Explanation: Why would x-ray rings appear around a gamma-ray burst? The
    surprising answer has little to do with the explosion itself but rather
    with light reflected off areas of dust-laden gas in our own Milky Way
    Galaxy. GRB 221009A was a tremendous explosion -- a very bright
    gamma-ray burst (GRB) that occurred far across the universe with
    radiation just arriving in our Solar System last week. Since GRBs can
    also emit copious amounts of x-rays, a bright flash of x-rays arrived
    nearly simultaneously with the gamma-radiation. In this case, the
    X-rays also bounced off regions high in dust right here in our Milky
    Way Galaxy, creating the unusual reflections. The greater the angle
    between reflecting Milky Way dust and the GRB, the greater the radius
    of the X-ray rings, and, typically, the longer it takes for these
    light-echoes to arrive.

    Tomorrow's picture: a flowering aurora
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Oct 18 00:29:00 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 18

    Milky Way Auroral Flower
    Image Credit & Copyright: G÷ran Strand

    Explanation: Could the stem of our Milky Way bloom into an auroral
    flower? No, not really, even though it may appear that way in today's
    featured all-sky image. On the left, the central plane of our home
    galaxy extends from the horizon past the middle of the sky. On the
    right, an auroral oval also extends from the sky's center -- but is
    dominated by bright green-glowing oxygen. The two are not physically
    connected, because the aurora is relatively nearby, with the higher red
    parts occurring in Earth's atmosphere only about 1000 kilometers high.
    In contrast, an average distance to the stars and nebulas we see in the
    Milky Way more like 1000 light-years away - 10 trillion times further.
    The featured image composite was taken in early October across a small
    lake in Abisko, northern Sweden. As our Sun's magnetic field evolves
    into the active part of its 11-year cycle, auroras near both of Earth's
    poles are sure to become more frequent.

    Tomorrow's picture: galaxy grab
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Oct 19 00:19:32 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 19

    A Galaxy Beyond Stars, Gas, Dust
    Image Credit & Copyright: Howard Trottier; Text: Emily Rice

    Explanation: Do we dare believe our eyes? When we look at images of
    space, we often wonder whether they are "real", and just as often the
    best answer varies. In this case, the scene appears much as our eyes
    would see it, because it was obtained using RGB (Red, Green, Blue)
    filters like the cone cells in our eyes, except collecting light for 19
    hours, not a fraction of a second. The featured image was captured over
    six nights, using a 24-inch diameter telescope in the Sierra Nevada
    Mountains, in California, USA. The bright spiral galaxy at the center
    (NGC 7497) looks like it is being grasped by an eerie tendril of a
    space ghost, and therein lies the trick. The galaxy is actually 59
    million light years away, while the nebulosity is MBM 54, less than one
    thousand light years away, making it one of the nearest cool clouds of
    gas and dust -- galactic cirrus -- within our own Milky Way Galaxy.
    Both are in the constellation of Pegasus, which can be seen high
    overhead from northern latitudes in the autumn.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Oct 20 03:03:04 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 20

    Pillars of Creation
    Image Credit: Science - NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, NIRCam
    Processing - Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI),
    Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

    Explanation: A now famous picture from the Hubble Space Telescope
    featured these star forming columns of cold gas and dust light-years
    long inside M16, the Eagle Nebula, dubbed the Pillars of Creation. This
    James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam image expands Hubble's exploration of
    that region in greater detail and depth inside the iconic stellar
    nursery. Particularly stunning in Webb's near infrared view is the
    telltale reddish emission from knots of material undergoing
    gravitational collapse to form stars within the natal clouds. The Eagle
    Nebula is some 6,500 light-years distant. The larger bright emission
    nebula is itself an easy target for binoculars or small telescopes. M16
    lies along the plane of our Milky Way galaxy in a nebula rich part of
    the sky, toward the split constellation Serpens Cauda (the tail of the
    snake).

    Tomorrow's picture: andromeda in southern skies
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Oct 21 00:45:20 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 21

    Andromeda in Southern Skies
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ian Griffin (Otago Museum)

    Explanation: Looking north from southern New Zealand, the Andromeda
    Galaxy never gets more than about five degrees above the horizon. As
    spring comes to the southern hemisphere, in late September Andromeda is
    highest in the sky around midnight though. In a single 30 second
    exposure this telephoto image tracked the stars to capture the closest
    large spiral galaxy from Mount John Observatory as it climbed just over
    the rugged peaks of the south island's Southern Alps. In the
    foreground, stars are reflected in the still waters of Lake
    Alexandrina. Also known as M31, the Andromeda Galaxy is one of the
    brightest objects in the Messier catalog, usually visible to the
    unaided eye as a small, faint, fuzzy patch. But this clear, dark sky
    and long exposure reveal the galaxy's greater extent in planet Earth's
    night, spanning nearly 6 full moons.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Oct 22 00:39:32 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 22

    NGC 1499: The California Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Stephen Kennedy

    Explanation: Drifting through the Orion Arm of the spiral Milky Way
    Galaxy, this cosmic cloud by chance echoes the outline of California on
    the west coast of the United States. Our own Sun also lies within the
    Milky Way's Orion Arm, only about 1,500 light-years from the California
    Nebula. Also known as NGC 1499, the classic emission nebula is around
    100 light-years long. The California Nebula shines with the telltale
    reddish glow characteristic of hydrogen atoms recombining with long
    lost electrons. The electrons have been stripped away, ionized by
    energetic starlight. Most likely providing the energetic starlight that
    ionizes much of the nebular gas is the bright, hot star Xi Persei just
    to the right of the nebula. A popular target for astrophotographers,
    this deep image reveals the glowing nebula, obscuring dust, and stars
    across a 3 degree wide field of view. The California nebula lies toward
    the constellation Perseus, not far from the Pleiades.

    Tomorrow's picture: strange planet
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Oct 23 00:42:56 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 23

    Milky Way and Zodiacal Light over Australian Pinnacles
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jingyi Zhang

    Explanation: What strange world is this? Earth. In the foreground of
    the featured image are the Pinnacles, unusual rock spires in Nambung
    National Park in Western Australia. Made of ancient sea shells
    (limestone), how these human-sized picturesque spires formed remains a
    topic of research. The picturesque panorama was taken in 2017
    September. A ray of zodiacal light, sunlight reflected by dust grains
    orbiting between the planets in the Solar System, rises from the
    horizon near the image center. Arching across the top is the central
    band of our Milky Way Galaxy. The planets Jupiter and Saturn, as well
    as several famous stars are also visible in the background night sky.

    Tomorrow's picture: red andromeda
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Oct 24 00:08:30 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 24

    Clouds Around Galaxy Andromeda
    Image Credit & Copyright: Andrew Fryhover

    Explanation: What are those red clouds surrounding the Andromeda
    galaxy? This galaxy, M31, is often imaged by planet Earth-based
    astronomers. As the nearest large spiral galaxy, it is a familiar sight
    with dark dust lanes, bright yellowish core, and spiral arms traced by
    clouds of bright blue stars. A mosaic of well-exposed broad and
    narrow-band image data, this deep portrait of our neighboring island
    universe offers strikingly unfamiliar features though, faint reddish
    clouds of glowing ionized hydrogen gas in the same wide field of view.
    Most of the ionized hydrogen clouds surely lie in the foreground of the
    scene, well within our Milky Way Galaxy. They are likely associated
    with the pervasive, dusty interstellar cirrus clouds scattered hundreds
    of light-years above our own galactic plane. Some of the clouds,
    however, occur right in the Andromeda galaxy itself, and some in M110,
    the small galaxy just below.

    Tomorrow's picture: jupiter moves
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Oct 25 00:16:36 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 25

    Jupiter Rotates as Moons Orbit
    Video Credit & Copyright: Makrem Larnaout

    Explanation: Jupiter and its moons move like our Sun and its planets.
    Similarly, Jupiter spins while its moons circle around. Jupiter's
    rotation can be observed by tracking circulating dark belts and light
    zones. The Great Red Spot, the largest storm known, rotates to become
    visible after about 15 seconds in the 48-second time lapse video. The
    video is a compilation of shorts taken over several nights last month
    and combined into a digital recreation of how 24-continuous hours would
    appear. Jupiter's brightest moons always orbit in the plane of the
    planet's rotation, even as Earth's spin makes the whole system appear
    to tilt. The moons Europa, Ganymede, and Io are all visible, with
    Europa's shadow appearing as the icy Galilean moon crosses Jupiter's
    disk. Jupiter remains near opposition this month, meaning that it is
    unusually bright, near to its closest to the Earth, and visible nearly
    all night long.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: longer than a comet
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Oct 26 00:05:46 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 26

    Cocoon Nebula Wide Field
    Image Credit & Copyright: Andy Ermolli

    Explanation: When does a nebula look like a comet? In this crowded
    starfield, covering over two degrees within the high flying
    constellation of the Swan (Cygnus), the eye is drawn to the Cocoon
    Nebula. A compact star forming region, the cosmic Cocoon punctuates a
    nebula bright in emission and reflection on the left, with a long trail
    of interstellar dust clouds to the right, making the entire complex
    appear a bit like a comet. Cataloged as IC 5146, the central bright
    head of the nebula spans about 10 light years, while the dark dusty
    tail spans nearly 100 light years. Both are located about 2,500 light
    years away. The bright star near the bright nebula's center, likely
    only a few hundred thousand years old, supplies power to the nebular
    glow as it helps clear out a cavity in the molecular cloud's star
    forming dust and gas. The long dusty filaments of the tail, although
    dark in this visible light image, are themselves hiding stars in the
    process of formation, stars that can be seen at infrared wavelengths.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Oct 27 00:09:04 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 27

    Sunset, Moonset, Taj Mahal
    Image Credit & Copyright: Neelam and Ajay Talwar (TWAN)

    Explanation: On October 25th, Sun and New Moon set together as seen
    from Agra, India. Their close conjunction near the western horizon, a
    partial solar eclipse, was captured in this elevated view in hazy skies
    near the solitary dome of the Taj Mahal. Of course, the partial solar
    eclipse was also seen from most of Europe, northern Africa, the Middle
    East, and western parts of Asia. This eclipse was the last of two solar
    eclipses (both partial eclipses) in 2022. But the next Full Moon will
    slide through planet Earth's shadow on November 7/8, in a total lunar
    eclipse.

    Tomorrow's picture: comet's return
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Oct 28 00:15:22 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 28

    Seven Years of Halley Dust
    Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horalek / Institute of Physics in Opava

    Explanation: History's first known periodic comet Halley (1P/Halley)
    returns to the inner Solar System every 75 years or so. The famous
    comet made its last appearance to the naked-eye in 1986. But dusty
    debris from Comet Halley can be seen raining through planet Earth's
    skies twice a year during two annual meteor showers, the Eta Aquarids
    in May and the Orionids in October. Including meteors near the shower
    maximum on October 21, this composite view compiles Orionid meteors
    captured from years 2015 through 2022. About 47 bright meteors are
    registered in the panoramic night skyscape. Against a starry background
    extending along the Milky Way, the Orionid meteors all seem to radiate
    from a point just north of Betelgeuse in the familiar constellation of
    the Hunter. In the foreground are mountains in eastern Slovakia near
    the city of Presov.

    Tomorrow's picture: a dark and spooky nebula
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Oct 29 02:46:22 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 29

    LDN 673: Dark Clouds in Aquila
    Image Credit & Copyright: Frank Sackenheim, Josef Poepsel, Stefan
    Binnewies (Capella Observatory Team)

    Explanation: Part of a dark expanse that splits the crowded plane of
    our Milky Way galaxy, the Aquila Rift arcs through planet Earth's skies
    near bright star Altair. In eerie silhouette against the Milky Way's
    faint starlight, its dusty molecular clouds likely contain raw material
    to form hundreds of thousands of stars and astronomers search the dark
    clouds for telltale signs of star birth. This telescopic close-up looks
    toward the region at a fragmented Aquila dark cloud complex identified
    as LDN 673, stretching across a field of view slightly wider than the
    full moon. In the scene, visible indications of energetic outflows
    associated with young stars include the small red tinted nebulosity RNO
    109 above and right of center, and Herbig-Haro object HH32 below. These
    dark clouds might look scary, but they're estimated to be some 600
    light-years away. At that distance, this field of view spans about 7
    light-years.

    Tomorrow's picture: a dark and spooky night
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Oct 30 00:14:00 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 30

    Night on a Spooky Planet
    Image Credit & Copyright: St¤phane Vetter (Nuits sacr¤es)

    Explanation: What spooky planet is this? Planet Earth of course, on a
    dark and stormy night in 2013 at Hverir, a geothermally active area
    along the volcanic landscape in northeastern Iceland. Triggered by
    solar activity, geomagnetic storms produced the auroral display in the
    starry night sky. The ghostly towers of steam and gas are venting from
    fumaroles and danced against the eerie greenish light. For now, auroral
    apparitions are increasing as our Sun approaches a maximum in its 11
    year solar activity cycle. And pretty soon, ghostly shapes may dance in
    your neighborhood too.

    Tomorrow's picture: big bat
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Oct 31 02:24:02 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 October 31

    LDN 43: The Cosmic Bat Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby; Text: Michelle
    Thaller (NASA's GSFC)

    Explanation: What is the most spook-tacular nebula in the galaxy? One
    contender is LDN 43, which bears an astonishing resemblance to a vast
    cosmic bat flying amongst the stars on a dark Halloween night. Located
    about 1400 light years away in the constellation Ophiuchus, this
    molecular cloud is dense enough to block light not only from background
    stars, but from wisps of gas lit up by the nearby reflection nebula LBN
    7. Far from being a harbinger of death, this 12-light year-long
    filament of gas and dust is actually a stellar nursery. Glowing with
    eerie light, the bat is lit up from inside by dense gaseous knots that
    have just formed young stars.

    Celebrate: Halloween With NASA Online
    Tomorrow's picture: massive stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Nov 1 00:10:30 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 1
    The featured image the Lobster Nebula, star field with a few bright
    blue stars surrounded by a red-glowing nebula that could be visualized
    as a lobster. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    NGC 6357: The Lobster Nebula
    Image Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA; Processing: T. A. Rector (U.
    Alaska Anchorage/NSF's NOIRLab), J. Miller (Gemini Obs./NSF's NOIRLab),
    M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF's NOIRLab)

    Explanation: Why is the Lobster Nebula forming some of the most massive
    stars known? No one is yet sure. Cataloged as NGC 6357, the Lobster
    Nebula houses the open star cluster Pismis 24 near its center -- a home
    to unusually bright and massive stars. The overall red glow near the
    inner star forming region results from the emission of ionized hydrogen
    gas. The surrounding nebula, featured here, holds a complex tapestry of
    gas, dark dust, stars still forming, and newly born stars. The
    intricate patterns are caused by complex interactions between
    interstellar winds, radiation pressures, magnetic fields, and gravity.
    The image was taken with DOE's Dark Energy Camera on the 4-meter Blanco
    Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. NGC
    6357 spans about 400 light years and lies about 8,000 light years away
    toward the constellation of the Scorpion.

    Tomorrow's picture: sun block
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Nov 2 00:33:56 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 2

    A Partial Eclipse of an Active Sun
    Video Credit: Ralf Burkart; h/t Maciej Libert (AG)

    Explanation: Watch for three things in this unusual eclipse video.
    First, watch for a big dark circle to approach from the right to block
    out more and more of the Sun. This dark circle is the Moon, and the
    video was made primarily to capture this partial solar eclipse last
    week. Next, watch a large solar prominence hover and shimmer over the
    Sun's edge. A close look will show that part of it is actually falling
    back to the Sun. The prominence is made of hot plasma that is
    temporarily held aloft by the Sun's changing magnetic field. Finally,
    watch the Sun's edge waver. What is wavering is a dynamic carpet of hot
    gas tubes rising and falling through the Sun's chromosphere -- tubes
    known as spicules. The entire 4-second time-lapse video covers a time
    of about ten minutes, although the Sun itself is expected to last
    another 5 billion years.

    Partial Solar Eclipse in October 2022: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Nov 3 00:26:32 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 3
    The featured image shows steam rising from several separated vents at
    Hverir, a geothermally active field in Iceland. Green aurora rage in
    the background. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    M33: The Triangulum Galaxy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Processing - Robert Gendler
    Data - Hubble Legacy Archive, KPNO, NOIRLab, NSF, Aura, Amateur Sources

    Explanation: The small, northern constellation Triangulum harbors this
    magnificent face-on spiral galaxy, M33. Its popular names include the
    Pinwheel Galaxy or just the Triangulum Galaxy. M33 is over 50,000
    light-years in diameter, third largest in the Local Group of galaxies
    after the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), and our own Milky Way. About 3
    million light-years from the Milky Way, M33 is itself thought to be a
    satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy and astronomers in these two galaxies
    would likely have spectacular views of each other's grand spiral star
    systems. As for the view from the Milky Way, this sharp image combines
    data from telescopes on and around planet Earth to show off M33's blue
    star clusters and pinkish star forming regions along the galaxy's
    loosely wound spiral arms. In fact, the cavernous NGC 604 is the
    brightest star forming region, seen here at about the 1 o'clock
    position from the galaxy center. Like M31, M33's population of
    well-measured variable stars have helped make this nearby spiral a
    cosmic yardstick for establishing the distance scale of the Universe.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Nov 4 06:05:56 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 4

    InSight's Final Selfie
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Mars InSight

    Explanation: The Mars InSight lander returned its first image from the
    Red Planet's flat, equatorial Elysium Planitia after a successful
    touchdown on November 26, 2018. The history making mission to explore
    the martian Interior using Seismic investigations, geodesy, and heat
    transport has been operating for over 1,400 martian days or sols. In
    that time the InSight mission has detected more than 1,300 marsquakes
    and recorded data from Mars-shaking meteoroid impacts, observing how
    the seismic waves travel to provide a glimpse inside Mars. Analyzing
    the archive of data collected is expected to yield discoveries for
    decades. But InSight's final operational sol is likely not far off. The
    reason is evident in this selfie recorded earlier this year showing its
    deck and large, 2-meter-wide solar panels covered with dust. Kicked up
    by martian winds the dust continues to accumulate and drastically
    reduce the power that can be generated by InSight's solar panels.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Nov 5 00:10:42 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 5

    Lunar Eclipse at the South Pole
    Image Credit & Copyright: Aman Chokshi

    Explanation: Last May 16 the Moon slid through Earth's shadow,
    completely immersed in the planet's dark umbra for about 1 hour and 25
    minutes during a total lunar eclipse. In this composited timelapse
    view, the partial and total phases of the eclipse were captured as the
    Moon tracked above the horizon from Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.
    There it shared a cold and starry south polar night with a surging
    display of the aurora australis and central Milky Way. In the
    foreground are the BICEP (right) and South Pole telescopes at the
    southernmost station's Dark Sector Laboratory. But while polar skies
    can be spectacular, you won't want to go to the South Pole to view the
    total lunar eclipse coming up on November 8. Instead, that eclipse can
    be seen from locations in Asia, Australia, the Pacific, the Americas
    and Northern Europe. It will be your last chance to watch a total lunar
    eclipse until 2025.

    Tomorrow's picture: inverted Sun day
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Nov 6 00:49:04 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 6

    Dark Ball in Inverted Starfield
    Image Credit: Jim Lafferty

    Explanation: Does this strange dark ball look somehow familiar? If so,
    that might be because it is our Sun. In the featured image from 2012, a
    detailed solar view was captured originally in a very specific color of
    red light, then rendered in black and white, and then color inverted.
    Once complete, the resulting image was added to a starfield, then also
    color inverted. Visible in the image of the Sun are long light
    filaments, dark active regions, prominences peeking around the edge,
    and a moving carpet of hot gas. The surface of our Sun can be a busy
    place, in particular during Solar Maximum, the time when its surface
    magnetic field is wound up the most. Besides an active Sun being so
    picturesque, the plasma expelled can also become picturesque when it
    impacts the Earth's magnetosphere and creates auroras.

    Compute it Yourself: Browse 2,900+ codes in the Astrophysics Source
    Code Library
    Tomorrow's picture: nebular mystery
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Nov 8 07:21:04 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 8
    The featured image shows a several interacting spiral galaxies with a
    bridge of stars and gas connecting the two brightest galaxies. Please
    see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Galaxies: Wild's Triplet from Hubble
    Image Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, Dark Energy
    Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, J. Dalcanton

    Explanation: How many galaxies are interacting here? This grouping of
    galaxies is called the Wild Triplet, not only for the discoverer, but
    for the number of bright galaxies that appear. It had been assumed that
    all three galaxies, collectively cataloged as Arp 248, are interacting,
    but more recent investigations reveal that only the brightest two
    galaxies are sparring gravitationally: the big galaxies at the top and
    bottom. The spiral galaxy in the middle of the featured image by the
    Hubble Space Telescope is actually far in the distance, as is the
    galaxy just below it and all of the other numerous galaxies in the
    field. A striking result of these giants jousting is a tremendous
    bridge of stars, gas, and dust that stretches between them -- a bridge
    almost 200,000 light-years long. Light we see today from Wild's Triplet
    left about 200 million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. In
    perhaps a billion years or so, the two interacting galaxies will merge
    to form a single large spiral galaxy.

    Tomorrow's picture: nebular mystery
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Nov 9 01:02:42 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 9
    The featured image shows a complex nebula that is more dense and more
    blue on one side than the other. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    The Asymmetric Nebula Surrounding Wolf-Rayet Star 18
    Image Credit & Copyright: Alex Woronow

    Explanation: Why does the nebula around the star WR-18 shine brighter
    on one side? Also known as NGC 3199, this active star and its
    surrounding nebula lie about 12,000 light-years away toward the
    nautical southern constellation of Carina. The featured deep image has
    been highly processed to bring out filamentary details of the glowing
    gas in the bubble-shaped nebula. The nebula is about 75 light-years
    across. Near the nebula's center is a Wolf-Rayet star, WR-18, which is
    a massive, hot, short-lived star that generates an intense and complex
    stellar wind. In fact, Wolf-Rayet stars are known to create nebulas
    with interesting shapes as their powerful winds sweep up surrounding
    interstellar material. In this case, the bright right edge was
    initially thought to indicate that a bow shock was being produced as
    the star plowed through a uniform medium, like a boat through water.
    Recent measurements and analyses, however, have shown the star is not
    moving quickly toward the bright edge. A more likely explanation has
    emerged that the material surrounding the star is not uniform, but
    clumped and denser near the bright edge.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Nov 10 01:17:24 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 10

    Total Lunar Eclipse
    Image Credit: KPNO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / Petr Horalek (Institute of
    Physics in Opava)

    Explanation: The beginning, middle, and end of a journey through planet
    Earth's colorful umbral shadow is captured in this timelapse composite
    image of a total lunar eclipse. Taken on November 8 from Kitt Peak
    National Observatory this eclipse's 1 hour and 25 minute long total
    phase starts on the right and finishes on the left. Reddened sunlight,
    scattered into the central shadow by Earth's dusty atmosphere produces
    the dramatic dark red hues reflected by the lunar disk. For this
    eclipse, additional reddening is likely due to scattering from ash
    lingering in the atmosphere after a large volcanic eruption in the
    southern Pacific earlier this year. Seen at the right and left, the
    Earth's shadow is still lighter along its edge though. That faint
    bluish fringe along the lunar limb is colored by sunlight filtered
    through Earth's stratospheric ozone layer.

    Tomorrow's picture: ice giant, red moon
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Nov 12 01:05:30 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 12

    Eclipse in the City
    Image Credit & Copyright: Stan Honda

    Explanation: A darker Moon sets over Manhattan in this night skyscape.
    The 16 frame composite was assembled from consecutive exposures
    recorded during the November 8 total lunar eclipse. In the timelapse
    sequence stars leave short trails above the urban skyline, while the
    Moon remains immersed in Earth's shadow. But the International Space
    Station was just emerging from the shadow into the sunlit portion of
    its low Earth orbit. As seen from New York City, the visible streak of
    this ISS flyover starts near a star in Taurus and tracks right to left,
    through the belt of Orion and over Sirius, alpha star of Canis Major.
    Gaps along the bright trail of the fast moving orbital outpost (and an
    aircraft flying closer to the horizon) mark the time between individual
    exposures in the sequence. The trail of bright planet Mars is at the
    top of the frame. Pleiades star cluster trails are high over the
    eclipsed Moon and Empire State Building.

    Lunar Eclipse of November 2022: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Love Eclipses? (US): Apply to become a NASA Partner Eclipse Ambassador
    Tomorrow's picture: identified flying object
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Nov 13 01:18:18 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 13

    Flying Saucer Crash Lands in Utah Desert
    Image Credit: USAF 388th Range Sqd., Genesis Mission, NASA

    Explanation: A flying saucer from outer space crash-landed in the Utah
    desert after being tracked by radar and chased by helicopters. The year
    was 2004, and no space aliens were involved. The saucer, pictured here,
    was the Genesis sample return capsule, part of a human-made robot
    Genesis spaceship launched in 2001 by NASA itself to study the Sun. The
    unexpectedly hard landing at over 300 kilometers per hour occurred
    because the parachutes did not open as planned. The Genesis mission had
    been orbiting the Sun collecting solar wind particles that are usually
    deflected away by Earth's magnetic field. Despite the crash landing,
    many return samples remained in good enough condition to analyze. So
    far, Genesis-related discoveries include new details about the
    composition of the Sun and how the abundance of some types of elements
    differ across the Solar System. These results have provided intriguing
    clues into details of how the Sun and planets formed billions of years
    ago.

    Tomorrow's picture: sky wizard
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Nov 14 01:08:24 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 14

    NGC 7380: The Wizard Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ioan Popa

    Explanation: What powers are being wielded in the Wizard Nebula?
    Gravitation strong enough to form stars, and stellar winds and
    radiations powerful enough to create and dissolve towers of gas.
    Located only 8,000 light years away, the Wizard nebula, featured here,
    surrounds developing open star cluster NGC 7380. Visually, the
    interplay of stars, gas, and dust has created a shape that appears to
    some like a fictional medieval sorcerer. The active star forming region
    spans 100 about light years, making it appear larger than the angular
    extent of the Moon. The Wizard Nebula can be located with a small
    telescope toward the constellation of the King of Aethiopia (Cepheus).
    Although the nebula may last only a few million years, some of the
    stars being formed may outlive our Sun.

    Tomorrow's picture: in wolf's cave
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Nov 15 02:12:32 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 15

    Wolf's Cave Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gianni Lacroce

    Explanation: The mysterious blue reflection nebula found in catalogs as
    VdB 152 or Ced 201 really is very faint. It lies at the tip of the long
    dark nebula Barnard 175 in a dusty complex that has also been called
    Wolf's Cave. At the center of this deep telescopic view, the cosmic
    apparitions are nearly 1,400 light-years away along the northern Milky
    Way in the royal constellation Cepheus. Interstellar dust in the region
    blocks light from background stars and scatters light from the embedded
    bright star, giving the end nebula its characteristic blue color.
    Though stars do form in molecular clouds, this star seems to have only
    accidentally wandered into the area, as its measured velocity through
    space is very different from the cloud's velocity. At the image bottom
    is the planetary nebula Dengel-Hartl 5, while red glowing gas from an
    ancient supernova remnant is also visible along the image's right side.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Nov 16 01:12:32 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 16

    In the Arms of NGC 1097
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby, Mark Hanson

    Explanation: Spiral galaxy NGC 1097 shines in southern skies, about 45
    million light-years away in the heated constellation Fornax. Its blue
    spiral arms are mottled with pinkish star forming regions in this
    colorful galaxy portrait. They seem to have wrapped around a small
    companion galaxy above and right of center, about 40,000 light-years
    from the spiral's luminous core. That's not NGC 1097's only peculiar
    feature, though. This very deep exposure hints of faint, mysterious
    jets, seen to extend well beyond the bluish arms. In fact, four faint
    jets are ultimately recognized in optical images of NGC 1097. The jets
    trace an X centered on the galaxy's nucleus, but probably don't
    originate there. Instead, they could be fossil star streams, trails
    left over from the capture and disruption of a much smaller galaxy in
    the large spiral's ancient past. A Seyfert galaxy, NGC 1097's nucleus
    also harbors a supermassive black hole.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Nov 17 01:56:58 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 17

    Planet Earth from Orion
    Image Credit: NASA, Artemis 1

    Explanation: A Space Launch System rocket left planet Earth on
    Wednesday, November 16 at 1:47am EST carrying the Orion spacecraft on
    the Artemis 1 mission, the first integrated test of NASA's deep space
    exploration systems. Over an hour after liftoff from Kennedy Space
    Center's
    historic Launch Complex 39B, one of Orion's external video cameras
    captured this view of its new perspective from space. In the foreground
    are Orion's Orbital Maneuvering System engine and auxillary engines, at
    the bottom of the European Service Module. Beyond one of the module's
    7-meter long extended solar array wings lies the spacecraft's beautiful
    home world. The Artemis 1 mission will last almost four weeks, testing
    capabilities to enable human exploration of the Moon and Mars. The
    uncrewed Orion spacecraft is expected to fly by the Moon on November
    21, performing a close approach to the lunar surface on its way to a
    retrograde orbit 70,000 kilometers beyond the Moon.

    Tomorrow's picture: the protostar within
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Nov 18 02:14:40 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 18

    The Protostar within L1527
    Image Credit: Science - NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, NIRCam
    Processing - Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI),
    Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

    Explanation: The protostar within dark cloud L1527 is a mere 100,000
    years old, still embedded in the cloud of gas and dust that feeds its
    growth. In this NIRCam image from the James Webb Space Telescope, the
    dark band at the neck of the infrared nebula is a thick disk that
    surrounds the young stellar object. Viewed nearly edge-on and a little
    larger than our Solar System, the disk ultimately supplies material to
    the protostar while hiding it from Webb's direct infrared view. The
    nebula itself is seen in stunning detail though. Illuminated by
    infrared light from the protostar, the hourglass-shaped nebula's
    cavities are created as material ejected in the star-forming process
    plows through the surrounding medium. As the protostar gains mass it
    will eventually become a full-fledged star, collapsing and igniting
    nuclear fusion in its core. A likely analog to our own Sun and Solar
    System in their early infancy, the protostar within dark cloud L1527
    lies some 460 light-years distant in the Taurus star-forming region.
    Webb's NIRCam image spans about 0.3 light-years.

    Tomorrow's picture: moonshot
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Nov 19 01:07:06 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 19

    Artemis 1 Moonshot
    Image Credit & Copyright: John Kraus

    Explanation: When the Artemis 1 mission's Orion spacecraft makes its
    November 21 powered flyby of the Moon, denizens of planet Earth will
    see the Moon in a waning crescent phase. The spacecraft will approach
    to within about 130 kilometers of the lunar surface on its way to a
    distant retrograde orbit some 70,000 kilometers beyond the Moon. But
    the Moon was at last quarter for the November 16 launch and near the
    horizon in the dark early hours after midnight. It's captured here in
    skies over Kennedy Space Center along with the SLS rocket engines and
    solid rocket boosters lofting the uncrewed Orion to space. Ragged
    fringes appearing along the bright edge of the sunlit lunar nearside
    are caused as pressure waves generated by the rocket's passage change
    the index of refraction along the camera's line of sight.

    Tomorrow's picture: ripples over Tibet
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Nov 20 01:35:16 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 20
    The featured image shows a dark field with a photographer lit in red
    imaging a night sky tinged with green airglow and decorated with clouds
    that appear collectively like a giant spiral. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Airglow Ripples over Tibet
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai

    Explanation: Why would the sky look like a giant target? Airglow.
    Following a giant thunderstorm over Bangladesh in late April, giant
    circular ripples of glowing air appeared over Tibet, China, as pictured
    here. The unusual pattern is created by atmospheric gravity waves,
    waves of alternating air pressure that can grow with height as the air
    thins, in this case about 90-kilometers up. Unlike auroras powered by
    collisions with energetic charged particles and seen at high latitudes,
    airglow is due to chemiluminescence, the production of light in a
    chemical reaction. More typically seen near the horizon, airglow keeps
    the night sky from ever being completely dark.

    Tomorrow's picture: butterfly sky
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Nov 21 01:25:52 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 21
    The featured image shows the Butterfly Nebula as imaged by Hubble. The
    nebula appears very colorful due to a expansive color map used by the
    digitizing processor. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    The Butterfly Nebula from Hubble
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing: William Ostling

    Explanation: Stars can make beautiful patterns as they age -- sometimes
    similar to flowers or insects. NGC 6302, the Butterfly Nebula, is a
    notable example. Though its gaseous wingspan covers over 3 light-years
    and its estimated surface temperature exceeds 200,000 degrees C, the
    aging central star of NGC 6302, the featured planetary nebula, has
    become exceptionally hot, shining brightly in visible and ultraviolet
    light but hidden from direct view by a dense torus of dust. This sharp
    close-up was recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope and is processed
    here to show off remarkable details of the complex planetary nebula,
    highlighting in particular light emitted by oxygen (shown as blue),
    hydrogen (green), and nitrogen (red). NGC 6302 lies about 3,500
    light-years away in the arachnologically correct constellation of the
    Scorpion (Scorpius). Planetary nebulas evolve from outer atmospheres of
    stars like our Sun, but usually fade in about 20,000 years.

    Tomorrow's picture: double space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Nov 22 01:07:38 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 22
    The featured image shows two clusters of blue stars placed next to each
    other. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    A Double Star Cluster in Perseus
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tommy Lease

    Explanation: Few star clusters this close to each other. Visible to the
    unaided eye from dark sky areas, it was cataloged in 130 BC by Greek
    astronomer Hipparchus. Some 7,000 light-years away, this pair of open
    star clusters is also an easy binocular target, a striking starfield in
    the northern constellation of the mythical Greek hero Perseus. Now
    known as h and chi Persei, or NGC 869 (above right) and NGC 884, the
    clusters themselves are separated by only a few hundred light-years and
    contain stars much younger and hotter than the Sun. In addition to
    being physically close together, the clusters' ages based on their
    individual stars are similar - evidence that both clusters were likely
    a product of the same star-forming region.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Nov 23 01:11:18 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 23

    Earthset from Orion
    Image Credit: NASA, Artemis 1

    Explanation: Eight billion people are about to disappear in this
    snapshot from space. Taken on November 21, the sixth day of the Artemis
    1 mission, their home world is setting behind the Moon's bright edge as
    viewed by an external camera on the outbound Orion spacecraft. The
    Orion was headed for a powered flyby that took it to within 130
    kilometers of the lunar surface. Velocity gained in the flyby maneuver
    will be used to reach a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon. That
    orbit is considered distant because it's another 92,000 kilometers
    beyond the Moon, and retrograde because the spacecraft will orbit in
    the opposite direction of the Moon's orbit around planet Earth. Orion
    will enter its distant retrograde orbit on Friday, November 25.
    Swinging around the Moon, Orion will reach a maximum distance (just
    over 400,000 kilometers) from Earth on Monday November 28 exceeding a
    record set by Apollo 13 for most distant spacecraft designed for human
    space exploration.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Nov 24 01:35:26 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 24

    Lynds Dark Nebula 1251
    Image Credit & Copyright: Stefano Attalienti

    Explanation: Stars are forming in Lynds Dark Nebula (LDN) 1251. About
    1,000 light-years away and drifting above the plane of our Milky Way
    galaxy, the dusty molecular cloud is part of a complex of dark nebulae
    mapped toward the Cepheus flare region. Across the spectrum,
    astronomical explorations of the obscuring interstellar clouds reveal
    energetic shocks and outflows associated with newborn stars, including
    the telltale reddish glow from scattered Herbig-Haro objects hiding in
    the image. Distant background galaxies also lurk on the scene, almost
    buried behind the dusty expanse. This alluring view spans over four
    full moons on the sky, or 35 light-years at the estimated distance of
    LDN 1251.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Nov 25 01:20:16 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 25

    NGC 6744: Extragalactic Close-Up
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the LEGUS team

    Explanation: Beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 6744 is nearly 175,000
    light-years across. That's larger than the Milky Way. It lies some 30
    million light-years distant in the southern constellation Pavo, with
    its galactic disk tilted towards our line of sight. This Hubble
    close-up of the nearby island universe spans about 24,000 light-years
    or so across NGC 6744's central region. The Hubble view combines
    visible light and ultraviolet image data. The giant galaxy's yellowish
    core is dominated by the visible light from old, cool stars. Beyond the
    core are star-forming regions and young star clusters scattered along
    the inner spiral arms. NGC 6744's young star clusters are bright at
    ultraviolet wavelengths, shown in blue and magenta hues. Spiky stars
    scattered around the frame are foreground stars and well within our own
    Milky Way.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Nov 26 01:07:46 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 26

    Saturn at Night
    NASA, JPL-Caltech, Space Science Institute, Mindaugas Macijauskas

    Explanation: Saturn is still bright in planet Earth's night skies.
    Telescopic views of the distant gas giant and its beautiful rings often
    make it a star at star parties. But this stunning view of Saturn's
    rings and night side just isn't possible from telescopes closer to the
    Sun than the outer planet. They can only bring Saturn's day into view.
    In fact, this image of Saturn's slender sunlit crescent with night's
    shadow cast across its broad and complex ring system was captured by
    the Cassini spacecraft. A robot spacecraft from planet Earth, Cassini
    called Saturn orbit home for 13 years before it was directed to dive
    into the atmosphere of the gas giant on September 15, 2017. This
    magnificent mosaic is composed of frames recorded by Cassini's
    wide-angle camera only two days before its grand final plunge. Saturn's
    night will not be seen again until another spaceship from Earth calls.

    Tomorrow's picture: supernumerary
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Nov 27 01:17:26 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 27

    Supernumerary Rainbows over New Jersey
    Image Credit & Copyright: John Entwistle

    Explanation: Yes, but can your rainbow do this? After the remnants of
    Hurricane Florence passed over the Jersey Shore, New Jersey, USA in
    2018, the Sun came out in one direction but something quite unusual
    appeared in the opposite direction: a hall of rainbows. Over the course
    of a next half hour, to the delight of the photographer and his
    daughter, vibrant supernumerary rainbows faded in and out, with at
    least five captured in this featured single shot. Supernumerary
    rainbows only form when falling water droplets are all nearly the same
    size and typically less than a millimeter across. Then, sunlight will
    not only reflect from inside the raindrops, but interfere, a wave
    phenomenon similar to ripples on a pond when a stone is thrown in. In
    fact, supernumerary rainbows can only be explained with waves, and
    their noted existence in the early 1800s was considered early evidence
    of light's wave nature.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Nov 28 01:04:54 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 28
    The featured image is a composite showing many meteors trails streaking
    across a sky featuring the familiar constellation of Orion. In the
    foreground two people sit in adjoining chairs facing away from the
    camera, one holding a wand with a glowing star at the end. Please see
    the explanation for more detailed information.

    Leonid Meteors Through Orion
    Image Credit & Copyright: Luo Hongyang

    Explanation: Where will the next meteor appear? Even during a meteor
    shower, it is practically impossible to know. Therefore, a good way to
    enjoy a meteor shower is to find a place where you can sit comfortably
    and monitor a great expanse of dark sky. And it may be satisfying to
    share this experience with a friend. The meteor shower depicted was the
    2022 Leonids which peaked earlier this month, and the view is from
    Hainan, China looking out over the South China Sea. Meteor streaks
    captured over a few hours were isolated and added to a foreground image
    recorded earlier. From this place and time, Leonid meteors that trace
    back to the constellation of Leo were seen streaking across other
    constellations including Orion. The bright red planet Mars appears near
    the top of the image. Bonding over their love of astronomy, the two
    pictured meteor enthusiasts, shown celebrating their common birthday
    this month, are now married.

    Tomorrow's picture: closest supernova remnant
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Nov 29 02:16:30 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 29
    The featured image shows a grand skyscape with a brown desert road in
    the foreground and a sky containing the Milky Way galactic band
    complete with a large red glow on the right which is the dim Gum
    Nebula. The LMC galaxy is also visible. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    The Gum Nebula Supernova Remnant
    Image Credit & Copyright: Victor Lima

    Explanation: Because the Gum Nebula is the closest supernova remnant,
    it is actually hard to see. Spanning 40 degrees across the sky, the
    nebula appears so large and faint that it is easily lost in the din of
    a bright and complex background. The Gum Nebula is highlighted nicely
    in red emission toward the right of the featured wide-angle,
    single-image photograph taken in late May. Also visible in the frame
    are the Atacama Desert in Chile in the foreground, the Carina Nebula in
    the plane of our Milky Way galaxy running diagonally down from the
    upper left, and the neighboring Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) galaxy.
    The Gum Nebula is so close that we are much nearer the front edge than
    the back edge, each measuring 450 and 1500 light years respectively.
    The complicated nebula lies in the direction of the constellations of
    Puppis and Vela. Oddly, much remains unknown about the Gum Nebula,
    including the timing and even number of supernova explosions that
    formed it.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Nov 30 01:06:26 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 November 30

    The Light, the Dark, and the Dusty
    Image Credit & Copyright: Anthony Quintile

    Explanation: This colorful skyscape spans about four full moons across
    nebula rich starfields along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy in the
    royal northern constellation Cepheus. Near the edge of the region's
    massive molecular cloud some 2,400 light-years away, bright reddish
    emission region Sharpless (Sh) 155 is at the center of the frame, also
    known as the Cave Nebula. About 10 light-years across the cosmic cave's
    bright walls of gas are ionized by ultraviolet light from the hot young
    stars around it. Dusty reflection nebulae, like vdB 155 to the right,
    and dense obscuring clouds of dust also abound on the interstellar
    canvas. Astronomical explorations have revealed other dramatic signs of
    star formation, including the bright reddish fleck of Herbig-Haro (HH)
    168. Below and right of center, the Herbig-Haro object emission is
    generated by energetic jets from a newborn star.

    Tomorrow's picture: supernumerary
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Dec 1 01:03:40 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 1

    Artemis 1: Flight Day 13
    Image Credit: NASA, Artemis 1

    Explanation: On flight day 13 (November 28) of the Artemis 1 mission
    the Orion spacecraft reached its maximum distance from Earth. In fact,
    over 430,000 kilometers from Earth its distant retrograde orbit also
    put Orion nearly 70,000 kilometers from the Moon. In the same field of
    view in this video frame from flight day 13, planet and large natural
    satellite even appear about the same apparent size from the uncrewed
    spacecraft's perspective. Today (December 1) should see Orion depart
    its distant retrograde orbit. En route to planet Earth it will head
    toward a second powered fly by of the Moon. Splashdown on the home
    world is expected on December 11.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Dec 2 01:17:14 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 2

    Merging Galaxy Pair IIZw096
    Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, L. Armus, A. Evans

    Explanation: Bright at infrared wavelengths, this merging galaxy pair
    is some 500 million light-years away toward the constellation
    Delphinus. The cosmic mashup is seen against a background of even more
    distant galaxies, and occasional spiky foreground stars. But the galaxy
    merger itself spans about 100,000 light-years in this deep James Webb
    Space Telescope image. The image data is from Webb's Near-InfraRed
    Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI). Their combined,
    sharp infrared view follows galactic scale restructuring in the dusty
    merger's wild jumble of intense star forming regions and distorted
    spiral arms

    Tomorrow's picture: Stereo Saturday
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 3 01:34:04 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 3

    Stereo Mars near Opposition
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marco Lorenzi

    Explanation: Mars looks sharp in these two rooftop telescope views
    captured in late November from Singapore, planet Earth. At the time,
    Mars was about 82 million kilometers from Singapore and approaching its
    opposition, opposite the Sun in planet Earth's sky on December 8.
    Olympus Mons, largest of the volcanoes in the Tharsis Montes region
    (and largest known volcano in the Solar System), is near Mars' western
    limb. In both the images it's the whitish donut-shape at the upper
    right. The dark area visible near center is the Terra Sirenum region
    while the long dark peninsula closest to the planet's eastern limb is
    Sinus Gomer. Near its tip is Gale crater, the Curiosity rover's landing
    site in 2012. Above Sinus Gomer, white spots are other volcanoes in the
    Elysium region. At top of the planet is the north polar cap covered
    with ice and clouds. Taken about two days apart, these images of the
    same martian hemisphere form a stereo pair. Look at the center of the
    frame and cross your eyes until the separate images come together to
    see the Red Planet in 3D.

    Tomorrow's picture: Powers of Ten
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Dec 4 01:39:14 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 4

    Video: Powers of Ten
    Video Credit & Copyright: Charles & Ray Eames (Eames Office)

    Explanation: How different does the universe look on very small scales?
    On very large scales? The most famous short science film of its
    generation gives breathtaking comparisons. That film, Powers of Ten,
    originally created in the 1960s, has been officially posted to YouTube
    and embedded here. From a picnic blanket near Chicago out past the
    Virgo Cluster of Galaxies, every ten seconds the film zooms out to show
    a square a factor of ten times larger on each side. The 9-minute video
    then reverses, zooming back in a factor of ten every two seconds and
    ends up inside a single proton. The Powers of Ten sequence is actually
    based on the book Cosmic View by Kees Boeke in 1957, as is a similar
    but mostly animated film Cosmic Zoom that was also created in the late
    1960s. The changing perspectives are so enthralling and educational
    that sections have been recreated using more modern computerized
    techniques, including the first few minutes of the movie Contact. Ray
    and husband Charles Eames, the film's creators, were known as quite
    visionary spirits and even invented their own popular chair.

    Tomorrow's picture: seven sister stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Dec 5 02:14:14 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 5
    The featured image shows many blue stars clustered together in
    blue-glowing gas and dust. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Pleiades: The Seven Sisters Star Cluster
    Image Credit & Copyright: Blake Estes (iTelescope Siding Spring Obs.) &
    Christian Sasse

    Explanation: Have you ever seen the Pleiades star cluster? Even if you
    have, you probably have never seen it as large and clear as this.
    Perhaps the most famous star cluster on the sky, the bright stars of
    the Pleiades can be seen with the unaided eye even from the depths of a
    light-polluted city. With a long exposure from a dark location, though,
    the dust cloud surrounding the Pleiades star cluster becomes very
    evident. The featured 11-hour exposure, taken from the Siding Spring
    Observatory in Australia, covers a sky area several times the size of
    the full moon. Also known as the Seven Sisters and M45, the Pleiades
    lies about 400 light years away toward the constellation of the Bull
    (Taurus). A common legend with a modern twist is that one of the
    brighter stars faded since the cluster was named, leaving only six of
    the sister stars visible to the unaided eye. The actual number of
    Pleiades stars visible, however, may be more or less than seven,
    depending on the darkness of the surrounding sky and the clarity of the
    observer's eyesight.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: star birth mountain
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Dec 8 01:52:12 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 8

    Orion and the Ocean of Storms
    Image Credit: NASA, Artemis 1

    Explanation: A camera on board the uncrewed Orion spacecraft captured
    this view on December 5 as Orion approached its return powered flyby of
    the Moon. Below one of Orion's extended solar arrays lies dark, smooth,
    terrain along the western edge of the Oceanus Procellarum. Prominent on
    the lunar nearside Oceanus Procellarum, the Ocean of Storms, is the
    largest of the Moon's lava-flooded maria. The lunar terminator, shadow
    line between lunar night and day, runs along the left of the frame. The
    41 kilometer diameter crater Marius is top center, with ray crater
    Kepler peeking in at the edge, just right of the solar array wing.
    Kepler's bright rays extend to the north and west, reaching the
    dark-floored Marius. Of course the Orion spacecraft is now headed
    toward a December 11 splashdown in planet Earth's water-flooded Pacific
    Ocean.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Dec 9 00:17:08 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 9

    Mars Rises above the Lunar Limb
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tom Glenn

    Explanation: On the night of December 7 Mars wandered near the Full
    Moon. In fact the Red Planet was occulted, passing behind the Moon,
    when viewed from locations across Europe and North America. About an
    hour after disappearing behind the lunar disk Mars reappears in this
    stack of sharp video frames captured from San Diego, planet Earth. With
    the Moon in the foreground Mars was a mere 82 million kilometers
    distant, near its own opposition. Full Moon and full Mars were bright
    enough provide the spectacular image with no exposure adjustments
    necessary. In the image Mars appears to rise just over ancient,
    dark-floored, lunar crater Abel very close to the southeastern edge of
    the Moon's near side. Humboldt is the large impact crater to its north
    (left).

    Tomorrow's picture: Challenger and the Sea of Serenity
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 10 00:50:14 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 10

    America and the Sea of Serenity
    Gene Cernan, Apollo 17, NASA; Anaglyph by Patrick Vantuyne

    Explanation: Get out your red/blue glasses and check out this stereo
    view of another world. Fifty years ago the scene was recorded by Apollo
    17 mission commander Eugene Cernan on December 11, 1972, one orbit
    before descending to land on the Moon. The stereo anaglyph was
    assembled from two photographs (AS17-147-22465, AS17-147-22466)
    captured from his vantage point on board the Lunar Module Challenger as
    he and Dr. Harrison Schmitt flew over Apollo 17's landing site in the
    Taurus-Littrow Valley. The broad, sunlit face of the mountain dubbed
    South Massif rises near the center of the frame, above the dark floor
    of Taurus-Littrow to its left. Piloted by Ron Evans, the Command Module
    America is visible in orbit in the foreground against the South
    Massif's peak. Beyond the mountains, toward the lunar limb, lies the
    Moon's Mare Serenitatis.

    Tomorrow's picture: Io
    __________________________________________________________________

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    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Dec 11 00:29:48 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 11
    The featured image shows Jupiter's moon Io which is bright yellow from
    sulfur and covered with volcanoes and volcanic floes. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Io in True Color
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL, Galileo Project

    Explanation: The strangest moon in the Solar System is bright yellow.
    The featured picture, an attempt to show how Io would appear in the
    "true colors" perceptible to the average human eye, was taken in 1999
    July by the Galileo spacecraft that orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003.
    Io's colors derive from sulfur and molten silicate rock. The unusual
    surface of Io is kept very young by its system of active volcanoes. The
    intense tidal gravity of Jupiter stretches Io and damps wobbles caused
    by Jupiter's other Galilean moons. The resulting friction greatly heats
    Io's interior, causing molten rock to explode through the surface. Io's
    volcanoes are so active that they are effectively turning the whole
    moon inside out. Some of Io's volcanic lava is so hot it glows in the
    dark.

    Artemis 1 Coverage: Orion return and splashdown
    Tomorrow's picture: interstellar dust monster
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Dec 12 13:07:38 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 12
    The featured image shows an interstellar gas globule that looks like a
    monster superposed against a glowing red background. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    An Unusual Globule in IC 1396
    Image Credit & Copyright: Bernard Miller

    Explanation: Is there a monster in IC 1396? Known to some as the
    Elephant's Trunk Nebula, parts of gas and dust clouds of this star
    formation region may appear to take on foreboding forms, some nearly
    human. The only real monster here, however, is a bright young star too
    far from Earth to hurt us. Energetic light from this star is eating
    away the dust of the dark cometary globule near the top of the featured
    image. Jets and winds of particles emitted from this star are also
    pushing away ambient gas and dust. Nearly 3,000 light-years distant,
    the relatively faint IC 1396 complex covers a much larger region on the
    sky than shown here, with an apparent width of more than 10 full moons.

    Tomorrow's picture: art and sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Dec 13 00:43:10 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 13
    The featured image shows a person standing in mountainous terrain
    holding a light. Above are many sky icons including auroral arcs, the
    arc of the Milky Way, a meteor, and the stars of the Big Dipper. Please
    see the explanation for more detailed information.

    An Artful Sky over Lofoten Islands
    Image Credit & Copyright: Giulio Cobianchi

    Explanation: Can the night sky be both art and science? If so, perhaps
    the featured image is an example. The digital panorama was composed of
    10 landscape and 10 sky images all taken on the same night, from the
    same location, and with the same camera. Iconic features in the image
    have been artfully brightened, and the ground nearby was artfully
    illuminated. Visible in the foreground is the creative photographer
    anchoring an amazing view from the rugged Lofoten Islands of Norway,
    two months ago, by holding a lamp. Far in the distance are three
    prominent arches: our Milky Way Galaxy on the left, while a
    scientifically-unusual double-arced aurora is documented on the right.
    A meteor is highlighted between them. Other notable skylights include,
    left to right, the Andromeda Galaxy, the planet Jupiter, the star Vega,
    and the stars that compose the Big Dipper asterism.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Dec 14 00:05:04 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 14

    Lunar Dust and Duct Tape
    Image Credit: Apollo 17, NASA

    Explanation: Why is the Moon so dusty? On Earth, rocks are weathered by
    wind and water, creating soil and sand. On the Moon, the history of
    constant micrometeorite bombardment has blasted away at the rocky
    surface creating a layer of powdery lunar soil or regolith. For the
    Apollo astronauts and their equipment, the pervasive, fine, gritty dust
    was definitely a problem
    . Fifty years ago, on the lunar surface in December 1972, Apollo 17
    astronauts Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan needed to repair one of
    their rover's fenders in an effort to keep the rooster tails of dust
    away from themselves and their gear. This picture reveals the wheel and
    fender of their dust covered rover along with the ingenious application
    of spare maps, clamps, and a grey strip of "duct tape".

    Tomorrow's picture: Full Moon, Full Mars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Dec 15 00:46:42 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 15

    Full Moon, Full Mars
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tomas Slovinsky

    Explanation: On December 8 a full Moon and a full Mars were close, both
    bright and opposite the Sun in planet Earth's sky. In fact Mars was
    occulted, passing behind the Moon when viewed from some locations
    across Europe and North America. Seen from the city of Kosice in
    eastern Slovakia, the lunar occultation of Mars happened just before
    sunrise. The tantalizing spectacle was recorded in this telescopic
    timelapse sequence of exposures. It took about an hour for the Red
    Planet to disappear behind the lunar disk and then reappear as a
    warm-hued full Moon, the last full Moon of 2022, sank toward the
    western horizon. The next lunar occultation of bright planet Mars will
    be in the new year on January 3, when the Moon is in a waxing gibbous
    phase. Lunar occultations are only ever visible from a fraction of the
    Earth's surface, though. The January 3 occultation of Mars will be
    visible from parts of the South Atlantic, southern Africa, and the
    Indian Ocean.

    Tomorrow's picture: Geminid
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Dec 16 00:20:30 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 16

    The Geminid
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN)

    Explanation: Returning from beyond the Moon, on December 11 the Orion
    spacecraft entered Earth's atmosphere at almost 11 kilometers per
    second. That's half the speed of the grain of dust that created this
    long fireball meteor when it entered the atmosphere on December 13,
    near the peak of the annual Geminid meteor shower. As our fair planet
    makes its yearly pass through the dust trail of mysterious asteroid
    3200 Phaethon, the parallel tracks of all Geminid meteors appear to
    radiate from a point in the constellation Gemini. But the twin stars of
    Gemini hide just behind the trees on the left in this night skyscape
    from the beautiful Blue Moon Valley, Yunnan, China. Reflected in the
    still waters of the mountain lake, stars of the constellation Orion are
    rising near center. Captured before moonrise, dazzling Mars is still
    the brightest celestial beacon in the scene.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 17 00:03:16 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 17

    Apollo 17 VIP Site Anaglyph
    Image Credit: Gene Cernan, Apollo 17, NASA; Anaglyph by Erik van
    Meijgaarden

    Explanation: Get out your red/blue glasses and check out this stereo
    scene from Taurus-Littrow valley on the Moon! The color anaglyph
    features a detailed 3D view of Apollo 17's Lunar Rover in the
    foreground -- behind it lies the Lunar Module and distant lunar hills.
    Because the world was going to be able to watch the Lunar Module's
    ascent stage liftoff via the rover's TV camera, this parking place was
    also known as the VIP Site. Fifty years ago, in December of 1972,
    Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent about 75
    hours on the Moon, while colleague Ronald Evans orbited overhead. The
    crew returned with 110 kilograms of rock and soil samples, more than
    from any of the other lunar landing sites. Cernan and Schmitt are still
    the last to walk (or drive) on the Moon.

    Tomorrow's picture: the brightest stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Dec 18 00:45:24 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 18

    25 Brightest Stars in the Night Sky
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tragoolchitr Jittasaiyapan

    Explanation: Do you know the names of some of the brightest stars? It's
    likely that you do, even though some bright stars have names so old
    they date back to near the beginning of written language. Many world
    cultures have their own names for the brightest stars, and it is
    culturally and historically important to remember them. In the interest
    of clear global communication, however, the International Astronomical
    Union (IAU) has begun to designate standardized star names. Featured
    here in true color are the 25 brightest stars in the night sky,
    currently as seen by humans, coupled with their IAU-recognized names.
    Some star names have interesting meanings, including Sirius ("the
    scorcher" in Latin), Vega ("falling" in Arabic), and Antares ("rival to
    Mars" in Greek). You are likely even familiar with the name of at least
    one star too dim to make this list: Polaris.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: interstellar tadpoles
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Dec 19 01:39:22 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 19
    The featured image shows a glowing star forming region rich in glowing
    gas and dark dust. Two dusty pillars on the right resemble tadpoles.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    The Tadpole Nebula in Gas and Dust
    Image Credit & Copyright: Craig Stocks (Utah Desert Remote
    Observatories)

    Explanation: What's causing the commotion in the Tadpole Nebula? Star
    formation. Dusty emission in the Tadpole Nebula, IC 410, lies about
    12,000 light-years away in the northern constellation of the Charioteer
    (Auriga). The cloud of glowing gas is over 100 light-years across,
    sculpted by stellar winds and radiation from embedded open star cluster
    NGC 1893. Formed in the interstellar cloud a mere 4 million years ago,
    bright newly formed cluster stars are seen all around the star-forming
    nebula. Notable on the lower-right of the featured image are two
    relatively dense streamers of material trailing away from the nebula's
    central regions. Potentially sites of ongoing star formation in IC 410,
    these cosmic tadpole shapes are about 10 light-years long. The image
    was processed highlighting the emission from sulfur (red), hydrogen
    (green), and oxygen (blue) gas -- but with the stars digitally removed.

    Tomorrow's picture: Big Thor
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Dec 20 00:25:22 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 20
    The featured image shows a nebula in blue and red that looks like a
    helmet. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Thor's Helmet
    Image Credit & Copyright: Hannah Rochford

    Explanation: Thor not only has his own day (Thursday), but a helmet in
    the heavens. Popularly called Thor's Helmet, NGC 2359 is a hat-shaped
    cosmic cloud with wing-like appendages. Heroically sized even for a
    Norse god, Thor's Helmet is about 30 light-years across. In fact, the
    cosmic head-covering is more like an interstellar bubble, blown with a
    fast wind from the bright, massive star near the bubble's center. Known
    as a Wolf-Rayet star, the central star is an extremely hot giant
    thought to be in a brief, pre-supernova stage of evolution. NGC 2359 is
    located about 15,000 light-years away toward the constellation of the
    Great Overdog. This remarkably sharp image is a mixed cocktail of data
    from narrowband filters, capturing not only natural looking stars but
    details of the nebula's filamentary structures. The star in the center
    of Thor's Helmet is expected to explode in a spectacular supernova
    sometime within the next few thousand years.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: solstice sun
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Dec 21 00:12:36 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 21

    Sun Halo at Sixty-three Degrees North
    Image Credit & Copyright: Goran Strand

    Explanation: Happy Solstice! Today is the December solstice, marking an
    astronomical beginning of summer in the southern hemisphere and winter
    in the north. On its yearly trek through planet Earth's skies, at this
    solstice the Sun reaches its southern most declination, 23.5 degrees
    south, at 21:48 UTC. About 4 days ago the Sun was near this seasonal
    southern limit and so only just above the horizon at local noon over
    Ostersund in central Sweden. This view looking over the far northern
    lakeside city finds the midday Sun with a beautiful solar ice halo.
    Naturally occurring atmospheric ice crystals can produce the
    tantalizing halo displays, refracting and reflecting the sunlight
    through their hexagonal geometry. Still, with the Sun low and near the
    horizon in the clear sky, likely sources of the ice crystals producing
    this intense halo are snow cannons. Operating at a local ski area, the
    snowmaking machines create a visible plume at the top of the nearby
    island Froson toward the right side of the panorama.

    Tomorrow's picture: northern spiral
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Dec 22 06:17:10 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 22

    NGC 1365: Majestic Island Universe
    Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh

    Explanation: Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 is truly a majestic island
    universe some 200,000 light-years across. Located a mere 60 million
    light-years away toward the faint but heated constellation Fornax, NGC
    1365 is a dominant member of the well-studied Fornax Cluster of
    galaxies. This impressively sharp color image shows the intense,
    reddish star forming regions near the ends of central bar and along the
    spiral arms, with details of the obscuring dust lanes cutting across
    the galaxy's bright core. At the core lies a supermassive black hole.
    Astronomers think NGC 1365's prominent bar plays a crucial role in the
    galaxy's evolution, drawing gas and dust into a star-forming maelstrom
    and ultimately feeding material into the central black hole.

    Tomorrow's picture: northern Saturn
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Dec 23 00:13:06 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 23
    The featured image shows a black and white image with Saturn's orb
    dominating the image bottom and Saturn's rings dominating the image
    top. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Cassini Looks Out from Saturn
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Space Science Institute

    Explanation: This is what Saturn looks like from inside the rings. In
    2017, for the first time, NASA directed the Cassini spacecraft to swoop
    between Saturn and its rings. During the dive, the robotic spacecraft
    took hundreds of images showing unprecedented detail for structures in
    Saturn's atmosphere. Looking back out, however, the spacecraft was also
    able to capture impressive vistas. In the featured image, taken a few
    hours before closest approach, Saturn's unusual northern hexagon is
    seen surrounding the North Pole. Saturn's B ring is the closest
    visible, while the dark Cassini Division separates B from the outer A.
    A close inspection will find the two small moons that shepherd the
    F-ring, the farthest ring discernable. A few months after this image
    was taken -- and after more than a decade of exploration and discovery
    -- the Cassini spacecraft ran low on fuel and was directed to enter
    Saturn's atmosphere, where it surely melted.

    Tomorrow's picture: the night before
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 24 01:19:12 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 24

    Comet 2022 E3 (ZTF)
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

    Explanation: Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was discovered by astronomers using
    the wide-field survey camera at the Zwicky Transient Facility this year
    in early March. Since then the new long-period comet has brightened
    substantially and is now sweeping across the northern constellation
    Corona Borealis in predawn skies. It's still too dim to see without a
    telescope though. But this fine telescopic image from December 19 does
    show the comet's brighter greenish coma, short broad dust tail, and
    long faint ion tail stretching across a 2.5 degree wide field-of-view.
    On a voyage through the inner Solar System comet 2022 E3 will be at
    perihelion, its closest to the Sun, in the new year on January 12 and
    at perigee, its closest to our fair planet, on February 1. The
    brightness of comets is notoriously unpredictable, but by then C/2022
    E3 (ZTF) could become only just visible to the eye in dark night skies.

    Tomorrow's picture: stars and mittens
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Dec 25 00:21:44 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 25

    Geminids and the Mittens
    Image Credit & Copyright: Chuck Derus

    Explanation: Asteroid 3200 Phaethon's annual gift to planet Earth
    always arrives in December. Otherwise known as the Geminid meteor
    shower, the source of the meteroid stream is dust shed along the orbit
    of the mysterious asteroid. Near the December 13/14 peak of the
    shower's activity, geminid meteors are captured in this night skyscape,
    composited from 22 images of starry sky taken before the moon rose over
    Monument Valley in the American southwest. The bright stars near the
    position of the shower's radiant are the constellation Gemini's twin
    stars Castor (blue) and Pollux (yellow). As Earth sweeps through the
    dusty stream, the parallel meteor trails appear to radiate from a point
    on the sky in Gemini due to perspective, and so the yearly shower is
    named for the constellation. From the camera's perspective, this view
    of three prominent buttes across Monument Valley also suggests
    appropriate names for two of them. The third one is called Merrick
    Butte.

    Tomorrow's picture: the dragon's egg
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Dec 26 06:35:16 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 26
    The featured image shows a star inside a symmetric but complex and
    multi-colored nebula which is all surrounded by a faint blue nebula.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    NGC 6164: Dragon's Egg Nebula and Halo
    Image Credit & Copyright: Russell Croman

    Explanation: The star at the center created everything. Known as the
    Dragon's Egg, this star -- a rare, hot, luminous O-type star some 40
    times as massive as the Sun -- created not only the complex nebula (NGC
    6164) that immediately surrounds it, but also the encompassing blue
    halo. Its name is derived, in part, from the region's proximity to the
    picturesque NGC 6188, known as the fighting Dragons of Ara. In another
    three to four million years the massive star will likely end its life
    in a supernova explosion. Spanning around 4 light-years, the nebula
    itself has a bipolar symmetry making it similar in appearance to more
    common planetary nebulae - the gaseous shrouds surrounding dying
    sun-like stars. Also like many planetary nebulae, NGC 6164 has been
    found to have an extensive, faint halo, revealed in blue in this deep
    telescopic image of the region. Expanding into the surrounding
    interstellar medium, the material in the blue halo was likely expelled
    from an earlier active phase of the O-star. NGC 6164 lies 4,200
    light-years away in the southern constellation of the Carpenter's
    Square (Norma).

    Tomorrow's picture: all the way around
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Dec 27 02:32:22 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 27
    The featured image shows two complete circular rainbows centered on a
    mountainous island. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    A Full Circle Rainbow over Norway
    Image Credit & Copyright: Lukas Moesch

    Explanation: Have you ever seen an entire rainbow? From the ground,
    typically, only the top portion of a rainbow is visible because
    directions toward the ground have fewer raindrops. From the air,
    though, the entire 360-degree circle of a rainbow is more commonly
    visible. Pictured here, a full-circle rainbow was captured over the
    Lofoten Islands of Norway in September by a drone passing through a
    rain shower. An observer-dependent phenomenon primarily caused by the
    internal reflection of sunlight by raindrops, the rainbow has a full
    diameter of 84 degrees. The Sun is in the exact opposite direction from
    the rainbow's center. As a bonus, a second rainbow that was more faint
    and color-reversed was visible outside the first.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Dec 28 05:41:08 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 28

    Messier 88
    Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block, Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, U. Arizona

    Explanation: Charles Messier described the 88th entry in his 18th
    century catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters as a spiral nebula without
    stars. Of course the gorgeous M88 is now understood to be a galaxy full
    of stars, gas, and dust, not unlike our own Milky Way. In fact, M88 is
    one of the brightest galaxies in the Virgo Galaxy Cluster some 50
    million light-years away. M88's beautiful spiral arms are easy to trace
    in this sharp cosmic portait. The arms are lined with young blue star
    clusters, pink star-forming regions, and obscuring dust lanes extending
    from a yellowish core dominated by an older population of stars. Spiral
    galaxy M88 spans over 100,000 light-years.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Dec 29 00:23:58 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 29

    Horsehead and Flame
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jason Close

    Explanation: The Horsehead Nebula, famous celestial dark marking also
    known as Barnard 33, is notched against a background glow of emission
    nebulae in this sharp cosmic skyscape. About five light-years "tall"
    the Horsehead lies some 1,500 light-years away in the constellation of
    Orion. Within the region's fertile molecular cloud complex, the expanse
    of obscuring dust has a recognizable shape only by chance from our
    perspective in the Milky Way though. Orion's easternmost belt star,
    bright Alnitak, is to the left of center. Energetic ultraviolet light
    from Alnitak powers the glow of dusty NGC 2024, the Flame Nebula, just
    below it. Completing a study in cosmic contrasts, bluish reflection
    nebula NGC 2023 is below the Horsehead itself. This well-framed
    telescopic field spans about 3 full moons on the sky.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Dec 30 00:53:58 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 30

    Mars and the Star Clusters
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gabor Balazs

    Explanation: At this year's end Mars still shines brightly in planet
    Earth's night as it wanders through the head-strong constellation
    Taurus. Its bright yellowish hue dominates this starry field of view
    that includes Taurus' alpha star Aldebaran and the Hyades and Pleiades
    star clusters. While red giant Aldebaran appears to anchor the V-shape
    of the Hyades at the left of the frame, Aldebaran is not a member of
    the Hyades star cluster. The Hyades cluster is 151 light-years away
    making it the nearest established open star cluster, but Aldebaran lies
    at less than half that distance, along the same line-of-sight. At the
    right, some 400 light-years distant is the open star cluster cataloged
    as Messier 45, also known as the Pleiades or Seven Sisters. In Greek
    myth, the Pleiades were daughters of the astronomical titan Atlas and
    sea-nymph Pleione.

    Tomorrow's picture: so nice, they named it twice
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 31 22:00:34 2022
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2022 December 31

    Moon over Makemake
    Illustration Credit: Alex H. Parker (Southwest Research Institute)

    Explanation: Makemake (sounds like MAH-kay MAH-kay), second brightest
    dwarf planet of the Kuiper belt, has a moon. Nicknamed MK2, Makemake's
    moon reflects sunlight with a charcoal-dark surface, about 1,300 times
    fainter than its parent body. Still, in 2016 it was spotted in Hubble
    Space Telescope observations intended to search for faint companions
    with the same technique used to find the small satellites of Pluto.
    Just as for Pluto and its satellites, further observations of Makemake
    and orbiting moon will measure the system's mass and density and allow
    a broader understanding of the distant worlds. About 160 kilometers
    (100 miles) across compared to Makemake's 1,400 kilometer diameter,
    MK2's relative size and contrast are shown in this artist's vision. An
    imagined scene of an unexplored frontier of the Solar System, it looks
    back from a spacecraft's vantage as the dim Sun shines along the Milky
    Way. Of course, the Sun is over 50 times farther from Makemake than it
    is from planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: planet Earth
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jan 1 00:11:28 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 1
    The featured image shows several streaks on a dark background with a
    pale blue dot in one of the streaks. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    The Largest Rock in our Solar System
    Image Credit: NASA, Voyager 1 spacecraft

    Explanation: There, that dot on the right, that's the largest rock
    known in our Solar System. It is larger than every known asteroid,
    moon, and comet nucleus. It is larger than any other local rocky
    planet. This rock is so large its gravity makes it into a large ball
    that holds heavy gases near its surface. (It used to be the largest
    known rock of any type until the recent discoveries of large dense
    planets orbiting other stars.) The Voyager 1 spacecraft took the
    featured picture -- famously called Pale Blue Dot -- of this giant
    space rock in 1990 from the outer Solar System. Today, this rock starts
    another orbit around its parent star, for roughly the 5 billionth time,
    spinning over 350 times during each trip. Happy Gregorian Calendar New
    Year to all inhabitants of this rock we call Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: planets align
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 2 00:09:32 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 2
    The featured image is a wide-angle image featuring a Turkish village in
    the foreground and a sky containing off of planets in our Solar System
    in the background. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    After Sunset Planet Parade
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel (TWAN)

    Explanation: Look up tonight and see a whole bunch of planets. Just
    after sunset, looking west, planets Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars
    will all be simultaneously visible. Listed west to east, this planetary
    lineup will have Venus nearest the horizon, but setting shortly after
    the Sun. It doesn't matter where on Earth you live because this early
    evening planet parade will be visible through clear skies all around
    the globe. Taken late last month, the featured image captured all of
    these planets and more: the Moon and planet Mercury were also
    simultaneously visible. Below visibility were the planets Neptune and
    Uranus, making this a nearly all-planet panorama. In the foreground are
    hills around the small village of G÷kte÷ren, Kas, Turkey, near the
    Mediterranean coast. Bright stars Altair, Fomalhaut, and Aldebaran are
    also prominent, as well as the Pleiades star cluster. Venus will rise
    higher in the sky at sunset as January continues, but Saturn will
    descend.

    Tomorrow's picture: stars align
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 3 01:07:46 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 3
    The featured image shows a line of bright stars strewn diagonally
    across a starfield of more dim stars. A cluster of stars is also
    visible near the top left of the image. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    Kemble's Cascade of Stars
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tommy Lease

    Explanation: This line of stars is real. A little too faint to see with
    the unaided eye, Kemble's Cascade of stars inspires awe when seen with
    binoculars. Like the Big Dipper though, Kemble's Cascade is an
    asterism, not a constellation. The asterism is visible in the northern
    sky toward the long-necked constellation of the Giraffe
    (Camelopardalis). This string of about 20 unrelated stars, each of
    similar brightness, spans over five times the angular width of the full
    moon. Stretching diagonally from the upper left to the lower right,
    Kemble's Cascade was popularized last century by astronomy enthusiast
    Lucian Kemble. The bright object near the top left of the image is the
    relatively compact Jolly Roger open cluster of stars, officially
    designated as NGC 1502.

    Tomorrow's picture: big appetite
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jan 5 00:52:48 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 5

    Messier 45: The Daughters of Atlas and Pleione
    Image Credit & Copyright: Stefan Thrun

    Explanation: Hurtling through a cosmic dust cloud a mere 400
    light-years away, the lovely Pleiades or Seven Sisters open star
    cluster is well-known for its striking blue reflection nebulae. It lies
    in the night sky toward the constellation Taurus and the Orion Arm of
    our Milky Way galaxy. The sister stars are not related to the dusty
    cloud though. They just happen to be passing through the same region of
    space. Known since antiquity as a compact grouping of stars, Galileo
    first sketched the star cluster viewed through his telescope with stars
    too faint to be seen by eye. Charles Messier recorded the position of
    the cluster as the 45th entry in his famous catalog of things which are
    not comets. In Greek myth, the Pleiades were seven daughters of the
    astronomical titan Atlas and sea-nymph Pleione. Their parents names are
    included in the cluster's nine brightest stars. This well-processed,
    color-calibrated telescopic image features pin-point stars and detailed
    filaments of interstellar dust captured in over 9 hours of exposure. It
    spans more than 20 light-years across the Pleiades star cluster.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 6 00:41:34 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 6

    Moon O'Clock 2022
    Image Credit & Copyright: Niveth Kumar

    Explanation: The first Full Moon of 2023 is in the sky tonight opposite
    the Sun at 23:08 UTC. Big and beautiful, the Moon at its brightest
    phase should be easy to spot. Still, for quick reference images
    captured near the times of all the full moons of 2022 are aranged in
    this dedicated astro-imaging project from Sri Lanka, planet Earth. The
    day, month, and a traditional popular name for 2022's twelve full moons
    are given in the chart. The apparent size of each full moon depends on
    how close the full lunar phase is to perigee or apogee, the closest or
    farthest point in the Moon's elliptical orbit. Like the 2022 Wolf Moon
    at the 1 o'clock position, tonight's Full Moon occurs within a about
    two days of apogee. But unlike in 2022, the year 2023 will have 13 full
    moons that won't all fit nicely on the twelve hour clock.

    Tomorrow's picture: stations in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jan 7 00:37:34 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 7

    Space Stations in Low Earth Orbit
    Image Credit & Copyright: Zarcos Palma

    Explanation: On January 3, two space stations already illuminated by
    sunlight in low Earth orbit crossed this dark predawn sky. Moving west
    to east (left to right) across the composited timelapse image China's
    Tiangong Space Station traced the upper trail captured more than an
    hour before the local sunrise. Seen against a starry background
    Tiangong passes just below the inverted Big Dipper asterism of Ursa
    Major near the peak of its bright arc, and above north pole star
    Polaris. But less than five minutes before, the International Space
    Station had traced its own sunlit streak across the dark sky. Its trail
    begins just above the W-shape outlined by the bright stars of
    Cassiopeia near the northern horizon. The dramatic foreground spans an
    abandoned mine at Achada do Gamo in southeastern Portugal.

    Tomorrow's picture: where you come from
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jan 8 00:49:34 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 8
    A version of the periodic table of the elements color-coded with where
    each element is thought to have originated. Please see the explanation
    for more detailed information.

    Where Your Elements Came From
    Image Credit & License: Wikipedia: Cmglee; Data: Jennifer Johnson (OSU)

    Explanation: The hydrogen in your body, present in every molecule of
    water, came from the Big Bang. There are no other appreciable sources
    of hydrogen in the universe. The carbon in your body was made by
    nuclear fusion in the interior of stars, as was the oxygen. Much of the
    iron in your body was made during supernovas of stars that occurred
    long ago and far away. The gold in your jewelry was likely made from
    neutron stars during collisions that may have been visible as
    short-duration gamma-ray bursts or gravitational wave events. Elements
    like phosphorus and copper are present in our bodies in only small
    amounts but are essential to the functioning of all known life. The
    featured periodic table is color coded to indicate humanity's best
    guess as to the nuclear origin of all known elements. The sites of
    nuclear creation of some elements, such as copper, are not really well
    known and are continuing topics of observational and computational
    research.

    Discovery + Outreach: Graduate student research position open for APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: tails of a new comet
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 9 09:27:42 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 9

    Tails of Comet ZTF
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jose Francisco Hernßndez

    Explanation: Comet ZTF may become visible to the unaided eye.
    Discovered early last year, this massive snowball has been brightening
    as it approaches the Sun and the Earth. C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will be closest
    to the Sun later this week, at which time it may become visible even
    without binoculars to northern observers with a clear and dark sky. As
    they near the Sun, comet brightnesses are notoriously hard to predict,
    though. In the featured image taken last week in front of a picturesque
    star field, three blue ion tails extend to the upper right, likely the
    result of a variable solar wind on ions ejected by the icy comet
    nucleus. The comet's white dust tail is visible to the upper left and
    much shorter. The green glow is the comet's coma, caused by glowing
    carbon gas. Comet ZTF is expected to pass nearest the Earth in early
    February, after which it should dim dramatically.

    Discovery + Outreach: Graduate student research position open for APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: interstellar cone
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 10 00:24:08 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 10
    A conical interstellar dust pillar is pictured. The pillar is mostly
    brownish-red but surrounded by stars. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    NGC 2264: The Cone Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Matthew Dieterich

    Explanation: Stars are forming in the gigantic dust pillar called the
    Cone Nebula. Cones, pillars, and majestic flowing shapes abound in
    stellar nurseries where clouds of gas and dust are sculpted by
    energetic winds from newborn stars. The Cone Nebula, a well-known
    example, lies within the bright galactic star-forming region NGC 2264.
    The featured image of the Cone was captured recently combining 24-hours
    of exposure with a half-meter telescope at the El Sauce Observatory in
    Chile. Located about 2,500 light-years away toward the constellation of
    the Unicorn (Monoceros), the Cone Nebula's conical pillar extends about
    7 light-years. The massive star NGC 2264 IRS, is the likely source of
    the wind sculpting the Cone Nebula and lies off the top of the image.
    The Cone Nebula's reddish veil is produced by glowing hydrogen gas.

    Discovery + Outreach: Graduate student research position open for APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jan 11 00:17:10 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 11
    A green aurora is pictured above and beyond a dark rocky arch. Faint
    stars dot the background. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Spiral Aurora over Iceland
    Image Credit & Copyright: Stefano Pellegrini

    Explanation: The scene may look like a fantasy, but it's really
    Iceland. The rock arch is named Gatklettur and located on the island's
    northwest coast. Some of the larger rocks in the foreground span a
    meter across. The fog over the rocks is really moving waves averaged
    over long exposures. The featured image is a composite of several
    foreground and background shots taken with the same camera and from the
    same location on the same night last November. The location was picked
    for its picturesque foreground, but the timing was planned for its
    colorful background: aurora. The spiral aurora, far behind the arch,
    was one of the brightest seen in the astrophotographer's life. The
    coiled pattern was fleeting, though, as auroral patterns waved and
    danced for hours during the cold night. Far in the background were the
    unchanging stars, with Earth's rotation causing them to appear to
    slowly circle the sky's northernmost point near Polaris.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jan 12 00:39:22 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 12

    Stardust in Perseus
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jack Groves

    Explanation: This cosmic expanse of dust, gas, and stars covers some 6
    degrees on the sky in the heroic constellation Perseus. At upper left
    in the gorgeous skyscape is the intriguing young star cluster IC 348
    and neighboring Flying Ghost Nebula with clouds of obscuring
    interstellar dust cataloged as Barnard 3 and 4. At right, another
    active star forming region NGC 1333 is connected by dark and dusty
    tendrils on the outskirts of the giant Perseus Molecular Cloud, about
    850 light-years away. Other dusty nebulae are scattered around the
    field of view, along with the faint reddish glow of hydrogen gas. In
    fact, the cosmic dust tends to hide the newly formed stars and young
    stellar objects or protostars from prying optical telescopes.
    Collapsing due to self-gravity, the protostars form from the dense
    cores embedded in the molecular cloud. At the molecular cloud's
    estimated distance, this field of view would span over 90 light-years.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 13 00:11:52 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 13

    Young Star Cluster NGC 346
    Image Credit: Science - NASA, ESA, CSA, Olivia C. Jones (UK ATC), Guido
    De Marchi (ESTEC), Margaret Meixner (USRA)
    Processing - Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Nolan Habel (USRA), Laura Lenkic
    (USRA), Laurie E. U. Chu (NASA Ames)

    Explanation: The most massive young star cluster in the Small
    Magellanic Cloud is NGC 346, embedded in our small satellite galaxy's
    largest star forming region some 210,000 light-years distant. Of course
    the massive stars of NGC 346 are short lived, but very energetic. Their
    winds and radiation sculpt the edges of the region's dusty molecular
    cloud triggering star-formation within. The star forming region also
    appears to contain a large population of infant stars. A mere 3 to 5
    million years old and not yet burning hydrogen in their cores, the
    infant stars are strewn about the embedded star cluster. This
    spectacular infrared view of NGC 346 is from the James Webb Space
    Telescope's NIRcam. Emission from atomic hydrogen ionized by the
    massive stars' energetic radiation as well as and molecular hydrogen
    and dust in the star-forming molecular cloud is detailed in pink and
    orange hues. Webb's sharp image of the young star-forming region spans
    240 light-years at the distance of the Small Magellanic Cloud.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jan 14 00:24:14 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 14

    Perihelion Sun 2023
    Image Credit & Copyright: Peter Ward (Barden Ridge Observatory)

    Explanation: Perihelion for 2023, Earth's closest approach to the Sun,
    was on January 4 at 16:17 UTC. That was less than 24 hours after this
    sharp image of the Sun's disk was recorded with telescope and H-alpha
    filter from Sidney, Australia, planet Earth. An H-alpha filter
    transmits a characteristic red light from hydrogen atoms. In views of
    the Sun it emphasizes the Sun's chromosphere, a region just above the
    solar photosphere or normally visible solar surface. In this H-alpha
    image of the increasingly active Sun planet-sized sunspot regions are
    dominated by bright splotches called plages. Dark filaments of plasma
    snaking across the solar disk transition to bright prominences when
    seen above the solar limb.

    Tomorrow's picture: cosmic crustacean
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jan 15 00:19:40 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 15
    A messy array of colorful filaments is shown in front of a field of
    stars. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    M1: The Crab Nebula from Hubble
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, J. Hester, A. Loll (ASU)

    Explanation: This is the mess that is left when a star explodes. The
    Crab Nebula, the result of a supernova seen in 1054 AD, is filled with
    mysterious filaments. The filaments are not only tremendously complex,
    but appear to have less mass than expelled in the original supernova
    and a higher speed than expected from a free explosion. The featured
    image, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, is presented in three
    colors chosen for scientific interest. The Crab Nebula spans about 10
    light-years. In the nebula's very center lies a pulsar: a neutron star
    as massive as the Sun but with only the size of a small town. The Crab
    Pulsar rotates about 30 times each second.

    Discovery + Outreach: Graduate student research position open for APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: Moon, enhanced
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 16 00:04:56 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 16
    Earth's Moon is pictured but shown with exaggerated details and colors.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Moon Enhanced
    Image Credit & Copyright: Darya Kawa Mirza

    Explanation: Our Moon doesn't really look like this. Earth's Moon,
    Luna, doesn't naturally show this rich texture, and its colors are more
    subtle. But this digital creation is based on reality. The featured
    image is a composite of multiple images and enhanced to bring up real
    surface features. The enhancements, for example, show more clearly
    craters that illustrate the tremendous bombardment our Moon has been
    through during its 4.6-billion-year history. The dark areas, called
    maria, have fewer craters and were once seas of molten lava.
    Additionally, the image colors, although based on the moon's real
    composition, are changed and exaggerated. Here, a blue hue indicates a
    region that is iron rich, while orange indicates a slight excess of
    aluminum. Although the Moon has shown the same side to the Earth for
    billions of years, modern technology is allowing humanity to learn much
    more about it -- and how it affects the Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: Andromeda, unexpected
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 17 00:44:24 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 17
    A deep image of M31, the Andromeda galaxy, shows unexpected
    oxygen-glowing arcs to its left. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Unexpected Clouds Toward the Andromeda Galaxy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Yann Sainty & Marcel Drechsler

    Explanation: Why are there oxygen-emitting arcs near the direction of
    the Andromeda galaxy? No one is sure. The gas arcs, shown in blue, were
    discovered and first confirmed by amateur astronomers just last year.
    The two main origin hypotheses for the arcs are that they really are
    close to Andromeda (M31), or that they are just coincidentally placed
    gas filaments in our Milky Way galaxy. Adding to the mystery is that
    arcs were not seen in previous deep images of M31 taken primarily in
    light emitted by hydrogen, and that other, more distant galaxies have
    not been generally noted as showing similar oxygen-emitting structures.
    Dedicated amateurs using commercial telescopes made this discovery
    because, in part, professional telescopes usually investigate angularly
    small patches of the night sky, whereas these arcs span several times
    the angular size of the full moon. Future observations -- both in light
    emitted by oxygen and by other elements -- are sure to follow.

    Tomorrow's picture: JWST lensing
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jan 18 01:05:34 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 18
    Distant galaxies appear as yellow blurry dots while a few nearby bright
    stars appear in white and surrounded by spikes caused by diffraction.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    MACS0647: Gravitational Lensing of the Early Universe by Webb
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Dan Coe (STScI), Rebecca Larson (UT),
    Yu-Yang Hsiao (JHU); Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI); Text: Michael
    Rutkowski (Minn. St. U. Mankato)

    Explanation: Gravitational lensing by the galaxy cluster MACS0647 -- in
    which the massive foreground cluster distorts and lenses the light
    emitted by distant background galaxies along the line of sight -- is on
    vivid display here in this recent multi-color infrared image from the
    James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). In particular, the background source
    MACS0647-JD is seen to be lensed three times by the cluster. When first
    discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope, MACS0647-JD was observed as
    an amorphous blob. With Webb though, this single source is revealed to
    be a pair or small group of galaxies. The colors of the MACS0647-JD
    objects are different as well -- indicating differences potentially in
    the age or dust content of these galaxies. These new images provide
    rare examples of galaxies in an era only a few 100 million years after
    the Big Bang.

    Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jan 19 01:04:20 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 19

    The Seagull Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Carlos Taylor

    Explanation: A broad expanse of glowing gas and dust presents a
    bird-like visage to astronomers from planet Earth, suggesting its
    popular moniker - The Seagull Nebula. Using narrowband image data, this
    3-panel mosaic of the cosmic bird covers a 2.5 degree swath across the
    plane of the Milky Way, near the direction of Sirius, alpha star of the
    constellation Canis Major. Likely part of a larger shell structure
    swept up by successive supernova explosions, the broad Seagull Nebula
    is cataloged as Sh2-296 and IC 2177. The prominent bluish arc below and
    right of center is a bow shock from runaway star FN Canis Majoris. This
    complex of gas and dust clouds with other stars of the Canis Majoris
    OB1 association spans over 200 light-years at the Seagull Nebula's
    estimated 3,800 light-year distance.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 20 00:14:48 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 20

    Galaxy Wars: M81 and M82
    Image Credit & Copyright: Andreas Aufschnaiter

    Explanation: The two dominant galaxies near center are far far away, 12
    million light-years distant toward the northern constellation of the
    Great Bear. On the right, with grand spiral arms and bright yellow core
    is spiral galaxy M81. Also known as Bode's galaxy, M81 spans some
    100,000 light-years. On the left is cigar-shaped irregular galaxy M82.
    The pair have been locked in gravitational combat for a billion years.
    Gravity from each galaxy has profoundly affected the other during a
    series of cosmic close encounters. Their last go-round lasted about 100
    million years and likely raised density waves rippling around M81,
    resulting in the richness of M81's spiral arms. M82 was left with
    violent star forming regions and colliding gas clouds so energetic that
    the galaxy glows in X-rays. In the next few billion years, their
    continuing gravitational encounters will result in a merger, and a
    single galaxy will remain. This extragalactic scenario also includes
    other members of the interacting M81 galaxy group with NGC 3077 below
    and right of the large spiral, and NGC 2976 at upper right in the
    frame. Captured under dark night skies in the Austrian Alps, the
    foreground of the wide-field image is filled with integrated flux
    nebulae. Those faint, dusty interstellar clouds reflect starlight above
    the plane of our own Milky Way galaxy.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jan 21 03:09:24 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 21

    Naked-eye Comet ZTF
    Image Credit & Copyright: `scar Martyn Mesonero (Organizaci<n
    Salmantina de la Astronßutica y el Espacio)

    Explanation: Comet C/2022E3 (ZTF) is no longer too dim to require a
    telescope for viewing. By January 19, it could just be seen with the
    naked eye in this rural sky with little light pollution from a location
    about 20 kilometers from Salamanca, Spain. Still, telescopic images are
    needed to show any hint of the comet's pretty green coma, stubby
    whitish dust tail, and long ion tail. Its faint ion tail has been
    buffeted by recent solar activity. This visitor from the distant Oort
    cloud rounded the Sun on January 12. and is now sweeping through stars
    near the northern boundary of the constellation Bootes. Outward bound
    but still growing brighter, Comet ZTF makes its closest approach on
    February 2, coming to within about 2.4 light-minutes of our fair
    planet.

    Tomorrow's picture: in green company
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jan 22 01:59:36 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 22
    A person stands on a steep snow-covered hill with their arms raised. In
    the distance green aurora are visible. Past that stars are visible.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    In Green Company: Aurora over Norway
    Image Credit & Copyright: Max Rive

    Explanation: Raise your arms if you see an aurora. With those
    instructions, two nights went by with, well, clouds -- mostly. On the
    third night of returning to same peaks, though, the sky not only
    cleared up but lit up with a spectacular auroral display. Arms went
    high in the air, patience and experience paid off, and the creative
    featured image was captured as a composite from three separate
    exposures. The setting is a summit of the Austnesfjorden fjord close to
    the town of Svolvear on the Lofoten islands in northern Norway. The
    time was early 2014. Although our Sun passed the solar minimum of its
    11-year cycle only a few years ago, surface activity is picking up and
    already triggering more spectacular auroras here on Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: dueling galaxies
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 23 00:20:42 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 23
    Two spiral galaxies are shown right next to each other, with a smaller
    distorted galaxy on the far left. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    The Colliding Spiral Galaxies of Arp 274
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Copyright: Mehmet Hakan
    .zsarat

    Explanation: Two galaxies are squaring off in Virgo and here are the
    latest pictures. When two galaxies collide, the stars that compose them
    usually do not. This is because galaxies are mostly empty space and,
    however bright, stars only take up only a small fraction of that space.
    But during the collision, one galaxy can rip the other apart
    gravitationally, and dust and gas common to both galaxies does collide.
    If the two galaxies merge, black holes that likely resided in each
    galaxy center may eventually merge. Because the distances are so large,
    the whole thing takes place in slow motion -- over hundreds of millions
    of years. Besides the two large spiral galaxies, a smaller third galaxy
    is visible on the far left of the featured image of Arp 274, also known
    as NGC 5679. Arp 274 spans about 200,000 light years across and lies
    about 400 million light years away toward the constellation of Virgo.

    Night Sky Network webinar: APOD editor to review best space images of
    2022
    Tomorrow's picture: a world away
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 24 00:16:18 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 24
    An illustration showing the surface of a planet that has red lava flows
    and dark cliffs. A red star is seen in the background. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    LHS 475 b: Earth-Sized Exoplanet
    Illustration Credit: DeepAI's Fantasy World Generator

    Explanation: If you could stand on exoplanet LHS 475 b, what might you
    see? No one knows for sure but pictured here is an interesting guess
    made by an Earth-based artificial intelligence (AI) engine. The
    existence of the exoplanet was indicated in data taken by the
    Earth-orbiting TESS satellite but confirmed and further investigated
    only this year by the near-Earth Sun-orbiting James Webb Space
    Telescope. What is known for sure is that LHS 475 b has a mass very
    similar to our Earth and closely orbits a small red star about 40 light
    years away. The featured AI-illustrated guess depicts a plausibly
    rugged Earth-like landscape replete with molten lava and with the
    central red star rising in the distance. Webb data does not as yet
    reveal, however, whether LHS 475 b has an atmosphere. One of Webb's
    science objectives is to follow up previous discoveries of distant
    exoplanets to better discern their potential for developing life.

    Comet ZTF Gallery: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: a dark space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jan 25 00:11:10 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 25
    An image of a foreboding dark nebula before a red-glowing gas
    background and many bright and colorful stars. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    LDN 1622: The Boogeyman Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Joshua Carter

    Explanation: To some, the dark shape looks like a mythical boogeyman.
    Scientifically, Lynds' Dark Nebula (LDN) 1622 appears against a faint
    background of glowing hydrogen gas only visible in long telescopic
    exposures of the region. In contrast, the brighter reflection nebula
    vdB 62 is more easily seen just above and to the right of center in the
    featured image. LDN 1622 lies near the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy,
    close on the sky to Barnard's Loop, a large cloud surrounding the rich
    complex of emission nebulae found in the Belt and Sword of Orion. With
    swept-back outlines, the obscuring dust of LDN 1622 is thought to lie
    at a similar distance, perhaps 1,500 light-years away. At that
    distance, this 2-degree wide field of view would span about 60
    light-years. Young stars do lie hidden within the dark expanse and have
    been revealed in Spitzer Space Telescope infrared images.

    Tomorrow's picture: wild and crazy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jan 26 00:06:02 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 26

    Active Galaxy NGC 1275
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage, A. Fabian (University of
    Cambridge, UK)

    Explanation: Active galaxy NGC 1275 is the central, dominant member of
    the large and relatively nearby Perseus Cluster of Galaxies.
    Wild-looking at visible wavelengths, the active galaxy is also a
    prodigious source of x-rays and radio emission. NGC 1275 accretes
    matter as entire galaxies fall into it, ultimately feeding a
    supermassive black hole at the galaxy's core. This color composite
    image made from Hubble Space Telescope data recorded during 2006. It
    highlights the resulting galactic debris and filaments of glowing gas,
    some up to 20,000 light-years long. The filaments persist in NGC 1275,
    even though the turmoil of galactic collisions should destroy them.
    What keeps the filaments together? Observations indicate that the
    structures, pushed out from the galaxy's center by the black hole's
    activity, are held together by magnetic fields. Also known as Perseus
    A, NGC 1275 spans over 100,000 light years and lies about 230 million
    light years away.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 27 00:23:04 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 27

    Comet ZTF: Orbital Plane Crossing
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

    Explanation: The current darling of the northern night, Comet C/2022 E3
    ZTF is captured in this telescopic image from a dark sky location at
    June Lake, California. Of course Comet ZTF has been growing brighter in
    recent days, headed for its closest approach to Earth on February 1.
    But this view was recorded on January 23, very close to the time planet
    Earth crossed the orbital plane of long-period Comet ZTF. The comet's
    broad, whitish dust tail is still curved and fanned out away from the
    Sun as Comet ZTF sweeps along its orbit. Due to perspective near the
    orbital plane crossing, components of the fanned out dust tail appear
    on both sides of the comet's green tinted coma though, to lend Comet
    ZTF a visually striking (left) anti-tail. Buffeted by solar activity
    the comet's narrower ion tail also streams away from the coma
    diagonally to the right, across the nearly three degree wide field of
    view.

    Tomorrow's picture: over the mountain
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jan 29 00:02:26 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 29
    A dark comma-shaped cloud appears in the middle of a dense field of
    stars. No stars are visible through the center of the cloud. Please see
    the explanation for more detailed information.

    Barnard 68: Dark Molecular Cloud
    Image Credit: FORS Team, 8.2-meter VLT Antu, ESO

    Explanation: Where did all the stars go? What used to be considered a
    hole in the sky is now known to astronomers as a dark molecular cloud.
    Here, a high concentration of dust and molecular gas absorb practically
    all the visible light emitted from background stars. The eerily dark
    surroundings help make the interiors of molecular clouds some of the
    coldest and most isolated places in the universe. One of the most
    notable of these dark absorption nebulae is a cloud toward the
    constellation Ophiuchus known as Barnard 68, pictured here. That no
    stars are visible in the center indicates that Barnard 68 is relatively
    nearby, with measurements placing it about 500 light-years away and
    half a light-year across. It is not known exactly how molecular clouds
    like Barnard 68 form, but it is known that these clouds are themselves
    likely places for new stars to form. In fact, Barnard 68 itself has
    been found likely to collapse and form a new star system. It is
    possible to look right through the cloud in infrared light.

    Postcards from the Universe 2022: APOD Year in Review
    Tomorrow's picture: bright marking on the sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 30 00:19:46 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 30
    A ball of stars containing thousands of stars is shown with mostly
    light colored stars but with some stars having vibrant colors. Please
    see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Globular Star Cluster NGC 6355 from Hubble
    Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, E. Noyola, R. Cohen

    Explanation: Globular clusters once ruled the Milky Way. Back in the
    old days, back when our Galaxy first formed, perhaps thousands of
    globular clusters roamed our Galaxy. Today, there are less than 200
    left. Over the eons, many globular clusters were destroyed by repeated
    fateful encounters with each other or the Galactic center. Surviving
    relics are older than any Earth fossil, older than any other structures
    in our Galaxy, and limit the universe itself in raw age. There are few,
    if any, young globular clusters left in our Milky Way Galaxy because
    conditions are not ripe for more to form. The featured image shows a
    Hubble Space Telescope view of 13-billion year old NGC 6355, a
    surviving globular cluster currently passing near the Milky Way's
    center. Globular cluster stars are concentrated toward the image center
    and highlighted by bright blue stars. Most other stars in the frame are
    dimmer, redder, and just coincidently lie near the direction to NGC
    6355.

    Tomorrow's picture: tails tales
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 31 01:10:38 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 January 31
    Comet ZTF is shown high above and far beyond a row of silhouetted
    trees. The top inset image shows how the comet looked through
    binoculars, while the lower inset image shows how the comet looked,
    last week, thought a small telescope. The lower inset image clearly
    shows the comets coma, dust tail, ion tail, and a noticeable antitail.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    A Triple View of Comet ZTF
    Image Credit & Copyright: Javier Caldera & Miguel Gracia

    Explanation: Comet ZTF has a distinctive shape. The now bright comet
    visiting the inner Solar System has been showing not only a common dust
    tail, ion tail, and green gas coma, but also an uncommonly distinctive
    antitail. The antitail does not actually lead the comet -- it is just
    that the head of the comet is seen superposed on part of the fanned-out
    and trailing dust tail. The giant dirty snowball that is Comet C/2022
    E3 (ZTF) has now passed its closest to the Sun and tomorrow will pass
    its closest to the Earth. The main panel of the featured triple image
    shows how Comet ZTF looked last week to the unaided eye under a dark
    and clear sky over Cßceres, Spain. The top inset image shows how the
    comet looked through binoculars, while the lower inset shows how the
    comet looked through a small telescope. The comet is now visible all
    night long from northern latitudes but will surely fade from easy
    observation during the next few weeks.

    Comet ZTF Gallery: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: planets real and imagined
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Feb 1 00:21:40 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 1
    An illustration showing what it might be like to look from the seventh
    planet out from the star Trappist 1. A pillar of ice and rock stands in
    a snow and ice covered landscape. A star surrounded by six planets
    hangs high in the sky. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    The Seventh World of Trappist-1
    Illustration Credit & Copyright: Michael Carroll

    Explanation: Seven worlds orbit the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1. A
    mere 40 light-years away, many of the exoplanets were discovered in
    2016 using the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope
    (TRAPPIST) located in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, and later
    confirmed with telescope including NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The
    TRAPPIST-1 planets are likely all rocky and similar in size to Earth,
    and so compose one of the largest treasure troves of terrestrial
    planets ever detected around a single star. Because they orbit very
    close to their faint, tiny star they could also have regions where
    surface temperatures allow for the presence of ice or even liquid
    water, a key ingredient for life. Their tantalizing proximity to Earth
    makes them prime candidates for future telescopic explorations of the
    atmospheres of potentially habitable planets. All seven exoplanets
    appear in the featured illustration, which imagines a view from the
    most distant known world of this system, TRAPPIST-1h, as having a rocky
    landscape covered in ice. Meanwhile, in the imagined background, one of
    the system's inner planets crosses in front of the dim, orange, nearly
    Jupiter-sized parent star.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 3,000+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Feb 2 00:10:28 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 2

    Reflections on the 1970s
    Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel Stern

    Explanation: The 1970s are sometimes ignored by astronomers, like this
    beautiful grouping of reflection nebulae in Orion - NGC 1977, NGC 1975,
    and NGC 1973 - usually overlooked in favor of the substantial glow from
    the nearby stellar nursery better known as the Orion Nebula. Found
    along Orion's sword just north of the bright Orion Nebula complex,
    these reflection nebulae are also associated with Orion's giant
    molecular cloud about 1,500 light-years away, but are dominated by the
    characteristic blue color of interstellar dust reflecting light from
    hot young stars. In this sharp color image a portion of the Orion
    Nebula appears along the bottom border with the cluster of reflection
    nebulae at picture center. NGC 1977 stretches across the field just
    below center, separated from NGC 1973 (above right) and NGC 1975 (above
    left) by dark regions laced with faint red emission from hydrogen
    atoms. Taken together, the dark regions suggest the region's popular
    moniker, the Running Man Nebula. At the estimated distance of Orion's
    dusty molecular cloud this running man would be about 15 light-years
    across.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Feb 3 00:36:04 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 3

    Polaris and the Trail of Comet ZTF
    Image Credit & Copyright: David Ibarra Gomez

    Explanation: Stars trace concentric arcs around the North Celestial
    Pole in this three hour long night sky composite, recorded with a
    digital camera fixed to a tripod on January 31, near `ger, Lleida,
    Spain. On that date Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was near its northernmost
    declination in planet Earth's sky. That put the comet about 10 degrees
    from Earth's North Celestial Pole making the comet's position
    circumpolar, always above the horizon, from all locations on planet
    Earth at more than 10 degrees northern latitude. In the startrail
    image, the extension of Earth's axis of rotation into space is at the
    left. North star Polaris traces the short, bright, concentric arc less
    than a degree from the North Celestial Pole. The trail of Comet ZTF is
    indicated at the right, its apparent motion mostly reflecting Earth's
    rotation like the stars. But heading for its closest approach to planet
    Earth on February 1, the comet is also moving significantly with
    respect to the background stars. The diffuse greenish trail of Comet
    ZTF is an almost concentric arc mingled with startrails as it sweeps
    through the long-necked constellation Camelopardalis.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Feb 4 01:18:54 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 4

    NGC 2626 along the Vela Molecular Ridge
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby & Mark Hanson

    Explanation: Centered in this colorful cosmic canvas, NGC 2626 is a
    beautiful, bright, blue reflection nebula in the southern Milky Way.
    Next to an obscuring dust cloud and surrounded by reddish hydrogen
    emission from large H II region RCW 27 it lies within a complex of
    dusty molecular clouds known as the Vela Molecular Ridge. NGC 2626 is
    itself a cloud of interstellar dust reflecting blue light from the
    young hot embedded star visible within the nebula. But astronomical
    explorations reveal many other young stars and associated nebulae in
    the star-forming region. NGC 2626 is about 3,200 light-years away. At
    that distance this telescopic field of view would span about 30
    light-years along the Vela Molecular Ridge.

    Tomorrow's picture: moon by planetlight
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Feb 6 01:20:36 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 6
    A cluster of stars is seen in the evacuated center of a nebula of gas
    and dust. Intricate dust pillars occur at both the top and bottom of
    the image. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    In the Heart of the Rosette Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Lyman Insley

    Explanation: In the heart of the Rosette Nebula lies a bright cluster
    of stars that lights up the nebula. The stars of NGC 2244 formed from
    the surrounding gas only a few million years ago. The featured image
    taken in mid-January using multiple exposures and very specific colors
    of Sulfur (shaded red), Hydrogen (green), and Oxygen (blue), captures
    the central region in tremendous detail. A hot wind of particles
    streams away from the cluster stars and contributes to an already
    complex menagerie of gas and dust filaments while slowly evacuating the
    cluster center. The Rosette Nebula's center measures about 50
    light-years across, lies about 5,200 light-years away, and is visible
    with binoculars towards the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros).

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: double dipper comet
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Feb 7 00:29:40 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 7
    The featured image shows Comet ZTF with a long tail between two famous
    star asterisms: the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper. The image depicts
    the Little Dipper near the top of the image, and the Big Dipper near
    the bottom. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    A Comet and Two Dippers
    Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horalek / Institute of Physics in Opava

    Explanation: Can you still see the comet? Yes. Even as C/2022 E3 (ZTF)
    fades, there is still time to see it if you know where and when to
    look. Geometrically, Comet ZTF has passed its closest to both the Sun
    and the Earth and is now headed back to the outer Solar System. Its
    orbit around the Sun has it gliding across the northern sky all month,
    after passing near Polaris and both the Big and Little Dippers last
    month. Pictured, Comet ZTF was photographed between the two dippers in
    late January while sporting an ion tail that extended over 10 degrees.
    Now below naked-eye visibility, Comet ZTF can be found with binoculars
    or a small telescope and a good sky map. A good time to see the comet
    over the next week is after the Sun sets -- but before the Moon rises.
    The comet will move nearly in front of Mars in a few days

    Comet ZTF Gallery: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: wind star
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Feb 8 00:07:54 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 8
    A red oval and textured nebula is seen surrounded by a faint blue glow.
    A bright star is visible in the center, and many faint stars are
    visible in the background. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Stellar Wind-Shaped Nebula RCW 58
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby & Mark Hanson; Text: Natalia
    Lewandowska (SUNY Oswego)

    Explanation: Imagine traveling to a star about 100 times as massive as
    our Sun, a million times more luminous, and with 30 times the surface
    temperature. Such stars exist, and some are known as Wolf Rayet (WR)
    stars, named after French astronomers Charles Wolf and Georges Rayet.
    The central star in this image is WR 40 which is located toward the
    constellation of Carina. Stars like WR 40 live fast and die young in
    comparison with the Sun. They quickly exhaust their core hydrogen
    supply, move on to fusing heavier core elements, and expand while
    ejecting their outer layers via high stellar winds. In this case, the
    central star WR 40 ejects the atmosphere at a speed of nearly 100
    kilometers per second, and these outer layers have become the expanding
    oval-shaped nebula RCW 58.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Feb 9 02:54:28 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 9

    Nacreous Clouds over Lapland
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dennis Lehtonen

    Explanation: Vivid and lustrous, wafting iridescent waves of color wash
    across this skyscape from KilpisjSrvi, Finland. Known as nacreous
    clouds or mother-of-pearl clouds, they are rare. But their
    unforgettable appearance was captured looking south at 69 degrees north
    latitude at sunset on January 24. A type of polar stratospheric cloud,
    they form when unusually cold temperatures in the usually cloudless
    lower stratosphere form ice crystals. Still sunlit at altitudes of
    around 15 to 25 kilometers, the clouds can diffract sunlight even after
    sunset and just before the dawn.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Feb 10 01:04:34 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 10

    ZTF meets ATLAS
    Image Credit & Copyright: Stefan Bemmerl

    Explanation: Fading as it races across planet Earth's northern skies
    comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) shares this telescopic frame with comet C/2022 U2
    (ATLAS). Captured on the night of February 6 from a garden observatory
    in Germany's Bavarian Forest, the starry field of view toward the
    constellation Auriga spans about 2.5 degrees. Discovered by sky survey
    projects in 2022 (the Zwicky Transient Facility and the Asteroid
    Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) these long-period comets are
    outbound, reaching perihelion just last month. The much fainter comet
    ATLAS made its closest approach to our fair planet on January 29 at a
    distance of about 4.6 light-minutes, compared to a mere 2.4
    light-minutes for comet ZTF on February 2. This comet ATLAS lacks the
    well-developed tails of the formerly naked-eye comet ZTF. But both
    comets sport greenish tinted comas, emission from diatomic carbon
    molecules fluorescing in sunlight. Continuing its dash across planet
    Earth's sky, the good-binocular comet ZTF will appear close to bright
    planet Mars tonight.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Feb 12 05:10:36 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 12
    An unremarkable red building is seen past a large parking lot. Above
    them both are a bank of very unusual clouds with many nodules pointing
    down. The scene is lit by sunlight from the side. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Mammatus Clouds over Nebraska
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jorn Olsen Photography

    Explanation: When do cloud bottoms appear like bubbles? Normally, cloud
    bottoms are flat. This is because moist warm air that rises and cools
    will condense into water droplets at a specific temperature, which
    usually corresponds to a very specific height. As water droplets grow,
    an opaque cloud forms. Under some conditions, however, cloud pockets
    can develop that contain large droplets of water or ice that fall into
    clear air as they evaporate. Such pockets may occur in turbulent air
    near a thunderstorm. Resulting mammatus clouds can appear especially
    dramatic if sunlit from the side. The mammatus clouds pictured here
    were photographed over Hastings, Nebraska during 2004 June.

    Tomorrow's picture: airglow chateau
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Feb 13 00:46:48 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 13
    A deep starfield features an orange planet Mars on the left and a
    green-headed Comet ZTF on the right. In the foreground is a landscape
    that includes the top of a famous mountain known as the Matterhorn.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Comet ZTF and Mars
    Image Credit & Copyright: Donato Lioce

    Explanation: No, Comet ZTF is not going to hit Mars. Nicknamed the
    Green Comet for its bright green coma, C/2022 E3 (ZTF) did, however,
    pass almost in front of the much-more distant planet a few days ago,
    very near in time to when the featured picture was taken. The two sky
    icons were here captured behind a famous Earth icon -- the Matterhorn,
    a mountain in the Italian Alps with a picturesque peak. Both the
    foreground and background images were taken on the same evening by the
    same camera and from the same location. The comet's white dust tail is
    visible to the right of the green coma, while the light blue ion tail
    trails towards the top of the image. Orange Mars is well in front of
    the numerous background stars as well as the dark nebula Barnard 22 to
    its lower right. Although Mars remains visible in the evening sky for
    the next few months, Comet ZTF has already begun to fade as it returns
    to the outer Solar System.

    Comet ZTF Gallery: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: heart and soul
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Feb 14 00:45:34 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 14
    Two red emission nebulas are shown in front of a dark but colorful
    starfield. The Soul Nebula is on the lower left, while the Heart Nebula
    is on the upper right. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    The Heart and Soul Nebulas
    Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Lozano de Haro

    Explanation: Is the heart and soul of our Galaxy located in Cassiopeia?
    Possibly not, but that is where two bright emission nebulas nicknamed
    Heart and Soul can be found. The Heart Nebula, officially dubbed IC
    1805 and visible in the featured image on the upper right, has a shape
    reminiscent of a classical heart symbol. The shape is perhaps fitting
    for Valentine's Day. The Soul Nebula is officially designated IC 1871
    and is visible on the lower left. Both nebulas shine brightly in the
    red light of energized hydrogen, one of three colors shown in this
    three-color montage. Light takes about 6,000 years to reach us from
    these nebulas, which together span roughly 300 light years. Studies of
    stars and clusters like those found in the Heart and Soul nebulas have
    focused on how massive stars form and how they affect their
    environment.

    Tomorrow's picture: airglow chateau
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Feb 15 11:27:30 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 15
    The sky over a picturesque chateau in France is shown featuring
    colorful airglow all around. Identifiable in the background night sky
    are objects that include the Orion Nebula, Sirius, Mars, and an arching
    band of our Milky Way Galaxy. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Airglow Sky over France
    Image Credit & Copyright: Julien Looten

    Explanation: This unusual sky was both familiar and unfamiliar. The
    photographer's mission was to capture the arch of the familiar central
    band of our Milky Way Galaxy over a picturesque medieval manor. The
    surprise was that on this January evening, the foreground sky was found
    glowing in a beautiful but unfamiliar manner. The striped bands are
    called airglow and they result from air high in Earth's atmosphere
    being excited by the Sun's light and emitting a faint light of its own.
    The bands cross the entire sky -- their curved appearance is due to the
    extremely wide angle of the camera lens. In the foreground lies ChCteau
    de Losse in southwest France. Other familiar sky delights dot the
    distant background including the bright white star Sirius, the orange
    planet Mars, the blue Pleiades star cluster, the red California Nebula,
    and, on the far right, the extended Andromeda Galaxy. The initial
    mission was also successful: across the top of the frame is the arching
    band of our Milky Way.

    What if: ChatGPT rewrote this text in the style of Shakespeare, Carl
    Sagan, or Scotty from Star Trek?
    Tomorrow's picture: or Edgar Allen Poe
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Feb 16 00:26:36 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 16

    The Hydra Cluster of Galaxies
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marco Lorenzi, Angus Lau, Tommy Tse
    Text: ChatGPT (apologies to Edgar Allen Poe)

    Explanation:

    Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
    O'er volumes of astronomy and forgotten lore,
    I stumbled upon this snapshot, cosmic and eerie,
    A sight that filled my heart with awe and more.

    Two stars, like sentinels, anchored the foreground,
    Of our Milky Way galaxy, a sight to behold,
    Beyond them, a cluster of Hydra, galaxies abound,
    100 million light-years away, a story to be told.

    Three large galaxies, ellipticals and a spiral blue,
    Dominant and grand, each 150,000 light-years wide,
    But it was the overlapping pair that caught my view,
    Cataloged as NGC 3314, a sight I cannot hide.

    Abell 1060, the Hydra galaxy cluster's name,
    One of three large galaxy clusters close to our Milky Way,
    A universe bound by gravity, a celestial game,
    Where clusters align over larger scales, I cannot sway.

    At a distance of 100 million light-years, this snapshot's size,
    1.3 million light-years across, a cosmic delight,
    A momentary glimpse into the universe's guise,
    But even this shall fade, and be nevermore in sight.

    Tomorrow's picture: formerly 2023 CX1
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Feb 17 02:50:10 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 17

    2023 CX1 Meteor Flash
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gijs de Reijke

    Explanation: While scanning the skies for near earth objects Hungarian
    astronomer Krisztißn Sßrneczky first imaged the meter-sized space rock
    now cataloged as 2023 CX1 on 12 February 2023 at 20:18:07 UTC. That was
    about 7 hours before it impacted planet Earth's atmosphere. Its
    predicted trajectory created a rare opportunity for meteor observers
    and a last minute plan resulted in this spectacular image of the
    fireball, captured from the Netherlands as 2023 CX1 vaporized and broke
    up over northern France. Remarkably it was Sßrneczky's second discovery
    of an impacting asteroid, while 2023 CX1 is only the seventh asteroid
    to be detected before being successfully predicted to impact Earth. It
    has recently become the third such object from which meteorites have
    been recovered. This fireball was witnessed almost 10 years to the day
    following the infamous Chelyabinsk Meteor flash.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Feb 18 00:06:48 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 18

    Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1365 from Webb
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Janice Lee (NOIRLab) - Processing: Alyssa
    Pagan (STScI)

    Explanation: A mere 56 million light-years distant toward the southern
    constellation Fornax, NGC 1365 is an enormous barred spiral galaxy
    about 200,000 light-years in diameter. That's twice the size of our own
    barred spiral Milky Way. This sharp image from the James Webb Space
    Telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) reveals stunning details of
    this magnificent spiral in infrared light. Webb's field of view
    stretches about 60,000 light-years across NGC 1365, exploring the
    galaxy's core and bright newborn star clusters. The intricate network
    of dusty filaments and bubbles is created by young stars along spiral
    arms winding from the galaxy's central bar. Astronomers suspect the
    gravity field of NGC 1365's bar plays a crucial role in the galaxy's
    evolution, funneling gas and dust into a star-forming maelstrom and
    ultimately feeding material into the active galaxy's central,
    supermassive black hole.

    Tomorrow's picture: seven siblings from WISE
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Feb 19 00:06:32 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 19
    The field of filamentary dust is shown with different sections showing
    different colors. Stars dot the background. Please see the explanation
    for more detailed information.

    Seven Dusty Sisters in Infrared
    Image Credit: NASA, WISE, IRSA, Processing & Copyright : Francesco
    Antonucci

    Explanation: Is this really the famous Pleiades star cluster? Known for
    its iconic blue stars, the Pleiades is shown here in infrared light
    where the surrounding dust outshines the stars. Here three infrared
    colors have been mapped into visual colors (R=24, G=12, B=4.6 microns).
    The base images were taken by NASA's orbiting Wide Field Infrared
    Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft. Cataloged as M45 and nicknamed the
    Seven Sisters, the Pleiades star cluster is by chance situated in a
    passing dust cloud. The light and winds from the massive Pleiades stars
    preferentially repel smaller dust particles, causing the dust to become
    stratified into filaments, as seen. The featured image spans about 20
    light years at the distance of the Pleiades, which lies about 450 light
    years distant toward the constellation of the Bull (Taurus).

    Tomorrow's picture: stars and streaks
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Feb 20 02:37:34 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 20
    A ball of yellow stars is seen to the right of blue-glowing gas
    filaments. Other blue filaments and foreground stars cover the frame.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    NGC 1850: Not Found in the Milky Way
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA and P. Goudfrooij (STScI); Processing: M. H.
    .zsarat (T³rkiye Astronomi Dernegi)

    Explanation: There is nothing like this ball of stars in our Milky Way
    Galaxy. This is surprising because, at first glance, this featured
    image by the Hubble Space Telescope suggests that star cluster NGC
    1850's size and shape are reminiscent of the many ancient globular star
    clusters which roam our own Milky Way Galaxy's halo. But NGC 1850's
    stars are all too young, making it a type of star cluster with no known
    counterpart in the Milky Way. Moreover, NGC 1850 is also a double star
    cluster, with a second, compact cluster of stars visible here just to
    the right of the large cluster's center. Stars in the large cluster are
    estimated to be 50 million years young, while stars in the compact
    cluster are younger still, with an age of about 4 million years. A mere
    168,000 light-years distant, NGC 1850 is located near the outskirts of
    the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. The glowing gas filaments across the
    image left, like supernova remnants in our own galaxy, testify to
    violent stellar explosions and indicate that short-lived massive stars
    have recently been present in the region.

    Tomorrow's picture: double falls
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Feb 21 00:22:24 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 21
    A comet with a green head and extended tails is seen above a high water
    fall. In the night sky field just above the falls, an orange dot -- the
    star Kochab -- is visible. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Comet ZTF over Yosemite Falls
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tara Mostofi

    Explanation: They are both falling. The water in Yosemite Falls,
    California, USA, is falling toward the Earth. Comet ZTF is falling
    toward the Sun. This double cosmic cascade was captured late last month
    as fading Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) had just passed its closest to planet
    Earth. The orange star just over the falls is Kochab. With the
    exception of a brief encounter with a black bear, the featured image
    was a well-planned composite of a moonlit-foreground and long-duration
    background exposures - all designed to reconstruct a deep version of an
    actual single sight. Although Comet ZTF is now fading as it glides back
    to the outer Solar System, its path is determined by gravity and so it
    can be considered to still be falling toward the Sun -- but backwards.

    Comet ZTF Gallery: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: a surprisingly busy sun
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Feb 22 00:51:36 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 22
    The Sun is pictured in a color that allows high detail. The large
    orange ball has several bright streaks and a carpet-like texture.
    Several prominences are visible around the edges. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Our Increasingly Active Sun
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mehmet Erg³n

    Explanation: Our Sun is becoming a busy place. Only two years ago, the
    Sun was emerging from a solar minimum so quiet that months would go by
    without even a single sunspot. In contrast, already this year and well
    ahead of schedule, our Sun is unusually active, already nearing solar
    activity levels seen a decade ago during the last solar maximum. Our
    increasingly active Sun was captured two weeks ago sporting numerous
    interesting features. The image was recorded in a single color of light
    called Hydrogen Alpha, color-inverted, and false colored. Spicules
    carpet much of the Sun's face. The brightening towards the Sun's edges
    is caused by increased absorption of relatively cool solar gas and
    called limb darkening. Just outside the Sun's disk, several
    scintillating prominences protrude, while prominences on the Sun's face
    are known as filaments and show as light streaks. Magnetically tangled
    active regions are both dark and light and contain cool sunspots. As
    our Sun's magnetic field winds toward solar maximum over the next few
    years, whether the Sun's high activity will continue to increase is
    unknown.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Feb 23 01:47:22 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 23

    Arp 78: Peculiar Galaxy in Aries
    Image Credit & Copyright: Josep Drudis

    Explanation: Peculiar spiral galaxy Arp 78 is found within the
    boundaries of the head strong constellation Aries. Some 100 million
    light-years beyond the stars and nebulae of our Milky Way galaxy, the
    island universe is an enormous 200,000 light-years across. Also known
    as NGC 772, it sports a prominent, outer spiral arm in this detailed
    cosmic portrait. Tracking along sweeping dust lanes and lined with
    young blue star clusters, Arp 78's overdeveloped spiral arm is
    pumped-up by galactic-scale gravitational tides. Interactions with its
    brightest companion galaxy, the more compact NGC 770 seen above and
    right of the larger spiral, are likely responsible. Embedded in faint
    star streams revealed in the deep telescopic exposure, NGC 770's fuzzy,
    elliptical appearance contrasts nicely with spiky foreground Milky Way
    stars in matching yellowish hues.

    Tomorrow's picture: beyond Jones-Emberson 1
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Feb 24 01:21:46 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 24

    Jones-Emberson 1
    Image Credit & Copyright: Serge Brunier, Jean-Frantois Bax, David
    Vernet, C2PU/OCA

    Explanation: Planetary nebula Jones-Emberson 1 is the death shroud of a
    dying Sun-like star. It lies some 1,600 light-years from Earth toward
    the sharp-eyed constellation Lynx. About 4 light-years across, the
    expanding remnant of the dying star's atmosphere was shrugged off into
    interstellar space, as the star's central supply of hydrogen and then
    helium for fusion was finally depleted after billions of years. Visible
    near the center of the planetary nebula is what remains of the stellar
    core, a blue-hot white dwarf star. Also known as PK 164 +31.1, the
    nebula is faint and very difficult to glimpse at a telescope's
    eyepiece. But this deep broadband image combining 22 hours of exposure
    time does show it off in exceptional detail. Stars within our own Milky
    Way galaxy as well as background galaxies across the universe are
    scattered through the clear field of view. Ephemeral on the cosmic
    stage, Jones-Emberson 1 will fade away over the next few thousand
    years. Its hot, central white dwarf star will take billions of years to
    cool.

    Tomorrow's picture: moonset
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Feb 25 00:20:30 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 25

    Crescent Moon Occultation
    Image Credit & Copyright: Fefo Bouvier

    Explanation: On February 22, a young Moon shared the western sky at
    sunset with bright planets Venus and Jupiter along the ecliptic plane.
    The beautiful celestial conjunction was visible around planet Earth.
    But from some locations Jupiter hid for a while, occulted by the
    crescent lunar disk. The Solar System's ruling gas giant was captured
    here just before it disappeared behind the the Moon's dark edge, seen
    over the Ryo de la Plata at Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. In the
    serene river and skyscape Venus is not so shy, shining brightly closer
    to the horizon through the fading twilight. Next week Venus and Jupiter
    will appear even closer in your evening sky.

    Tomorrow's picture: Saturn's Iapetus
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Feb 26 00:05:12 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 26
    An unusual two-toned ball is pictured. The ball, Saturn's moon Iapetus,
    has many craters and an unusual ridge running along its equator that
    makes it look like a walnut. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Saturn's Iapetus: Moon with a Strange Surface
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, JPL, SSI, Cassini Imaging Team

    Explanation: What would make a moon look like a walnut? A strange ridge
    that circles Saturn's moon Iapetus's equator, visible near the bottom
    of the featured image, makes it appear similar to a popular edible nut.
    The origin of the ridge remains unknown, though, with hypotheses
    including ice that welled up from below, a ring that crashed down from
    above, and structure left over from its formation perhaps 100 million
    years ago. Also strange is that about half of Iapetus is so dark that
    it can nearly disappear when viewed from Earth, while the rest is,
    reflectively, quite bright. Observations show that the degree of
    darkness of the terrain is strangely uniform, as if a dark coating was
    somehow recently applied to an ancient and highly cratered surface.
    Last, several large impact basins occur around Iapetus, with a
    400-kilometer wide crater visible near the image center, surrounded by
    deep cliffs that drop sharply to the crater floor. The featured image
    was taken by the Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft during a flyby of
    Iapetus at the end of 2004.

    Tomorrow's picture: dawn before dawn
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Feb 27 00:32:16 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 27
    A person is seen sitting on a rock under an unusual sky. In the sky
    above is light diffuse band extending down to the horizon that goes
    through two bright dots, Jupiter and Venus. The Pleiades star cluster
    is visible above them. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Zodiacal Ray with Venus and Jupiter
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ruslan Merzlyakov (astrorms)

    Explanation: What's causing that unusual ray of light extending from
    the horizon? Dust orbiting the Sun. At certain times of the year, a
    band of sun-reflecting dust from the inner Solar System appears
    prominently after sunset or before sunrise and is called zodiacal
    light. The dust was emitted mostly from faint Jupiter-family comets and
    slowly spirals into the Sun. The featured HDR image, acquired in
    mid-February from the Sierra Nevada National Park in Spain, captures
    the glowing band of zodiacal light going right in front of the bright
    evening planets Jupiter (upper) and Venus (lower). Emitted from well
    behind the zodiacal light is a dark night sky that prominently includes
    the Pleiades star cluster. Jupiter and Venus are slowly switching
    places in the evening sky, and just in the next few days nearing their
    closest angular approach.

    Tomorrow's picture: temple moon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Feb 28 00:43:22 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 February 28
    A picture of the remnant pillars of Poseiden is shown, an ancient Greek
    Temple. In the middle of the ruins, far in the distance, is a crescent
    Moon. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Crescent Moon Beyond Greek Temple
    Image Credit & Copyright: Elias Chasiotis

    Explanation: Why is a thin crescent moon never seen far from a horizon?
    Because the only geometry that gives a thin crescent lunar phase occurs
    when the Moon appears close to the Sun in the sky. The crescent is not
    caused by the shadow of the Earth, but by seeing only a small part of
    the Moon directly illuminated by the Sun. Moreover, the thickest part
    of the crescent always occurs in the direction of the Sun. In the
    evening, a thin crescent Moon will set shortly after the Sun and not be
    seen for the rest of the night. Alternatively, in the morning, a
    crescent Moon will rise shortly before the Sun after not being seen for
    most of the night. Pictured two weeks ago, a crescent moon was captured
    near the horizon, just before sunrise, far behind remnants of the
    ancient Temple of Poseidon in Greece.

    Tomorrow's picture: flaming comet
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Mar 1 01:50:14 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 1
    Pictured are two red nebulas on the far left and center, and a comet
    complete with a green coma and a long blue ion tail on the far right.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    The Flaming Star Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Thomas R÷ell

    Explanation: Is star AE Aurigae on fire? No. Even though AE Aurigae is
    named the Flaming Star and the surrounding nebula IC 405 is named the
    Flaming Star Nebula, and even though the nebula appears to some like a
    swirling flame, there is no fire. Fire, typically defined as the rapid
    molecular acquisition of oxygen, happens only when sufficient oxygen is
    present and is not important in such high-energy, low-oxygen
    environments such as stars. The bright star AE Aurigae occurs near the
    center of the Flaming Star Nebula and is so hot it glows blue, emitting
    light so energetic it knocks electrons away from surrounding gas. When
    a proton recaptures an electron, light is emitted, as seen in the
    surrounding emission nebula. Captured here three weeks ago, the Flaming
    Star Nebula is visible near the composite image's center, between the
    red Tadpole Nebula on the left and blue-tailed Comet ZTF on the right.
    The Flaming Star Nebula lies about 1,500 light years distant, spans
    about 5 light years, and is visible with a small telescope toward the
    constellation of the Charioteer (Auriga).

    Tomorrow's picture: disturbing galaxies
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Mar 2 00:37:32 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 2

    Unraveling NGC 3169
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby & Mark Hanson

    Explanation: Spiral galaxy NGC 3169 looks to be unraveling like a ball
    of cosmic yarn. It lies some 70 million light-years away, south of
    bright star Regulus toward the faint constellation Sextans. Wound up
    spiral arms are pulled out into sweeping tidal tails as NGC 3169 (left)
    and neighboring NGC 3166 interact gravitationally. Eventually the
    galaxies will merge into one, a common fate even for bright galaxies in
    the local universe. Drawn out stellar arcs and plumes are clear
    indications of the ongoing gravitational interactions across the deep
    and colorful galaxy group photo. The telescopic frame spans about 20
    arc minutes or about 400,000 light-years at the group's estimated
    distance, and includes smaller, bluish NGC 3165 at the right. NGC 3169
    is also known to shine across the spectrum from radio to X-rays,
    harboring an active galactic nucleus that is the site of a supermassive
    black hole.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Mar 3 06:22:58 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 3

    RCW 86: Historical Supernova Remnant
    Image Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA, T.A. Rector (Univ.of
    Alaska/NSFCÇÖs NOIRLab),
    J. Miller (Gemini Obs./NSFCÇÖs NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSFCÇÖs
    NOIRLab)

    Explanation: In 185 AD, Chinese astronomers recorded the appearance of
    a new star in the Nanmen asterism. That part of the sky is identified
    with Alpha and Beta Centauri on modern star charts. The new star was
    visible to the naked-eye for months, and is now thought to be the
    earliest recorded supernova. This deep telescopic view reveals the
    wispy outlines of emission nebula RCW 86, just visible against the
    starry background, understood to be the remnant of that stellar
    explosion. Captured by the wide-field Dark Energy Camera operating at
    Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, the image traces the
    full extent of a ragged shell of gas ionized by the still expanding
    shock wave. Space-based images indicate an abundance of the element
    iron in RCW 86 and the absence of a neutron star or pulsar within the
    remnant, suggesting that the original supernova was Type Ia. Unlike the
    core collapse supernova explosion of a massive star, a Type Ia
    supernova is a thermonuclear detonation on a white dwarf star that
    accretes material from a companion in a binary star system. Near the
    plane of our Milky Way galaxy and larger than the full moon on the sky
    this supernova remnant is too faint to be seen by eye though. RCW 86 is
    some 8,000 light-years distant and around 100 light-years across.

    Tomorrow's picture: 10 days of Venus and Jupiter
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Mar 5 00:24:34 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 5
    Two bright objects are pictured very near each other in night sky
    filled with stars. A beach is in the foreground, with some lit
    structures visible across the water. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    Jupiter and Venus over Italy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Giovanni Tumino

    Explanation: What are those two bright spots? Planets. A few days ago,
    the two brightest planets in the night sky passed within a single
    degree of each other in what is termed a conjunction. Visible just
    after sunset in much of the world, the two bright spots were Jupiter
    (left) and Venus (right). The featured image was taken near closest
    approach from Cirica, Sicily, Italy. The week before, Venus was rising
    higher in the sunset sky to meet the dropping Jupiter. Now they have
    switched places. Of course, Venus remains much closer to both the Sun
    and the Earth than Jupiter -- the apparent closeness between the
    planets in the sky of Earth was only angular. You can still see the
    popular pair for an hour or so after sunset this month although they
    continue to separate, and Jupiter continues to set earlier each night.

    Jupiter & Venus Conjunction Gallery: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: balancing planets
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Mar 6 00:19:30 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 6
    Two bright spots are seen on either side of a person standing on a hill
    who appears to be holding one or both of them. A starry sky appears in
    the background. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Jupiter and Venus from Earth
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marek Nikodem (PPSAE)

    Explanation: It was visible around the world. The sunset conjunction of
    Jupiter and Venus in 2012 was visible almost no matter where you lived
    on Earth. Anyone on the planet with a clear western horizon at sunset
    could see them. Pictured here in 2012, a creative photographer traveled
    away from the town lights of Szubin, Poland to image a near closest
    approach of the two planets. The bright planets were then separated
    only by three degrees and his daughter struck a humorous pose. A faint
    red sunset still glowed in the background. Jupiter and Venus are
    together again this month after sunset, passing within a degree of each
    other about a week ago.

    Jupiter & Venus Conjunction Gallery: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: name that galaxy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Mar 7 00:33:52 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 7
    A galaxy is pictured that appears mostly blue and white with a
    prominent bar across its center. The galaxy is the LMC, and thousands
    of dim stars from our Milky Way, in the foreground, complete the frame.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Deep Field: The Large Magellanic Cloud
    Image Credit & Copyright: Yuri Beletsky (Carnegie Las Campanas
    Observatory, TWAN)

    Explanation: Is this a spiral galaxy? No. Actually, it is the Large
    Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the largest satellite galaxy of our own Milky
    Way Galaxy. The LMC is classified as a dwarf irregular galaxy because
    of its normally chaotic appearance. In this deep and wide exposure,
    however, the full extent of the LMC becomes visible. Surprisingly,
    during longer exposures, the LMC begins to resemble a barred spiral
    galaxy. The Large Magellanic Cloud lies only about 180,000 light-years
    distant towards the constellation of the Dolphinfish (Dorado). Spanning
    about 15,000 light-years, the LMC was the site of SN1987A, the
    brightest and closest supernova in modern times. Together with the
    Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), the LMC can be seen in Earth's southern
    hemisphere with the unaided eye.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: artificially bright
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Mar 8 00:39:16 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 8
    A flattened map of the Earth is shown illuminated only by how bright
    the night sky is. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Artificial Night Sky Brightness
    Image Credit: Data: JPSS Satellites; Processing: David J. Lorenz

    Explanation: Where have all the dim stars gone? From many places on the
    Earth including major cities, the night sky has been reduced from a
    fascinating display of thousands of stars to a diffuse glow through
    which only a few stars are visible. The featured map indicates the
    relative amount of light pollution that occurs across the Earth. The
    cause of the pollution is artificial light reflecting off molecules and
    aerosols in the atmosphere. Parts of the Eastern United States and
    Western Europe colored red, for example, have an artificial night sky
    glow over ten times that of the natural sky. In any area marked orange
    or red, the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy is no longer visible.
    The International Dark Sky Association suggests common types of
    fixtures that provide relatively little amounts of light pollution.

    Light Up Your Internal Night Sky: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Mar 10 00:23:10 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 10

    Orion and the Running Man
    Image Credit & Copyright: Abraham Jones

    Explanation: Few cosmic vistas excite the imagination like The Great
    Nebula in Orion. Visible as a faint celestial smudge to the naked-eye,
    the nearest large star-forming region sprawls across this sharp
    telescopic image, recorded on a cold January night in dark skies from
    West Virginia, planet Earth. Also known as M42, the Orion Nebula's
    glowing gas surrounds hot, young stars. About 40 light-years across, it
    lies at the edge of an immense interstellar molecular cloud only 1,500
    light-years away within the same spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy as
    the Sun. Along with dusty bluish reflection nebula NGC 1977 and friends
    near the top of the frame, the eye-catching nebulae represent only a
    small fraction of our galactic neighborhood's wealth of star-forming
    material. Within the well-studied stellar nursery, astronomers have
    also identified what appear to be numerous infant solar systems.

    Tomorrow's picture: 3D Bennu
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Mar 11 00:14:08 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 11

    3D Bennu
    Image Credit: NASA, GSFC, U. Arizona - Stereo Image Copyright: Patrick
    Vantuyne

    Explanation: Put on your red/blue glasses and float next to asteroid
    101955 Bennu. Shaped like a spinning toy top with boulders littering
    its rough surface, the tiny Solar System world is about one Empire
    State Building (less than 500 meters) across. Frames used to construct
    this 3D anaglyph were taken by PolyCam on the OSIRIS_REx spacecraft on
    December 3, 2018 from a distance of about 80 kilometers. With a sample
    from the asteroid's rocky surface on board, OSIRIS_REx departed Bennu's
    vicinity in May of 2021 and is now enroute to planet Earth. The robotic
    spacecraft is scheduled to return the sample to Earth this September.

    Tomorrow's picture: mysteries of the sponge moon
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Mar 12 00:15:54 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 12
    An oblong moon is shown that appears sponge like and features many odd
    craters. Close inspection shows that the bottoms of these craters are
    covered with a dark material. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Saturn's Hyperion: A Moon with Odd Craters
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, JPL, SSI, Cassini Imaging Team

    Explanation: What lies at the bottom of Hyperion's strange craters? To
    help find out, the robot Cassini spacecraft that once orbited Saturn
    swooped past the sponge-textured moon and took images of unprecedented
    detail. A six-image mosaic from the 2005 pass, featured here in
    scientifically assigned colors, shows a remarkable world strewn with
    strange craters and an odd, sponge-like surface. At the bottom of most
    craters lies some type of unknown dark reddish material. This material
    appears similar to that covering part of another of Saturn's moons,
    Iapetus, and might sink into the ice moon as it better absorbs warming
    sunlight. Hyperion is about 250 kilometers across, rotates chaotically,
    and has a density so low that it likely houses a vast system of caverns
    inside.

    Tomorrow's picture: tree colors
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Mar 13 01:46:58 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 13
    A grassy hill is seen topped by a small tree. The tree appears to be at
    the end of a bright and colorful rainbow. Please see the explanation
    for more detailed information.

    Rainbow Tree
    Image Credit & Copyright: Eric Houck

    Explanation: What lies at the end of a rainbow? Something different for
    everyone. For the photographer taking this picture, for example, one
    end of the rainbow ended at a tree. Others nearby, though, would likely
    see the rainbow end somewhere else. The reason is because a rainbow's
    position depends on the observer. The center of a rainbow always
    appears in the direction opposite the Sun, but that direction lines up
    differently on the horizon from different locations. This rainbow's arc
    indicates that its center is about 40 degrees to the left and slightly
    below the horizon, while the Sun is well behind the camera and just
    above the horizon. Reflections and refractions of sunlight from
    raindrops in a distant storm in the direction of the rainbow are what
    causes the colorful bands of light. This single exposure image was
    captured in early January near Knight's Ferry, California, USA.

    Tomorrow's picture: Soul of the night
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Mar 14 00:42:00 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 14
    A red tinged nebula is shown in front of a starfield. Dust structures
    appear around the nebula's edge, and stars are also seen near the
    nebula's center. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    W5: The Soul Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jos+¬ Jim+¬nez (Astromet)

    Explanation: Stars are forming in the Soul of the Queen of Aethopia.
    More specifically, a large star forming region called the Soul Nebula
    can be found in the direction of the constellation Cassiopeia, whom
    Greek mythology credits as the vain wife of a King who long ago ruled
    lands surrounding the upper Nile river. Also known as Westerhout 5
    (W5), the Soul Nebula houses several open clusters of stars, ridges and
    pillars darkened by cosmic dust, and huge evacuated bubbles formed by
    the winds of young massive stars. Located about 6,500 light years away,
    the Soul Nebula spans about 100 light years and is usually imaged next
    to its celestial neighbor the Heart Nebula (IC 1805). The featured
    image is a composite of exposures made in different colors: red as
    emitted by hydrogen gas, yellow as emitted by sulfur, and blue as
    emitted by oxygen.

    Tomorrow's picture: planets converge
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Mar 15 00:19:00 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 15
    Two bright objects appear in a sky over a hill. On the hill, the
    silhouettes of several people are visible, including a person looking
    though a telescope and what appears to be two children looking upward.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Jupiter and Venus Converge over Germany
    Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Luy (Trier Observatory)

    Explanation: This was a sky to show the kids. Early this month the two
    brightest planets in the night sky, Jupiter and Venus, appeared to
    converge. At their closest, the two planets were separated by only
    about the angular width of the full moon. The spectacle occurred just
    after sunset and was seen and photographed all across planet Earth. The
    displayed image was taken near to the time of closest approach from
    Wiltingen, Germany, and features the astrophotographer, spouse, and
    their two children. Of course, Venus remains much closer to both the
    Sun and the Earth than Jupiter -- the apparent closeness between the
    planets in the sky of Earth was only angular. Jupiter and Venus have
    passed and now appear increasingly far apart. Similar planetary
    convergence opportunities will eventually arise. In a few months, for
    example, Mars and Venus will appear to congregate just as the Sun sets.

    Jupiter & Venus Conjunction Gallery: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Mar 16 00:03:56 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 16

    Millions of Stars in Omega Centauri
    Image Credit & Copyright: Neil Corke, Heaven's Mirror Observatory

    Explanation: Globular star cluster Omega Centauri, also known as NGC
    5139, is 15,000 light-years away. The cluster is packed with about 10
    million stars much older than the Sun within a volume about 150
    light-years in diameter. It's the largest and brightest of 200 or so
    known globular clusters that roam the halo of our Milky Way galaxy.
    Though most star clusters consist of stars with the same age and
    composition, the enigmatic Omega Cen exhibits the presence of different
    stellar populations with a spread of ages and chemical abundances. In
    fact, Omega Cen may be the remnant core of a small galaxy merging with
    the Milky Way. Omega Centauri's red giant stars (with a yellowish hue)
    are easy to pick out in this sharp, color telescopic view.

    Tomorrow's picture: serpentine
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Mar 18 01:55:02 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 18

    Wolf-Rayet 124
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team

    Explanation: Driven by powerful stellar winds, expanding shrouds of gas
    and dust frame hot, luminous star Wolf-Rayet 124 in this sharp infrared
    view. The eye-catching 6-spike star pattern is characteristic of
    stellar images made with the 18 hexagonal mirrors of the James Webb
    Space Telescope. About 15,000 light-years distant toward the pointed
    northern constellation Sagitta, WR 124 has over 30 times the mass of
    the Sun. Produced in a brief and rarely spotted phase of massive star
    evolution in the Milky Way, this star's turbulent nebula is nearly 6
    light-years across. It heralds WR 124's impending stellar death in a
    supernova explosion. Formed in the expanding nebula, dusty interstellar
    debris that survives the supernova will influence the formation of
    future generations of stars.

    Tomorrow's picture: Mayan Milky Way
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Mar 19 00:36:12 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 19
    A grand Mayan Pyramids is shown below a starry sky highlighted by the
    band of the Milky Way and the planets Saturn and Jupiter. Please see
    the explanation for more detailed information.

    Equinox at the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent
    Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Fedez

    Explanation: To see the feathered serpent descend the Mayan pyramid
    requires exquisite timing. You must visit El Castillo -- in Mexico's
    Yucat+ín Peninsula -- near an equinox. Then, during the late afternoon
    if the sky is clear, the pyramid's own shadows create triangles that
    merge into the famous illusion of a slithering viper. Also known as the
    Temple of Kukulkan, the impressive step-pyramid stands 30 meters tall
    and 55 meters wide at the base. Built up as a series of square terraces
    by the pre-Columbian civilization between the 9th and 12th century, the
    structure can be used as a calendar and is noted for astronomical
    alignments. The featured composite image was captured in 2019 with
    Jupiter and Saturn straddling the diagonal central band of our Milky
    Way galaxy. Tomorrow marks another equinox -- not only at Temple of
    Kukulc+ín, but all over planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: expanding supernova
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Mar 20 01:43:04 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 20

    M1: The Expanding Crab Nebula
    Video Credit & Copyright: Detlef Hartmann

    Explanation: Are your eyes good enough to see the Crab Nebula expand?
    The Crab Nebula is cataloged as M1, the first on Charles Messier's
    famous list of things which are not comets. In fact, the Crab is now
    known to be a supernova remnant, an expanding cloud of debris from the
    explosion of a massive star. The violent birth of the Crab was
    witnessed by astronomers in the year 1054. Roughly 10 light-years
    across today, the nebula is still expanding at a rate of over 1,000
    kilometers per second. Over the past decade, its expansion has been
    documented in this stunning time-lapse movie. In each year from 2008 to
    2022, an image was produced with the same telescope and camera from a
    remote observatory in Austria. The sharp, processed frames even reveal
    the dynamic energetic emission surrounding the rapidly spinning pulsar
    at the center. The Crab Nebula lies about 6,500 light-years away toward
    the constellation of the Bull (Taurus).

    Tomorrow's picture: beautiful dust
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Mar 21 01:13:56 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 21
    A star field strewn with bunches of brown dust is pictured. In the
    center is a bright area of light brown dust, and in the center of that
    is a bright region of star formation. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    Dark Nebulae and Star Formation in Taurus
    Image Credit & Copyright: Vikas Chander

    Explanation: Can dust be beautiful? Yes, and it can also be useful. The
    Taurus molecular cloud has several bright stars, but it is the dark
    dust that really draws attention. The pervasive dust has waves and
    ripples and makes picturesque dust bunnies, but perhaps more
    importantly, it marks regions where interstellar gas is dense enough to
    gravitationally contract to form stars. In the image center is a light
    cloud lit by neighboring stars that is home not only to a famous
    nebula, but to a very young and massive famous star. Both the star, T
    Tauri, and the nebula, Hind's Variable Nebula, are seen to vary
    dramatically in brightness -- but not necessarily at the same time,
    adding to the mystery of this intriguing region. T Tauri and similar
    stars are now generally recognized to be Sun-like stars that are less
    than a few million years old and so still in the early stages of
    formation. The featured image spans about four degrees not far from the
    Pleiades star cluster, while the featured dust field lies about 400
    light-years away.

    Tomorrow's picture: an unusually distant swirl
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Mar 22 01:07:04 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 22
    The Andromeda Galaxy is shown in great detail. Red nebulas, blue stars,
    and dark dust are all seen in a swirl around the galaxy's bright
    center. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    M31: The Andromeda Galaxy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Abdullah Al-Harbi

    Explanation: How far can you see? The most distant object easily
    visible to the unaided eye is M31, the great Andromeda Galaxy, over two
    million light-years away. Without a telescope, even this immense spiral
    galaxy appears as an unremarkable, faint, nebulous cloud in the
    constellation Andromeda. But a bright white nucleus, dark winding dust
    lanes, luminous blue spiral arms, and bright red emission nebulas are
    recorded in this stunning fifteen-hour telescopic digital mosaic of our
    closest major galactic neighbor. But how do we know this spiral nebula
    is really so far away? This question was central to the famous
    Shapley-Curtis debate of 1920. M31's great distance was determined in
    the 1920s by observations that resolved individual stars that changed
    their brightness in a way that gave up their true distance. The result
    proved that Andromeda is just like our Milky Way Galaxy -- a conclusion
    making the rest of the universe much more vast than had ever been
    previously imagined.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Mar 23 11:45:38 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 23

    Spiral Galaxy NGC 2841
    Image Credit & Copyright: Roberto Marinoni

    Explanation: A mere 46 million light-years distant, spiral galaxy NGC
    2841 can be found in planet Earth's night sky toward the northern
    constellation of Ursa Major. This sharp image centered on the gorgeous
    island universe also captures spiky foreground Milky Way stars and more
    distant background galaxies within the same telescopic field of view.
    It shows off the bright nucleus of NGC 2841, along with its inclined
    galactic disk, and faint outer regions. Dust lanes, small star-forming
    regions, and young star clusters are embedded in the galaxy's patchy,
    tightly wound spiral arms. In contrast, many other spirals exhibit
    broader, sweeping arms with large star-forming regions. NGC 2841 has a
    diameter of over 150,000 light-years, making it even larger than our
    own Milky Way. X-ray images suggest that extreme outflows from giant
    stars and stellar explosions create plumes of hot gas extending into a
    halo around NGC 2841.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Mar 24 00:32:42 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 24

    Outbound Comet ZTF
    Image Credit & Copyright: Rolando Ligustri

    Explanation: Former darling of the northern sky Comet C/2022E3 (ZTF)
    has faded. During its closest approach to our fair planet in early
    February Comet ZTF was a mere 2.3 light-minutes distant. Then known as
    the green comet, this visitor from the remote Oort Cloud is now nearly
    13.3 light-minutes away. In this deep image, composed of exposures
    captured on March 21, the comet still sports a broad, whitish dust tail
    and greenish tinted coma though. Not far on the sky from Orion's bright
    star Rigel, Comet ZTF shares the field of view with faint, dusty
    nebulae and distant background galaxies. The telephoto frame is crowded
    with Milky Way stars toward the constellation Eridanus. The influence
    of Jupiter's gravity on the comet's orbit as ZTF headed for the inner
    solar system, may have set the comet on an outbound journey, never to
    return.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Mar 27 08:51:48 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 27
    Multi-colored aurora are seen above an unusual stone gateway, the first
    of several similar gateways seen in the distance. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Aurora Over Arctic Henge
    Image Credit & Copyright: Cari Letelier

    Explanation: Reports of powerful solar flares started a seven-hour
    quest north to capture modern monuments against an aurora-filled sky.
    The peaks of iconic Arctic Henge in Raufarh++fn in northern Iceland were
    already aligned with the stars: some are lined up toward the exact
    north from one side and toward exact south from the other. The featured
    image, taken after sunset late last month, looks directly south, but
    since the composite image covers so much of the sky, the north star
    Polaris is actually visible at the very top of the frame. Also visible
    are familiar constellations including the Great Bear (Ursa Major) on
    the left, and the Hunter (Orion) on the lower right. The quest was
    successful. The sky lit up dramatically with bright and memorable
    auroras that shimmered with amazing colors including red, pink, yellow,
    and green -- sometimes several at once.

    Tomorrow's picture: green flash flash flash
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Mar 28 00:17:50 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 28
    A distant sunset is seen between an orange sky and dark clouds. A close
    look at the Sun shows it is topped with several green strips, each
    known as a green flash. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    A Multiple Green Flash Sunset
    Image Credit & Copyright: T. Slovinsk+' & P. Hor+ílek (IoP Opava); CTIO,
    NOIRLab, NSF, AURA

    Explanation: Yes, but can your green flash do this? A green flash at
    sunset is a rare event that many Sun watchers pride themselves on
    having seen. Once thought to be a myth, a green flash is now
    understood to occur when the Earth's atmosphere acts like both a prism
    and a lens. Different atmospheric layers create altitude-variable
    refraction that takes light from the top of the Sun and disperses its
    colors, creates two images, and magnifies it in just the right way to
    make a thin sliver appear green just before it disappears. Pictured,
    though, is an even more unusual sunset. From the high-altitude Cerro
    Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile one day last April, the Sun
    was captured setting beyond an atmosphere with multiple distinct
    thermal layers, creating several mock images of the Sun. This time
    and from this location, many of those layers produced a green flash
    simultaneously. Just seconds after this multiple-green-flash event was
    caught by two well-surprised astrophotographers, the Sun set below the
    clouds.

    Tomorrow's picture: dolphin vs cloud
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Mar 29 01:12:04 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 29
    A star field is shown with ragged red clouds on the far left and a thin
    blue cloud with the outline similar to the head of a dolphin to the
    right. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Sh2-308: A Dolphin Shaped Star Bubble
    Image Credit & Copyright: Aleix Roig (AstroCatInfo)

    Explanation: Which star created this bubble? It wasn't the bright star
    on the bubble's right. And it also wasn't a giant space dolphin. It was
    the star in the blue nebula's center, a famously energetic Wolf-Rayet
    star. Wolf-Rayet stars in general have over 20 times the mass of our
    Sun and expel fast particle winds that can create iconic looking
    nebulas. In this case, the resulting star bubble spans over 60 light
    years, is about 70,000 years old, and happens to look like the head of
    a dolphin. Named Sh2-308 and dubbed the Dolphin-Head Nebula, the gas
    ball lies about 5,000 light years away and covers as much sky as the
    full moon -- although it is much dimmer. The nearby red-tinged clouds
    on the left of the featured image may owe their glow and shape to
    energetic light emitted from the same Wolf-Rayet star.

    Tomorrow's picture: celestial thingy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Mar 30 00:10:30 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 30

    NGC 4372 and the Dark Doodad
    Image Credit & Copyright: Matias Tomasello

    Explanation: The delightful Dark Doodad Nebula drifts through southern
    skies, a tantalizing target for binoculars toward the small
    constellation Musca, The Fly. The dusty cosmic cloud is seen against
    rich starfields just south of the Coalsack Nebula and the Southern
    Cross. Stretching for about 3 degrees across the center of this
    telephoto field of view, the Dark Doodad is punctuated near its
    southern tip (upper right) by yellowish globular star cluster NGC 4372.
    Of course NGC 4372 roams the halo of our Milky Way Galaxy, a background
    object some 20,000 light-years away and only by chance along our
    line-of-sight to the Dark Doodad. The Dark Doodad's well defined
    silhouette belongs to the Musca molecular cloud, but its better known
    alliterative moniker was first coined by astro-imager and writer Dennis
    di Cicco in 1986 while observing Comet Halley from the Australian
    outback. The Dark Doodad is around 700 light-years distant and over 30
    light-years long.

    Tomorrow's picture: tantalizing Titan
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Mar 31 00:03:28 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 March 31

    Seeing Titan
    Image Credit: VIMS Team, U. Arizona, U. Nantes, ESA, NASA

    Explanation: Shrouded in a thick atmosphere, Saturn's largest moon
    Titan really is hard to see. Small particles suspended in the upper
    atmosphere cause an almost impenetrable haze, strongly scattering light
    at visible wavelengths and hiding Titan's surface features from prying
    eyes. But Titan's surface is better imaged at infrared wavelengths
    where scattering is weaker and atmospheric absorption is reduced.
    Arrayed around this visible light image (center) of Titan are some of
    the clearest global infrared views of the tantalizing moon so far. In
    false color, the six panels present a consistent processing of 13 years
    of infrared image data from the Visual and Infrared Mapping
    Spectrometer (VIMS) on board the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn
    from 2004 to 2017. They offer a stunning comparison with Cassini's
    visible light view. NASA's revolutionary rotorcraft mission to Titan is
    due to launch in 2027.

    Tomorrow's picture: seriously
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Apr 1 00:29:16 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 1

    NGC 2442: Galaxy in Volans
    Image Credit & Copyright: Nicolas Rolland, Martin Pugh

    Explanation: Distorted galaxy NGC 2442 can be found in the southern
    constellation of the flying fish, (Piscis) Volans. Located about 50
    million light-years away, the galaxy's two spiral arms extending from a
    pronounced central bar give it a hook-shaped appearance in this deep
    colorful image, with spiky foreground stars scattered across the
    telescopic field of view. The image also reveals the distant galaxy's
    obscuring dust lanes, young blue star clusters and reddish star forming
    regions surrounding a core of yellowish light from an older population
    of stars. But the star forming regions seem more concentrated along the
    drawn-out (upper right) spiral arm. The distorted structure is likely
    the result of an ancient close encounter with the smaller galaxy seen
    near the top left of the frame. The two interacting galaxies are
    separated by about 150,000 light-years at the estimated distance of NGC
    2442.

    Tomorrow's picture: Messier 57
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Apr 2 00:22:10 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 2
    A colorful oval nebula is shown star field is shown in a sparse
    starfield. Fainter red nebulosity surrounds the bright oval. A
    relatively bright star is seen in the oval's center. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    M57: The Ring Nebula from Hubble
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive; Processing: Judy
    Schmidt

    Explanation: It was noticed hundreds of years ago by stargazers who
    could not understand its unusual shape. It looked like a ring on the
    sky. Except for the rings of Saturn, the Ring Nebula (M57) may be the
    most famous celestial circle. We now know what it is, and that its
    iconic shape is due to our lucky perspective. The recent mapping of the
    expanding nebula's 3-D structure, based in part on this clear Hubble
    image,indicates that the nebula is a relatively dense, donut-like ring
    wrapped around the middle of an (American) football-shaped cloud of
    glowing gas. Our view from planet Earth looks down the long axis of the
    football, face-on to the ring. Of course, in this well-studied example
    of a planetary nebula, the glowing material does not come from planets.
    Instead, the gaseous shroud represents outer layers expelled from the
    dying, once sun-like star, now a tiny pinprick of light seen at the
    nebula's center. Intense ultraviolet light from the hot central star
    ionizes atoms in the gas. The Ring Nebula is about one light-year
    across and 2,500 light-years away.

    Tomorrow's picture: the beasts at the center of our galaxy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Apr 3 00:56:44 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 3
    A false-color yellow-on red radio image of our Galactic Center shows
    yellow radio-emitting arcs above streaks and a bright cocoon that
    contains our Galaxy's central black hole. Please see the explanation
    for more detailed information.

    The Galactic Center Radio Arc
    Image Credit: Ian Heywood (Oxford U.), SARAO;

    Explanation: What causes this unusual curving structure near the center
    of our Galaxy? The long parallel rays slanting across the top of the
    featured radio image are known collectively as the Galactic Center
    Radio Arc and point out from the Galactic plane. The Radio Arc is
    connected to the Galactic Center by strange curving filaments known as
    the Arches. The bright radio structure at the bottom right surrounds a
    black hole at the Galactic Center and is known as Sagittarius A*. One
    origin hypothesis holds that the Radio Arc and the Arches have their
    geometry because they contain hot plasma flowing along lines of a
    constant magnetic field. Images from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory
    appear to show this plasma colliding with a nearby cloud of cold gas.

    Tomorrow's picture: from inner mars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Apr 4 00:15:18 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 4
    A large orange volcano is pictured on Mars from above. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Olympus Mons: Largest Volcano in the Solar System
    Image Credit: ESA, DLR, FU Berlin, Mars Express; Processing & CC BY 2.0
    License: Andrea Luck

    Explanation: The largest volcano in our Solar System is on Mars.
    Although three times higher than Earth's Mount Everest, Olympus Mons
    will not be difficult for humans to climb because of the volcano's
    shallow slopes and Mars' low gravity. Covering an area greater than the
    entire Hawaiian volcano chain, the slopes of Olympus Mons typically
    rise only a few degrees at a time. Olympus Mons is an immense shield
    volcano, built long ago by fluid lava. A relatively static surface
    crust allowed it to build up over time. Its last eruption is thought to
    have been about 25 million years ago. The featured image was taken by
    the European Space Agency's robotic Mars Express spacecraft currently
    orbiting the Red Planet.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Apr 5 01:34:18 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 5

    Rubin's Galaxy
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, B. Holwerda (University of Louisville)

    Explanation: In this Hubble Space Telescope image the bright, spiky
    stars lie in the foreground toward the heroic northern constellation
    Perseus and well within our own Milky Way galaxy. In sharp focus beyond
    is UGC 2885, a giant spiral galaxy about 232 million light-years
    distant. Some 800,000 light-years across compared to the Milky Way's
    diameter of 100,000 light-years or so, it has around 1 trillion stars.
    That's about 10 times as many stars as the Milky Way. Part of an
    investigation to understand how galaxies can grow to such enormous
    sizes, UGC 2885 was also part of An Interesting Voyage and astronomer
    Vera Rubin's pioneering study of the rotation of spiral galaxies. Her
    work was the first to convincingly demonstrate the dominating presence
    of dark matter in our universe.

    Tomorrow's picture: methalox
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Apr 6 00:05:20 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 6

    Terran 1 Burns Methalox
    Image Credit: Relativity / John Kraus

    Explanation: Relativity's Terran 1 Rocket is mostly 3D-printed. It
    burns a cryogenic rocket fuel composed of liquid methane and liquid
    oxygen (methalox). In this close-up of a Terran 1 launch on the night
    of March 22 from Cape Canaveral, icy chunks fall through the stunning
    frame as intense blue exhaust streams from its nine Aeon 1 engines. In
    a largely successful flight the inovative rocket achieved main engine
    cutoff and stage separation but fell short of orbit after an anomaly at
    the beginning of its second stage flight. Of course this Terran 1
    rocket was never intended to travel to Mars. Still, the methane and
    liquid oxygen components of its methalox fuel can be made solely from
    materials found on the Red Planet. Methalox manufactured on Mars could
    be used as fuel for rockets returning to planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: Rigel wide
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Apr 7 00:17:16 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 7

    Rigel Wide
    Image Credit: Rheinhold Wittich

    Explanation: Brilliant, blue, supergiant star Rigel marks the foot of
    Orion the Hunter in planet Earth's night. Designated Beta Orionis, it's
    at the center of this remarkably deep and wide field of view. Rigel's
    blue color indicates that it is much hotter than its rival supergiant
    in Orion the yellowish Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis), though both stars
    are massive enough to eventually end their days as core collapse
    supernovae. Some 860 light-years away, Rigel is hotter than the Sun too
    and extends to about 74 times the solar radius. That's about the size
    of the orbit of Mercury. In the 10 degree wide frame toward the nebula
    rich constellation, the Orion Nebula is at the upper left. To the right
    of Rigel and illuminated by its brilliant blue starlight lies the dusty
    Witch Head Nebula. Rigel is part of a multiple star system, though its
    companion stars are much fainter.

    Tomorrow's picture: medieval times
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Apr 8 00:19:46 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 8
    A spiral galaxy is shown with spiral arms dominated by blue stars and
    with a bright central swirl that itself looks like a spiral galaxy.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    M100: A Grand Design Spiral Galaxy
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing: Judy Schmidt

    Explanation: Majestic on a truly cosmic scale, M100 is appropriately
    known as a grand design spiral galaxy. It is a large galaxy of over 100
    billion stars with well-defined spiral arms that is similar to our own
    Milky Way Galaxy. One of the brightest members of the Virgo Cluster of
    galaxies, M100 (alias NGC 4321) is 56 million light-years distant
    toward the constellation of Berenice's Hair (Coma Berenices). This
    Hubble Space Telescope image of M100 was taken with the Wide Field
    Camera 3 and accentuates bright blue star clusters and intricate
    winding dust lanes which are hallmarks of this class of galaxies.
    Studies of variable stars in M100 have played an important role in
    determining the size and age of the Universe.

    Tomorrow's picture: big egg
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Apr 9 00:42:00 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 9

    The Egg Nebula in Polarized Light
    Image Credit: Hubble Heritage Team (STScI / AURA), W. Sparks (STScI) &
    R. Sahai (JPL), NASA

    Explanation: Where is the center of the Egg Nebula? Emerging from a
    cosmic egg, the star in the center of the Egg Nebula is casting away
    shells of gas and dust as it slowly transforms itself into a white
    dwarf star. The Egg Nebula is a rapidly evolving pre- planetary nebula
    spanning about one light year. It lies some 3,000 light-years away
    toward the northern constellation Cygnus. Thick dust blocks the center
    star from view, while the dust shells farther out reflect light from
    this star. Light vibrating in the plane defined by each dust grain, the
    central star, and the observer is preferentially reflected, causing an
    effect known as polarization. Measuring the orientation of the
    polarized light for the Egg Nebula gives clues to location of the
    hidden source. Taken by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys
    in 2002, this image is rendered in artifical "Easter-Egg" colors coded
    to highlight the orientation of polarization.

    Tomorrow's picture: big chicken
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Apr 10 00:50:52 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 10
    A bright gaseous nebula is pictured in front of a star field. To some,
    the outline of the nebula make it look like a running chicken. Dark
    knots of dust are seen near the bright nebula's center. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    IC 2944: The Running Chicken Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel Stern

    Explanation: To some, it looks like a giant chicken running across the
    sky. To others, it looks like a gaseous nebula where star formation
    takes place. Cataloged as IC 2944, the Running Chicken Nebula spans
    about 100 light years and lies about 6,000 light years away toward the
    constellation of the Centaur (Centaurus). The featured image, shown in
    scientifically assigned colors, was captured recently in a 16-hour
    exposure over three nights. The star cluster Collinder 249 is visible
    embedded in the nebula's glowing gas. Although difficult to discern
    here, several dark molecular clouds with distinct shapes can be found
    inside the nebula.

    Tomorrow's picture: almost north
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Apr 11 01:12:34 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 11
    A bright star is seen in field of dimmer stars and pervasive
    light-brown dust. The star is the North Star: Polaris. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    North Star: Polaris and Surrounding Dust
    Image Credit & Copyright: Javier Zayaz

    Explanation: Why is Polaris called the North Star? First, Polaris is
    the nearest bright star toward the north spin axis of the Earth.
    Therefore, as the Earth turns, stars appear to revolve around Polaris,
    but Polaris itself always stays in the same northerly direction --
    making it the North Star. Since no bright star is near the south spin
    axis of the Earth, there is currently no bright South Star. Thousands
    of years ago, Earth's spin axis pointed in a slightly different
    direction so that Vega was the North Star. Although Polaris is not the
    brightest star on the sky, it is easily located because it is nearly
    aligned with two stars in the cup of the Big Dipper. Polaris is near
    the center of the eight-degree wide featured image, a digital composite
    of hundreds of exposures that brings out faint gas and dust of the
    Integrated Flux Nebula (IFN) all over the frame as well as the globular
    star cluster NGC 188 on the far left. The surface of Cepheid Polaris
    slowly pulsates, causing the famous star to change its brightness by a
    few percent over the course of a few days.

    Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Apr 12 02:04:18 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 12

    NGC 206 and the Star Clouds of Andromeda
    Image Credit & Copyright: Howard Trottier

    Explanation: The large stellar association cataloged as NGC 206 is
    nestled within the dusty arms of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy along
    with the galaxy's pinkish star-forming regions. Also known as M31, the
    spiral galaxy is a mere 2.5 million light-years away. NGC 206 is found
    right of center in this sharp and detailed close-up of the southwestern
    extent of Andromeda's disk. The bright, blue stars of NGC 206 indicate
    its youth. In fact, its youngest massive stars are less than 10 million
    years old. Much larger than the open or galactic clusters of young
    stars in the disk of our Milky Way galaxy, NGC 206 spans about 4,000
    light-years. That's comparable in size to the giant stellar nurseries
    NGC 604 in nearby spiral M33 and the Tarantula Nebula in the Large
    Magellanic Cloud.

    Tomorrow's picture: intergalactic wanderer
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Apr 13 00:59:48 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 13

    NGC 2419: Intergalactic Wanderer
    Image Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, S. Larsen et al.

    Explanation: Stars of the globular cluster NGC 2419 are packed into
    this Hubble Space Telescope field of view toward the mostly stealthy
    constellation Lynx. The two brighter spiky stars near the edge of the
    frame are within our own galaxy. NGC 2419 itself is remote though, some
    300,000 light-years away. In comparison, the Milky Way's satellite
    galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, is only about 160,000 light-years
    distant. Roughly similar to other large globular star clusters like
    Omega Centauri, NGC 2419 is intrinsically bright, but appears faint
    because it is so far away. Its extreme distance makes it difficult to
    study and compare its properties with other globular clusters that roam
    the halo of our Milky Way galaxy. Sometimes called "the Intergalactic
    Wanderer", NGC 2419 really does seem to have come from beyond the Milky
    Way. Measurements of the cluster's motion through space suggest it once
    belonged to the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy, another small
    satellite galaxy being disrupted by repeated encounters with the much
    larger Milky Way.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Apr 15 00:40:08 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 15

    When Z is for Mars
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel (TWAN)

    Explanation: A composite of images captured about a week apart from mid
    August 2022 through late March 2023, this series traces the retrograde
    motion of ruddy-colored Mars. Progressing from lower right to upper
    left Mars makes a Z-shaped path as it wanders past the Pleiades and
    Hyades star clusters, through the constellation Taurus in planet
    Earth's night sky. Seen about every two years, Mars doesn't actually
    reverse the direction of its orbit to trace out the Z-shape though.
    Instead, the apparent backwards or retrograde motion with respect to
    the background stars is a reflection of the orbital motion of Earth
    itself. Retrograde motion can be seen each time Earth overtakes and
    laps planets orbiting farther from the Sun, the Earth moving more
    rapidly through its own relatively close-in orbit. High in northern
    hemisphere skies the Red Planet was opposite the Sun and at its closest
    and brightest on December 8, near the center of the frame. Seen close
    to Mars, a popular visitor to the inner Solar System, comet ZTF (C/2022
    E3), was also captured on two dates, February 10 and February 16.

    Tomorrow's picture: winging it
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Apr 16 00:16:58 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 16
    An elongated colorful nebula is shown elongated horizontally and
    pinched in the middle. In the very center is a bright source. Please
    see the explanation for more detailed information.

    M2-9: Wings of a Butterfly Nebula
    Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, NASA, ESA; Processing: Judy
    Schmidt

    Explanation: Are stars better appreciated for their art after they die?
    Actually, stars usually create their most artistic displays as they
    die. In the case of low-mass stars like our Sun and M2-9 pictured here,
    the stars transform themselves from normal stars to white dwarfs by
    casting off their outer gaseous envelopes. The expended gas frequently
    forms an impressive display called a planetary nebula that fades
    gradually over thousands of years. M2-9, a butterfly planetary nebula
    2100 light-years away shown in representative colors, has wings that
    tell a strange but incomplete tale. In the center, two stars orbit
    inside a gaseous disk 10 times the orbit of Pluto. The expelled
    envelope of the dying star breaks out from the disk creating the
    bipolar appearance. Much remains unknown about the physical processes
    that cause and shape planetary nebulae.

    Tomorrow's picture: lightning elves
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Apr 17 01:03:24 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 17
    A large red ring is seen high above a landscape that has sparse clouds
    and a foreground building. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    ELVES Lightning over Italy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Valter Binotto

    Explanation: What's that red ring in the sky? Lightning. The most
    commonly seen type of lightning involves flashes of bright white light
    between clouds. Over the past 50 years, though, other types of
    upper-atmospheric lightning have been confirmed, including red sprites
    and blue jets. Less well known and harder to photograph is a different
    type of upper atmospheric lightning known as ELVES. ELVES are thought
    to be created when an electromagnetic pulse shoots upward from charged
    clouds and impacts the ionosphere, causing nitrogen molecules to glow.
    The red ELVES ring pictured had a radius of about 350 km and was
    captured in late March about 100 kilometers above Ancona, Italy. Years
    of experience and ultra-fast photography were used to capture this
    ELVES -- which lasted only about 0.001 second.

    Tomorrow's picture: moon shadow, moon shadow
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Apr 18 00:21:08 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 18
    A map of the USA is shown with the path of the greatest darkness of two
    solar eclipses shown in dark colors. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    Map of Total Solar Eclipse Path in 2024 April
    Image Credit: NASA, Science Visualization Studio

    Explanation: Would you like to see a total eclipse of the Sun? If so,
    do any friends or relatives live near the path of next April's eclipse?
    If yes again, then you might want to arrange a well-timed visit. Next
    April 8, the path of a total solar eclipse will cross North America
    from western Mexico to eastern Canada, entering the USA in southern
    Texas and exiting in northern Maine. All of North America will
    experience the least a partial solar eclipse. Featured here is a map of
    the path of totality. Many people who have seen a total solar eclipse
    tell stories about it for the rest of their lives. As a warmup, an
    annular solar eclipse will be visible later this year -- in
    mid-October.

    Tomorrow's picture: snow sky surprise
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Apr 19 01:39:06 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 19
    Two people dressed in red coats are standing on a snowy landscape with
    bare trees. Above, many aurorae of different colors appear, with some
    stars visible in the background. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Auroral Storm over Lapland
    Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Casado (Starry Earth, TWAN)

    Explanation: On some nights the sky is the best show in town. On this
    night, auroras ruled the sky, and the geomagnetic storm that created
    this colorful sky show originated from an increasingly active Sun.
    Surprisingly, since the approaching solar CME the day before had missed
    the Earth, it was not expected that this storm would create auroras. In
    the foreground, two happily surprised aurora hunters contemplate the
    amazing and rapidly changing sky. Regardless of forecasts, though,
    auroras were reported in the night skies of Earth not only in the far
    north, but as far south as New Mexico, USA. As captured in a wide-angle
    image above Saariselk+ñ in northern Finnish Lapland, a bright aurora was
    visible with an unusually high degree of detail, range of colors, and
    breadth across the sky. The vivid yellow, green, red and purple auroral
    colors are caused by oxygen and nitrogen atoms high in Earth's
    atmosphere reacting to incoming electrons.

    Open Science: Browse 3,000+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Apr 20 00:45:22 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 20
    See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
    resolution version available.

    The Dark Seahorse in Cepheus
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Herman

    Explanation: Spanning light-years, this suggestive shape known as the
    Seahorse Nebula appears in silhouette against a rich, luminous
    background of stars. Seen toward the royal northern constellation of
    Cepheus, the dusty, obscuring clouds are part of a Milky Way molecular
    cloud some 1,200 light-years distant. It is also listed as Barnard 150
    (B150), one of 182 dark markings of the sky cataloged in the early 20th
    century by astronomer E. E. Barnard. Packs of low mass stars are
    forming within, but their collapsing cores are only visible at long
    infrared wavelengths. Still, the colorful stars of Cepheus add to this
    pretty, galactic skyscape.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Apr 21 01:59:02 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 21

    Solar Eclipse from Western Australia
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gwena+½l Blanck

    Explanation: Along a narrow path that mostly avoided landfall, the
    shadow of the New Moon raced across planet Earth's southern hemisphere
    on April 20 to create a rare annular-total or hybrid solar eclipse. A
    mere 62 seconds of totality could be seen though, when the dark central
    lunar shadow just grazed the North West Cape, a peninsula in western
    Australia. From top to bottom these panels capture the beginning,
    middle, and end of that fleeting total eclipse phase. At start and
    finish, solar prominences and beads of sunlight stream past the lunar
    limb. At mid-eclipse the central frame reveals the sight only easily
    visible during totality and most treasured by eclipse chasers, the
    magnificent corona of the active Sun. Of course eclipses tend to come
    in pairs. On May 5, the next Full Moon will just miss the dark inner
    part of Earth's shadow in a penumbral lunar eclipse.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Apr 22 00:55:36 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 22

    NGC 1333: Stellar Nursery in Perseus
    Image Credit: Science - NASA, ESA, STScI, Processing - Varun Bajaj
    (STScI),
    Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Jennifer Mack (STScI)

    Explanation: In visible light NGC 1333 is seen as a reflection nebula,
    dominated by bluish hues characteristic of starlight reflected by
    interstellar dust. A mere 1,000 light-years distant toward the heroic
    constellation Perseus, it lies at the edge of a large, star-forming
    molecular cloud. This Hubble Space Telescope close-up frames a region
    just over 1 light-year wide at the estimated distance of NGC 1333. It
    shows details of the dusty region along with telltale hints of
    contrasty red emission from Herbig-Haro objects, jets and shocked
    glowing gas emanating from recently formed stars. In fact, NGC 1333
    contains hundreds of stars less than a million years old, most still
    hidden from optical telescopes by the pervasive stardust. The chaotic
    environment may be similar to one in which our own Sun formed over 4.5
    billion years ago. Hubble's stunning image of the stellar nursery was
    released to celebrate the 33rd anniversary of the space telescope's
    launch.

    Watch: Planet Earth's annual Lyrid Meteor Shower
    Tomorrow's picture: cloudy day
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Apr 23 06:45:18 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 23
    A thin gray funnel cloud is pictured connecting water at the bottom to
    a cloud near the top. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    A Waterspout in Florida
    Image Credit & Copyright: Joey Mole

    Explanation: What's happening over the water? Pictured here is one of
    the better images yet recorded of a waterspout, a type of tornado that
    occurs over water. Waterspouts are spinning columns of rising moist air
    that typically form over warm water. Waterspouts can be as dangerous as
    tornadoes and can feature wind speeds over 200 kilometers per hour.
    Some waterspouts form away from thunderstorms and even during
    relatively fair weather. Waterspouts may be relatively transparent and
    initially visible only by an unusual pattern they create on the water.
    The featured image was taken in 2013 July near Tampa Bay, Florida. The
    Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida is arguably the most active
    area in the world for waterspouts, with hundreds forming each year.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: space brain
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Apr 24 06:11:54 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 24
    A nearly spherical but stringy nebula is shown against a starry
    background. The nebula is colored blue and red. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    The Medulla Nebula Supernova Remnant
    Image Credit & Copyright: Kimberly Sibbald

    Explanation: What powers this unusual nebula? CTB-1 is the expanding
    gas shell that was left when a massive star toward the constellation of
    Cassiopeia exploded about 10,000 years ago. The star likely detonated
    when it ran out of elements near its core that could create stabilizing
    pressure with nuclear fusion. The resulting supernova remnant,
    nicknamed the Medulla Nebula for its brain-like shape, still glows in
    visible light by the heat generated by its collision with confining
    interstellar gas. Why the nebula also glows in X-ray light, though,
    remains a mystery. One hypothesis holds that an energetic pulsar was
    co-created that powers the nebula with a fast outwardly moving wind.
    Following this lead, a pulsar has recently been found in radio waves
    that appears to have been expelled by the supernova explosion at over
    1000 kilometers per second. Although the Medulla Nebula appears as
    large as a full moon, it is so faint that it took many hours of
    exposure with a telescope in Seven Persons, Alberta, Canada to create
    the featured image.

    Tomorrow's picture: lunar triomuphe
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Apr 25 00:36:20 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 25
    A dark rectangular building is seen across a green field with colorful
    aurora, mostly red, seen in the background sky. Past the aurora, the
    sky is also filled with stars. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Northern Lights over Southern Europe
    Image Credit & Copyright: Lorenzo Cordero

    Explanation: Did you see an aurora over the past two nights? Many
    people who don't live in Earth's far north did. Reports of aurora came
    in not only from northern locales in the USA as Alaska, but as far
    south as Texas and Arizona. A huge auroral oval extended over Europe
    and Asia, too. Pictured, an impressively red aurora was captured last
    night near the town of C+íceres in central Spain. Auroras were also
    reported in parts of southern Spain. The auroras resulted from a strong
    Coronal Mass Event (CME) that occurred on the Sun a few days ago.
    Particles from the CME crossed the inner Solar System before colliding
    with the Earth's magnetosphere. From there, electrons and protons
    spiraled down the Earth's northern magnetic field lines and collided
    with oxygen and nitrogen in Earth's atmosphere, causing picturesque
    auroral glows. Our unusually active Sun may provide future
    opportunities to see the northern lights in southern skies.

    Tomorrow's picture: lunar triomuphe
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Apr 26 06:33:38 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 26
    A nearly full Moon is seen through the famous Arc de Triomphi with
    trees and cars lining the foreground. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    The Moon through the Arc de Triomphe
    Image Credit & Copyright: Stefano Zanarello

    Explanation: Was this a lucky shot? Although many amazing photographs
    are taken by someone who just happened to be in the right place at the
    right time, this image took skill and careful planning. First was the
    angular scale: if you shoot too close to the famous Arc de Triomphe in
    Paris, France, the full moon will appear too small. Conversely, if you
    shoot from too far away, the moon will appear too large and not fit
    inside the Arc. Second is timing: the Moon only appears centered inside
    the Arc for small periods of time -- from this distance less than a
    minute. Other planned features include lighting, relative brightness,
    height, capturing a good foreground, and digital processing. And yes,
    there is some luck involved -- for example, the sky must be clear. This
    time, the planning was successful, bringing two of humanity's most
    famous icons photographically together for all to enjoy.

    Today's adventure link: Click "Paris" (above)
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Apr 27 02:56:06 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 27

    The Tarantula Nebula from SuperBIT
    Image Credit: SuperBIT, NASA

    Explanation: The Tarantula Nebula, also known as 30 Doradus, is more
    than a thousand light-years in diameter, a giant star forming region
    within nearby satellite galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud. About 160
    thousand light-years away, it's the largest, most violent star forming
    region known in the whole Local Group of galaxies. The cosmic arachnid
    is near the center of this spectacular image taken during the flight of
    SuperBIT (Super Pressure Balloon Imaging Telescope), NASA's
    balloon-borne 0.5 meter telescope now floating near the edge of space.
    Within the well-studied Tarantula (NGC 2070), intense radiation,
    stellar winds and supernova shocks from the central young cluster of
    massive stars, cataloged as R136, energize the nebular glow and shape
    the spidery filaments. Around the Tarantula are other star forming
    regions with young star clusters, filaments, and blown-out
    bubble-shaped clouds. SuperBIT's wide field of view spans over 2
    degrees or 4 full moons in the southern constellation Dorado.

    Tomorrow's picture: alpha camel leopard
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Apr 28 00:14:14 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 28

    Runaway Star Alpha Camelopardalis
    Image Credit: Andr+¬ Vilhena

    Explanation: Like a ship plowing through cosmic seas, runaway star
    Alpha Camelopardalis has produced this graceful arcing bow wave or bow
    shock. The massive supergiant star moves at over 60 kilometers per
    second through space, compressing the interstellar material in its
    path. At the center of this nearly 6 degree wide view, Alpha Cam is
    about 25-30 times as massive as the Sun, 5 times hotter (30,000
    kelvins), and over 500,000 times brighter. About 4,000 light-years away
    in the long-necked constellation Camelopardalis, the star also produces
    a strong stellar wind. Alpha Cam's bow shock stands off about 10
    light-years from the star itself. What set this star in motion?
    Astronomers have long thought that Alpha Cam was flung out of a nearby
    cluster of young hot stars due to gravitational interactions with other
    cluster members or perhaps by the supernova explosion of a massive
    companion star.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Apr 29 01:04:22 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 29

    Solar Eclipse from a Ship
    Image Credit: Fred Espenak

    Explanation: Along a narrow path that mostly avoided landfall, the
    shadow of the New Moon raced across planet Earth's southern hemisphere
    on April 20 to create a rare annular-total or hybrid solar eclipse.
    From the Indian Ocean off the coast of western Australia, ship-borne
    eclipse chasers were able to witness 62 seconds of totality though
    while anchored near the centerline of the total eclipse track. This
    ship-borne image of the eclipse captures the active Sun's magnificent
    outer atmosphere or solar corona streaming into space. A composite of
    11 exposures ranging from 1/2000 to 1/2 second, it records an extended
    range of brightness to follow details of the corona not quite visible
    to the eye during the total eclipse phase. Of course eclipses tend to
    come in pairs. On May 5, the next Full Moon will just miss the dark
    inner part of Earth's shadow in a penumbral lunar eclipse.

    Total Solar Eclipse of 2023 April Gallery: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: subtle Saturnian moon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Apr 30 00:05:26 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 April 30
    An oblong moon is shown in very muted colors, appearing almost gray.
    The background is deep space and completely dark at this short exposure
    time. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Saturn's Moon Helene in Color
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SSI; Processing: Daniel Mach+í-ìek

    Explanation: Although its colors may be subtle, Saturn's moon Helene is
    an enigma in any light. The moon was imaged in unprecedented detail in
    2012 as the robotic Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn swooped to
    within a single Earth diameter of the diminutive moon. Although
    conventional craters and hills appear, the above image also shows
    terrain that appears unusually smooth and streaked. Planetary
    astronomers are inspecting these detailed images of Helene to glean
    clues about the origin and evolution of the 30-km across floating
    iceberg. Helene is also unusual because it circles Saturn just ahead of
    the large moon Dione, making it one of only four known Saturnian moons
    to occupy a gravitational well known as a stable Lagrange point.

    Tomorrow's picture: stars with colors
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon May 1 00:40:00 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 1
    The featured image shows the northern part of the Great Carina Nebula
    featuring the Gabriela Mistral Nebula as well as other nebulae and star
    clusters. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Carina Nebula North
    Image Credit & Copyright: Carlos Taylor

    Explanation: The Great Carina Nebula is home to strange stars and
    iconic nebulas. Named for its home constellation, the huge star-forming
    region is larger and brighter than the Great Orion Nebula but less well
    known because it is so far south -- and because so much of humanity
    lives so far north. The featured image shows in great detail the
    northernmost part of the Carina Nebula. On the bottom left is the
    Gabriela Mistral Nebula consisting of an emission nebula of glowing gas
    (IC 2599) surrounding the small open cluster of stars (NGC 3324). Above
    the image center is the larger star cluster NGC 3293, while to its
    right is the emission nebula Loden 153. The most famous occupant of the
    Carina Nebula, however, is not shown. Off the image to the lower right
    is the bright, erratic, and doomed star known as Eta Carinae -- a star
    once one of the brightest stars in the sky and now predicted to explode
    in a supernova sometime in the next few million years.

    Tomorrow's picture: unusually flat mars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue May 2 00:55:18 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 2
    A view of Mars from the Curiosity rover on Mars is pictured in black
    and white. Many rocks and hills are visible, with a hill containing
    many unusually flat rocks visible on the right. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Flat Rock Hills on Mars
    Image Credit & Copyright: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS; Processing: Neville
    Thompson

    Explanation: Why are there so many flat rocks on Mars? Some views of
    plains and hills on Mars show many rocks that are unusually flat when
    compared to rocks on Earth. One reason for this is a process that is
    common to both Mars and Earth: erosion. The carbon-dioxide wind on Mars
    can act like sandpaper when it blows around gritty Martian sand. This
    sand can create differential erosion, smoothing over some rocks, while
    wearing down the tops of other long-exposed stones. The featured image
    capturing several hills covered with flat-topped rocks was taken last
    month by NASA's Curiosity Rover on Mars. This robotic rover has now
    been rolling across Mars for ten years and has helped uncover many
    details of the wet and windy past of Earth's planetary neighbor. After
    taking this and other images, Curiosity carefully navigated stones and
    slippery sand to climb up Marker Band Valley.

    Tomorrow's picture: black hole galaxy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed May 3 01:18:00 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 3
    A long duration image of the unusual galaxy Centaurus A. The galaxy
    appears as a light oval with a complex dark dust lane running across
    its center. A starfield surrounds the galaxy. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Centaurus A: A Peculiar Island of Stars
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marco Lorenzi, Angus Lau & Tommy Tse; Text:
    Natalia Lewandowska (SUNY Oswego)

    Explanation: Galaxies are fascinating. In galaxies, gravity alone holds
    together massive collections of stars, dust, interstellar gas, stellar
    remnants and dark matter. Pictured is NGC 5128, better known as
    Centaurus A. Cen A is the fifth brightest galaxy on the sky and is
    located at a distance of about 12 million light years from Earth. The
    warped shape of Cen A is the result of a merger between an elliptical
    and a spiral galaxy. Its active galactic nucleus harbors a supermassive
    black hole that is about 55 million times more massive than our Sun.
    This central black hole ejects a fast jet visible in both radio and
    X-ray light. Filaments of the jet are visible in red in the upper left.
    New observations by the Event Horizon Telescope have revealed a
    brightening of the jet only towards its edges -- but for reasons that
    are currently unknown and an active topic of research.

    At NASA it's: Black Hole Week
    Tomorrow's picture: black hole revisited
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu May 4 00:14:18 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 4

    The Galaxy, the Jet, and a Famous Black Hole
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration

    Explanation: Bright elliptical galaxy Messier 87 (M87) is home to the
    supermassive black hole captured in 2017 by planet Earth's Event
    Horizon Telescope in the first ever image of a black hole. Giant of the
    Virgo galaxy cluster about 55 million light-years away, M87 is the
    large galaxy rendered in blue hues in this infrared image from the
    Spitzer Space telescope. Though M87 appears mostly featureless and
    cloud-like, the Spitzer image does record details of relativistic jets
    blasting from the galaxy's central region. Shown in the inset at top
    right, the jets themselves span thousands of light-years. The brighter
    jet seen on the right is approaching and close to our line of sight.
    Opposite, the shock created by the otherwise unseen receding jet lights
    up a fainter arc of material. Inset at bottom right, the historic black
    hole image is shown in context, at the center of giant galaxy and
    relativistic jets. Completely unresolved in the Spitzer image, the
    supermassive black hole surrounded by infalling material is the source
    of enormous energy driving the relativistic jets from the center of
    active galaxy M87. The Event Horizon Telescope image of M87 has now
    been enhanced to reveal a sharper view of the famous supermassive black
    hole.

    At NASA: Black Hole Week
    Tomorrow's picture: ShadowCam
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat May 6 00:51:16 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 6

    Twilight in a Flower
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dario Giannobile

    Explanation: Transformed into the petals of a flower, 16 exposures show
    the passage of day into night in this creative timelapse skyscape.
    Start at the top and move counterclockwise to follow consecutive
    moments as the twilight sky turns an ever darker blue and night
    blossoms. Each exposure was recorded on the evening of April 22,
    calculated to maintain a consistent balance of light and color. Close
    to the western horizon on that date, a crescent Moon and Venus are the
    two brightest celestial beacons. Petal to petal the pair spiral closer
    to the flower's center. In silhouette around the center of the twilight
    flower are Sicily's megalithic rocks of Argimusco.

    Tomorrow's picture: the helix
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun May 7 00:16:26 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 7
    A colorful circular nebula is shown that is beige in the center, red
    further out, and gas violet rings even further out. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    The Helix Nebula from CFHT
    Image Credit: CFHT, Coelum, MegaCam, J.-C. Cuillandre (CFHT) & G. A.
    Anselmi (Coelum)

    Explanation: Will our Sun look like this one day? The Helix Nebula is
    one of brightest and closest examples of a planetary nebula, a gas
    cloud created at the end of the life of a Sun-like star. The outer
    gasses of the star expelled into space appear from our vantage point as
    if we are looking down a helix. The remnant central stellar core,
    destined to become a white dwarf star, glows in light so energetic it
    causes the previously expelled gas to fluoresce. The Helix Nebula,
    given a technical designation of NGC 7293, lies about 700 light-years
    away towards the constellation of the Water Bearer (Aquarius) and spans
    about 2.5 light-years. The featured picture was taken with the
    Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) located atop a dormant volcano in
    Hawaii, USA. A close-up of the inner edge of the Helix Nebula shows
    complex gas knots of unknown origin.

    Tomorrow's picture: dancing galaxy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon May 8 00:08:40 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 8
    A majestic spiral galaxy is shown with spirals of bright blue stars,
    bright red nebulae, and dark dust. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    The Spanish Dancer Spiral Galaxy
    Image Credit: ESA, NASA, Hubble; Processing: Detlev Odenthal

    Explanation: If not perfect, then this spiral galaxy is at least one of
    the most photogenic. An island universe containing billions of stars
    and situated about 40 million light-years away toward the constellation
    of the Dolphinfish (Dorado), NGC 1566 presents a gorgeous face-on view.
    Classified as a grand design spiral, NGC 1566 shows two prominent and
    graceful spiral arms that are traced by bright blue star clusters and
    dark cosmic dust lanes. Numerous Hubble Space Telescope images of NGC
    1566 have been taken to study star formation, supernovas, and the
    spiral's unusually active center. Some of these images, stored online
    in the Hubble Legacy Archive, were freely downloaded, combined, and
    digitally processed by an industrious amateur to create the featured
    image. NGC 1566's flaring center makes the spiral one of the closest
    and brightest Seyfert galaxies, likely housing a central supermassive
    black hole wreaking havoc on surrounding stars and gas.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: screens of Earth
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed May 10 00:11:18 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 10
    A person in silhouette looks out over a desert punctuated by unusual
    rock formations. High above is a colorful sky including the band of our
    Milky Way Galaxy and the Rho Ophiuchi star clouds. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Milky Way over Egyptian Desert
    Image Credit & Copyright: Amr Abdelwahab

    Explanation: For ten years the stargazer dreamed of taking a picture
    like this. The dreamer knew that the White Desert National Park in
    Egypt's Western Desert is a picturesque place hosting numerous chalk
    formations sculpted into surreal structures by a sandy wind. The
    dreamer knew that the sky above could be impressively dark on a clear
    moonless night, showing highlights such as the central band of our
    Milky Way Galaxy in impressive color and detail. So the dreamer invited
    an even more experienced astrophotographer to spend three weeks
    together in the desert and plan the composite images that needed to be
    taken and processed to create the dream image. Over three days in
    mid-March, the base images were taken, all with the same camera and
    from the same location. The impressive result is featured here, with
    the dreamer -- proudly wearing a traditional Bedouin galabyia --
    pictured in the foreground.

    Tomorrow's picture: Rocannon's sun
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu May 11 00:21:18 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 6

    Fomalhaut's Dusty Debris Disk
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Processing: Andr+ís G+ísp+ír (Univ. of
    Arizona), Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Science: A. G+ísp+ír (Univ. of Arizona)
    et al.

    Explanation: Fomalhaut is a bright star, a 25 light-year voyage from
    planet Earth in the direction of the constellation Piscis Austrinus.
    Astronomers first noticed Fomalhaut's excess infrared emission in the
    1980s. Space and ground-based telescopes have since identified the
    infrared emission's source as a disk of dusty debris surrounding the
    hot, young star related to the ongoing formation of a planetary system.
    But this sharp infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope's
    MIRI camera reveals details of Fomalhaut's debris disk never before
    seen, including a large dust cloud in the outer ring that is possible
    evidence for colliding bodies, and an inner dust disk and gap likely
    shaped and maintained by embedded but unseen planets. An image scale
    bar in au or astronomical units, the average Earth-Sun distance,
    appears at the lower left. Fomalhaut's outer circumstellar dust ring
    lies at about twice the distance of our own Solar System's Kuiper Belt
    of small icy bodies and debris beyond the orbit of Neptune.

    Tomorrow's picture: Halley dust
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat May 13 00:23:52 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 13

    Apollo 17: The Crescent Earth
    Image Credit: Apollo 17, NASA; Restoration - Toby Ord

    Explanation: Our fair planet sports a curved, sunlit crescent against
    the black backdrop of space in this stunning photograph. From the
    unfamiliar perspective, the Earth is small and, like a telescopic image
    of a distant planet, the entire horizon is completely within the field
    of view. Enjoyed by crews on board the International Space Station,
    only much closer views of the planet are possible from low Earth orbit.
    Orbiting the planet once every 90 minutes, a spectacle of clouds,
    oceans, and continents scrolls beneath them with the partial arc of the
    planet's edge in the distance. But this digitally restored image
    presents a view so far only achieved by 24 humans, Apollo astronauts
    who traveled to the Moon and back again between 1968 and 1972. The
    original photograph, AS17-152-23420, was taken by the homeward bound
    crew of Apollo 17, on December 17, 1972. For now it is the last picture
    of Earth from this planetary perspective taken by human hands.

    Tomorrow's picture: free space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun May 14 02:26:48 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 14
    An astronaut is seen hovering over the Earth. In the top part of the
    image, the astronaut is seen against the darkness of space. In the
    lower part of the image, the Earth is bright blue with white clouds.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    To Fly Free in Space
    Image Credit: NASA, STS-41B

    Explanation: What would it be like to fly free in space? At about 100
    meters from the cargo bay of the space shuttle Challenger, Bruce
    McCandless II was living the dream -- floating farther out than anyone
    had ever been before. Guided by a Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU),
    astronaut McCandless, pictured, was floating free in space. During
    Space Shuttle mission 41-B in 1984, McCandless and fellow NASA
    astronaut Robert Stewart were the first to experience such an
    "untethered space walk". The MMU worked by shooting jets of nitrogen
    and was used to help deploy and retrieve satellites. With a mass over
    140 kilograms, an MMU is heavy on Earth, but, like everything, is
    weightless when drifting in orbit. The MMU was later replaced with the
    SAFER backpack propulsion unit.

    Tomorrow's picture: red eagle
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon May 15 01:02:10 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 15
    A deep image of the Eagle Nebula in many scientifically assigned
    colors. The area around the nebula appears red, but the center is blue
    with unusual pillars visible. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    M16: Eagle Nebula Deep Field
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gianni Lacroce

    Explanation: From afar, the whole thing looks like an eagle. A closer
    look at the Eagle Nebula, however, shows the bright region is actually
    a window into the center of a larger dark shell of dust. Through this
    window, a brightly-lit workshop appears where a whole open cluster of
    stars is being formed. In this cavity, tall pillars and round globules
    of dark dust and cold molecular gas remain where stars are still
    forming. Already visible are several young bright blue stars whose
    light and winds are burning away and pushing back the remaining
    filaments and walls of gas and dust. The Eagle emission nebula, tagged
    M16, lies about 6500 light years away, spans about 20 light-years, and
    is visible with binoculars toward the constellation of the Serpent
    (Serpens). This picture involved long and deep exposures and combined
    three specific emitted colors emitted by sulfur (colored as yellow),
    hydrogen (red), and oxygen (blue).

    Tomorrow's picture: sun streamers
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue May 16 00:49:50 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 16
    A deep image of the Sun's surrounding corona during the April 2023
    total solar eclipse. The central disk is dark and many bright and
    complex rays are seen extending out. A few hot pink filaments can be
    seen just around the Sun's edge. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Total Eclipse: The Big Corona
    Image Credit & Copyright: Reinhold Wittich

    Explanation: Most photographs don't adequately portray the magnificence
    of the Sun's corona. Seeing the corona first-hand during a total solar
    eclipse is unparalleled. The human eye can adapt to see coronal
    features and extent that average cameras usually cannot. Welcome,
    however, to the digital age. The featured image digitally combined
    short and long exposures taken in Exmouth, Australia that were
    processed to highlight faint and extended features in the corona during
    the total solar eclipse that occurred in April of 2023. Clearly visible
    are intricate layers and glowing caustics of an ever changing mixture
    of hot gas and magnetic fields in the Sun's corona. Looping prominences
    appear bright pink just past the Sun's edge. Images taken seconds
    before and after the total eclipse show glimpses of the background Sun
    known as Baily's Beads and diamond ring effect. The next total solar
    eclipse will cross North America in April of 2024.

    Total Solar Eclipse of 2023 April Gallery: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: sun bridge
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed May 17 00:41:16 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 17
    Dark spots against a yellow background are shown. When viewed in
    detail, a light bridge crosses the largest spot, while the yellow
    background appears composed of small, irregularly shaped components.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Sunspot with Light Bridge
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Johnston

    Explanation: Why would a small part of the Sun appear slightly dark?
    Visible is a close-up picture of sunspots, depressions on the Sun's
    surface that are slightly cooler and less bright than the rest of the
    Sun. The Sun's complex magnetic field creates these cool regions by
    inhibiting hot material from entering the spots. Sunspots can be larger
    than the Earth and typically last for about a week. Part of active
    region AR 3297 crossing the Sun in early May, the large lower sunspot
    is spanned by an impressive light bridge of hot and suspended solar
    gas. This high-resolution picture also shows clearly that the Sun's
    surface is a bubbling carpet of separate cells of hot gas. These cells
    are known as granules. A solar granule is about 1000 kilometers across
    and lasts for only about 15 minutes.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: star debris
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu May 18 03:43:10 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 18

    WR 134 Ring Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Craig Stocks

    Explanation: Made with narrowband filters, this cosmic snapshot covers
    a field of view about the size of the full Moon within the boundaries
    of the constellation Cygnus. It highlights the bright edge of a
    ring-like nebula traced by the glow of ionized sulfur, hydrogen, and
    oxygen gas. Embedded in the region's interstellar clouds of gas and
    dust, the complex, glowing arcs are sections of bubbles or shells of
    material swept up by the wind from Wolf-Rayet star WR 134, brightest
    star near the center of the frame. Distance estimates put WR 134 about
    6,000 light-years away, making the frame over 50 light-years across.
    Shedding their outer envelopes in powerful stellar winds, massive
    Wolf-Rayet stars have burned through their nuclear fuel at a prodigious
    rate and end this final phase of massive star evolution in a
    spectacular supernova explosion. The stellar winds and final supernovae
    enrich the interstellar material with heavy elements to be incorporated
    in future generations of stars.

    Tomorrow's picture: curly spiral galaxy
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri May 19 00:30:52 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 19

    Curly Spiral Galaxy M63
    Image Credit & Copyright: Sophie Paulin, Jens Unger, Jakob Sahner

    Explanation: A bright spiral galaxy of the northern sky, Messier 63 is
    nearby, about 30 million light-years distant toward the loyal
    constellation Canes Venatici. Also cataloged as NGC 5055, the majestic
    island universe is nearly 100,000 light-years across, about the size of
    our own Milky Way. Its bright core and majestic spiral arms lend the
    galaxy its popular name, The Sunflower Galaxy. This exceptionally deep
    exposure also follows faint, arcing star streams far into the galaxy's
    halo. Extending nearly 180,000 light-years from the galactic center,
    the star streams are likely remnants of tidally disrupted satellites of
    M63. Other satellite galaxies of M63 can be spotted in the remarkable
    wide-field image, including faint dwarf galaxies, which could
    contribute to M63's star streams in the next few billion years.

    Tomorrow's picture: Galileo's Europa
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat May 20 11:35:52 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 20

    Galileo's Europa
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SETI Institute, Cynthia Phillips,
    Marty Valenti

    Explanation: Looping through the Jovian system in the late 1990s, the
    Galileo spacecraft recorded stunning views of Europa and uncovered
    evidence that the moon's icy surface likely hides a deep, global ocean.
    Galileo's Europa image data has been remastered here, with improved
    calibrations to produce a color image approximating what the human eye
    might see. Europa's long curving fractures hint at the subsurface
    liquid water. The tidal flexing the large moon experiences in its
    elliptical orbit around Jupiter supplies the energy to keep the ocean
    liquid. But more tantalizing is the possibility that even in the
    absence of sunlight that process could also supply the energy to
    support life, making Europa one of the best places to look for life
    beyond Earth. What kind of life could thrive in a deep, dark,
    subsurface ocean? Consider planet Earth's own extreme shrimp.

    Tomorrow's picture: almost alien
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun May 21 01:02:12 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 21
    An usual looking creature is pictured which may appear alien but is
    actually a Earth-dwelling tardigrade. The tardigrade has no apparent
    eyes, a light brown body, a circular gear-like snout, and claws at the
    end of its numerous feet. The tardigrade is seen perched on green moss.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Tardigrade in Moss
    Image Credit & Copyright: Nicole Ottawa & Oliver Meckes / Eye of
    Science / Science Source Images

    Explanation: Is this an alien? Probably not, but of all the animals on
    Earth, the tardigrade might be the best candidate. That's because
    tardigrades are known to be able to go for decades without food or
    water, to survive temperatures from near absolute zero to well above
    the boiling point of water, to survive pressures from near zero to well
    above that on ocean floors, and to survive direct exposure to dangerous
    radiations. The far-ranging survivability of these extremophiles was
    tested in 2011 outside an orbiting space shuttle. Tardigrades are so
    durable partly because they can repair their own DNA and reduce their
    body water content to a few percent. Some of these miniature
    water-bears almost became extraterrestrials in 2011 when they were
    launched toward to the Martian moon Phobos, and again in 2021 when they
    were launched toward Earth's own moon, but the former launch failed,
    and the latter landing crashed. Tardigrades are more common than humans
    across most of the Earth. Pictured here in a color-enhanced electron
    micrograph, a millimeter-long tardigrade crawls on moss.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: sea blue sky
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon May 22 00:05:16 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 22
    A sprawling spiral galaxy is pictured with a new bright spot visible
    near the image bottom. This spot is a recently discovered supernova. A
    roll-over image shows the same galaxy in an image taken the previous
    month without the new supernova spot. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    Supernova Discovered in Nearby Spiral Galaxy M101
    Image Credit & Copyright: Craig Stocks

    Explanation: A nearby star has exploded and humanity's telescopes are
    turning to monitor it. The supernova, dubbed SN 2023ixf, was discovered
    by Japanese astronomer Koichi Itagaki three days ago and subsequently
    located on automated images from the Zwicky Transient Facility two days
    earlier. SN 2023ixf occurred in the photogenic Pinwheel Galaxy M101,
    which, being only about 21 million light years away, makes it the
    closest supernova seen in the past five years, the second closest in
    the past 10 years, and the second supernova found in M101 in the past
    15 years. Rapid follow up observations already indicate that SN 2023ixf
    is a Type II supernova, an explosion that occurs after a massive star
    runs out of nuclear fuel and collapses. The featured image shows home
    spiral galaxy two days ago with the supernova highlighted, while the
    roll-over image shows the same galaxy a month before. SN 2023ixf will
    likely brighten and remain visible to telescopes for months. Studying
    such a close and young Type II supernova may yield new clues about
    massive stars and how they explode.

    Tomorrow's picture: just above jupiter
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue May 23 00:22:50 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 23
    The cloud tops of Jupiter are pictured in a closeup flyby of the Juno
    spacecraft. A big white oval cloud is visible in the foreground, while
    many swirls of many muted colors are visible trailing behind. A dark
    night sky is in the background. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Jupiter's Swirls from Juno
    Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Processing & License: Kevin
    M. Gill

    Explanation: Big storms are different on Jupiter. On Earth, huge
    hurricanes and colossal cyclones are centered on regions of low
    pressure, but on Jupiter, it is the high-pressure, anti-cyclone storms
    that are the largest. On Earth, large storms can last weeks, but on
    Jupiter they can last years. On Earth, large storms can be as large as
    a country, but on Jupiter, large storms can be as large as planet
    Earth. Both types of storms are known to exhibit lightning. The
    featured image of Jupiter's clouds was composed from images and data
    captured by the robotic Juno spacecraft as it swooped close to the
    massive planet in August 2020. A swirling white oval is visible
    nearby, while numerous smaller cloud swirls extend into the distance.
    On Jupiter, light-colored clouds are usually higher up than dark
    clouds. Despite their differences, studying storm clouds on distant
    Jupiter provides insights into storms and other weather patterns on
    familiar Earth.

    Surf the Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: double occultation
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed May 24 10:17:18 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 24
    A dark mountain lies in the center with an observatory building
    sporting two telescope domes. The background sky appears dark blue.
    Behind the center of the observatory is part of a crescent moon, with
    an unusual bright spot to its upper left. Please see the explanation
    for more detailed information.

    Observatory Aligned with Moon Occulting Jupiter
    Image Credit & Copyright: Rick Whitacre; Text: Natalia Lewandowska
    (SUNY Oswego)

    Explanation: Sometimes we witness the Moon moving directly in front of
    -- called occulting -- one of the planets in our Solar System. Earlier
    this month that planet was Jupiter. Captured here was the moment when
    Jupiter re-appeared from behind the surface of our Moon. The Moon was
    in its third quarter, two days before the dark New Moon. Now, our Moon
    is continuously half lit by the Sun, but when in its third quarter,
    relatively little of that half can be seen from the Earth. Pictured,
    the Moon itself was aligned behind the famous Lick Observatory in
    California, USA, on the summit of Mount Hamilton. Coincidentally, Lick
    enabled the discovery of a moon of Jupiter: Amalthea, the last visually
    detected moon of Jupiter after Galileo's observations.

    Gallery: Moon Occults Jupiter in 2023 May: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: in a cat's eye
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu May 25 00:43:32 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 25

    Cat's Eye Wide and Deep
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jean-Fran+ºois Bax, Guillaume Gruntz

    Explanation: The Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is one of the best known
    planetary nebulae in the sky. Its more familiar outlines are seen in
    the brighter central region of the nebula in this impressive wide-angle
    view. But this wide and deep image combining data from two telescopes
    also reveals its extremely faint outer halo. At an estimated distance
    of 3,000 light-years, the faint outer halo is over 5 light-years
    across. Planetary nebulae have long been appreciated as a final phase
    in the life of a sun-like star. More recently, some planetary nebulae
    are found to have halos like this one, likely formed of material
    shrugged off during earlier episodes in the star's evolution. While the
    planetary nebula phase is thought to last for around 10,000 years,
    astronomers estimate the age of the outer filamentary portions of this
    halo to be 50,000 to 90,000 years. Visible on the right, some 50
    million light-years beyond the watchful planetary nebula, lies spiral
    galaxy NGC 6552.

    Tomorrow's picture: Virgo Cluster Galaxies
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri May 26 02:17:26 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 26

    Virgo Cluster Galaxies
    Image Credit & Copyright: Abdullah Alharbi

    Explanation: Galaxies of the Virgo Cluster are scattered across this
    nearly 4 degree wide telescopic field of view. About 50 million
    light-years distant, the Virgo Cluster is the closest large galaxy
    cluster to our own local galaxy group. Prominent here are Virgo's
    bright elliptical galaxies Messier catalog, M87 at bottom center, and
    M84 and M86 (top to bottom) near top left. M84 and M86 are recognized
    as part of Markarian's Chain, a visually striking line-up of galaxies
    on the left side of this frame. Near the middle of the chain lies an
    intriguing interacting pair of galaxies, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435, known
    to some as Markarian's Eyes. Of course giant elliptical galaxy M87
    dominates the Virgo cluster. It's the home of a super massive black
    hole, the first black hole ever imaged by planet Earth's Event Horizon
    Telescope.

    Tomorrow's picture: Crescent Neptune and Triton
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat May 27 01:56:42 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 27
    The picture shows the planet Neptune and its moon Triton, both in
    crescent phases, as captured by the passing Voyager 2 spacecraft in
    1989. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Crescent Neptune and Triton
    Image Credit: NASA, Voyager 2

    Explanation: Gliding through the outer Solar System, in 1989 the
    Voyager 2 spacecraft looked toward the Sun to find this view of most
    distant planet Neptune and its moon Triton together in a crescent
    phase. The elegant image of ice-giant planet and largest moon was taken
    from behind just after Voyager's closest approach. It could not have
    been taken from Earth because the most distant planet never shows a
    crescent phase to sunward eyes. Heading for the heliopause and beyond,
    the spacecraft's parting vantage point also robs Neptune of its
    familiar blue hue.

    Tomorrow's picture: an unexpected moon
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun May 28 01:50:34 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 28
    A pair of asteroids are shown with a large, elongated and cratered one
    on the left and a much smaller one on the far right. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Ida and Dactyl: Asteroid and Moon
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL, Galileo Mission

    Explanation: This asteroid has a moon. The robot spacecraft Galileo on
    route to Jupiter in 1993 encountered and photographed two asteroids
    during its long interplanetary voyage. The second minor planet it
    photographed, 243 Ida, was unexpectedly discovered to have a moon. The
    tiny moon, Dactyl, is only about 1.6 kilometers across and seen as a
    small dot on the right of the sharpened featured image. In contrast,
    the potato-shaped Ida is much larger, measuring about 60 kilometers
    long and 25 km wide. Dactyl is the first moon of an asteroid ever
    discovered -- now many asteroids are known to have moons. The names Ida
    and Dactyl are from Greek mythology.

    Tomorrow's picture: sea blue sky
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon May 29 00:53:56 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 29
    A shoreline glowing with blue bioluminescent plankton is shown, with a
    stand of trees in the distance. Above all is a starry sky which
    includes red nebulae and the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Milky Way over a Turquoise Wonderland
    Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Hor+ílek / Institute of Physics in Opava,
    Sovena Jani

    Explanation: What glows there? The answer depends: sea or sky? In the
    sea, the unusual blue glow is bioluminescence. Specifically, the
    glimmer arises from Noctiluca scintillans, single-celled plankton
    stimulated by the lapping waves. The plankton use their glow to startle
    and illuminate predators. This mid-February display on an island in the
    Maldives was so intense that the astrophotographer described it as a
    turquoise wonderland. In the sky, by contrast, are the more familiar
    glows of stars and nebulas. The white band rising from the
    artificially-illuminated green plants is created by billions of stars
    in the central disk of our Milky Way Galaxy. Also visible in the sky is
    the star cluster Omega Centauri, toward the left, and the famous
    Southern Cross asterism in the center. Red-glowing nebulas include the
    bright Carina Nebula, just right of center, and the expansive Gum
    Nebula on the upper right.

    Tomorrow's picture: nebular bell
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue May 30 00:34:02 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 30
    An expansive interstellar gas cloud is shown with an orange interior
    and outer blue filaments. Many stars are visible in the dark
    background. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    M27: The Dumbbell Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Patrick A. Cosgrove

    Explanation: Is this what will become of our Sun? Quite possibly. The
    first hint of our Sun's future was discovered inadvertently in 1764. At
    that time, Charles Messier was compiling a list of diffuse objects not
    to be confused with comets. The 27th object on Messier's list, now
    known as M27 or the Dumbbell Nebula, is a planetary nebula, one of the
    brightest planetary nebulae on the sky and visible with binoculars
    toward the constellation of the Fox (Vulpecula). It takes light about
    1000 years to reach us from M27, featured here in colors emitted by
    sulfur (red), hydrogen (green) and oxygen (blue). We now know that in
    about 6 billion years, our Sun will shed its outer gases into a
    planetary nebula like M27, while its remaining center will become an
    X-ray hot white dwarf star. Understanding the physics and significance
    of M27 was well beyond 18th century science, though. Even today, many
    things remain mysterious about planetary nebulas, including how their
    intricate shapes are created.

    Tomorrow's picture: watch a galaxy form
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed May 31 00:22:08 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 May 31

    Simulation: A Disk Galaxy Forms
    Video Credit: TNG Collaboration, MPCDF, FAS Harvard U.; Music: World's
    Sunrise (YouTube: Jimena Contreras)

    Explanation: How did we get here? We know that we live on a planet
    orbiting a star orbiting a galaxy, but how did all of this form? Since
    our universe moves too slowly to watch, faster-moving computer
    simulations are created to help find out. Specifically, this featured
    video from the IllustrisTNG collaboration tracks gas from the early
    universe (redshift 12) until today (redshift 0). As the simulation
    begins, ambient gas falls into and accumulates in a region of
    relatively high gravity. After a few billion years, a well-defined
    center materializes from a strange and fascinating cosmic dance. Gas
    blobs -- some representing small satellite galaxies -- continue to fall
    into and become absorbed by the rotating galaxy as the present epoch is
    reached and the video ends. For the Milky Way Galaxy, however, big
    mergers may not be over -- recent evidence indicates that our large
    spiral disk Galaxy will collide and coalesce with the slightly larger
    Andromeda spiral disk galaxy in the next few billion years.

    Open Science: Browse 3,000+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: recycling a star
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jun 1 12:16:12 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 1

    Recycling Cassiopeia A
    Image Credit: X-ray - NASA, CXC, SAO; Optical - NASA,STScI

    Explanation: Massive stars in our Milky Way Galaxy live spectacular
    lives. Collapsing from vast cosmic clouds, their nuclear furnaces
    ignite and create heavy elements in their cores. After a few million
    years, the enriched material is blasted back into interstellar space
    where star formation can begin anew. The expanding debris cloud known
    as Cassiopeia A is an example of this final phase of the stellar life
    cycle. Light from the explosion which created this supernova remnant
    would have been first seen in planet Earth's sky about 350 years ago,
    although it took that light about 11,000 years to reach us. This
    false-color image, composed of X-ray and optical image data from the
    Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope, shows the still
    hot filaments and knots in the remnant. It spans about 30 light-years
    at the estimated distance of Cassiopeia A. High-energy X-ray emission
    from specific elements has been color coded, silicon in red, sulfur in
    yellow, calcium in green and iron in purple, to help astronomers
    explore the recycling of our galaxy's star stuff. Still expanding, the
    outer blast wave is seen in blue hues. The bright speck near the center
    is a neutron star, the incredibly dense, collapsed remains of the
    massive stellar core.

    Tomorrow's picture: massive galaxy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jun 2 00:09:14 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 2

    Messier 101
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CFHT, NOAO;
    Acknowledgement - K.Kuntz (GSFC), F.Bresolin (U.Hawaii), J.Trauger
    (JPL), J.Mould (NOAO), Y.-H.Chu (U. Illinois)

    Explanation: Big, beautiful spiral galaxy M101 is one of the last
    entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog, but definitely not one of
    the least. About 170,000 light-years across, this galaxy is enormous,
    almost twice the size of our own Milky Way. M101 was also one of the
    original spiral nebulae observed by Lord Rosse's large 19th century
    telescope, the Leviathan of Parsontown. Assembled from 51 exposures
    recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope in the 20th and 21st centuries,
    with additional data from ground based telescopes, this mosaic spans
    about 40,000 light-years across the central region of M101 in one of
    the highest definition spiral galaxy portraits ever released from
    Hubble. The sharp image shows stunning features of the galaxy's face-on
    disk of stars and dust along with background galaxies, some visible
    right through M101 itself. Also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy, M101 lies
    within the boundaries of the northern constellation Ursa Major, about
    25 million light-years away.

    Tomorrow's picture: Portrait of Charon
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jun 3 00:33:58 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 3

    Charon: Moon of Pluto
    Image Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins Univ./APL, Southwest Research
    Institute, U.S. Naval Observatory

    Explanation: A darkened and mysterious north polar region known to some
    as Mordor Macula caps this premier high-resolution view. The portrait
    of Charon, Pluto's largest moon, was captured by New Horizons near the
    spacecraft's closest approach on July 14, 2015. The combined blue, red,
    and infrared data was processed to enhance colors and follow variations
    in Charon's surface properties with a resolution of about 2.9
    kilometers (1.8 miles). A stunning image of Charon's Pluto-facing
    hemisphere, it also features a clear view of an apparently
    moon-girdling belt of fractures and canyons that seems to separate
    smooth southern plains from varied northern terrain. Charon is 1,214
    kilometers (754 miles) across. That's about 1/10th the size of planet
    Earth but a whopping 1/2 the diameter of Pluto itself, and makes it the
    largest satellite relative to its parent body in the Solar System.
    Still, the moon appears as a small bump at about the 1 o'clock position
    on Pluto's disk in the grainy, negative,telescopic picture inset at
    upper left. That view was used by James Christy and Robert Harrington
    at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Flagstaff to discover Charon in June
    of 1978.

    Tomorrow's picture: look beyond
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jun 4 01:30:58 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 4
    A black and white line drawing depicts a person peering outside of a
    spherical room into a greater universe. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    Color the Universe
    Image Credit: Unknown, possibly C. Flammarion

    Explanation: Wouldn't it be fun to color in the universe? If you think
    so, please accept this famous astronomical illustration as a
    preliminary substitute. You, your friends, your parents or children,
    can print it out or even color it digitally. While coloring, you might
    be interested to know that even though this illustration has appeared
    in numerous places over the past 100 years, the actual artist remains
    unknown. Furthermore, the work has no accepted name -- can you think of
    a good one? The illustration, first appearing in a book by Camille
    Flammarion in 1888, is frequently used to show that humanity's present
    concepts are susceptible to being supplanted by greater truths.

    Tomorrow's picture: a nebular trifecta
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jun 5 00:45:26 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 5
    A bright red gaseous nebula is pictures with three dark dust lanes
    meeting in the center. The top of the nebula appears blue. Please see
    the explanation for more detailed information.

    In the Center of the Trifid Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh

    Explanation: What's happening at the center of the Trifid Nebula? Three
    prominent dust lanes that give the Trifid its name all come together.
    Mountains of opaque dust appear near the bottom, while other dark
    filaments of dust are visible threaded throughout the nebula. A single
    massive star visible near the center causes much of the Trifid's glow.
    The Trifid, cataloged as M20, is only about 300,000 years old, making
    it among the youngest emission nebulas known. The star forming nebula
    lies about 9,000 light years away toward the constellation of the
    Archer (Sagittarius). The region pictured here spans about 20 light
    years.

    Portal Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: planet killer
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jun 6 00:37:54 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 6

    Star Eats Planet
    Illustrative Video Credit: K. Miller & R. Hurt (Caltech, IPAC)

    Explanation: ItCÇÖs the end of a world as we know it. Specifically, the
    Sun-like star ZTF SLRN-2020 was seen eating one of its own planets.
    Although many a planet eventually dies by spiraling into their central
    star, the 2020 event, involving a Jupiter-like planet, was the first
    time it was seen directly. The star ZTF SLRN-2020 lies about 12,000
    light years from the Sun toward the constellation of the Eagle
    (Aquila). In the featured animated illustration of the incident, the
    gas planet's atmosphere is first pictured being stripped away as it
    skims along the outskirts of the attracting star. Some of the planet's
    gas is absorbed into the star's atmosphere, while other gas is expelled
    into space. By the video's end, the planet is completely engulfed and
    falls into the star's center, causing the star's outer atmosphere to
    briefly expand, heat up, and brighten. One day, about eight billion
    years from now, planet Earth may spiral into our Sun.

    Tomorrow's picture: ring galaxy ring
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jun 8 23:17:56 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 8

    Elephant's Trunk and Caravan
    Image Credit & Copyright: Steve Cannistra (StarryWonders)

    Explanation: Like an illustration in a galactic Just So Story, the
    Elephant's Trunk Nebula winds through the emission region and young
    star cluster complex IC 1396, in the high and far off constellation of
    Cepheus. Seen on the left the cosmic elephant's trunk, also known as
    vdB 142, is over 20 light-years long. This detailed telescopic view
    features the bright swept-back ridges and pockets of cool interstellar
    dust and gas that abound in the region. But the dark, tendril-shaped
    clouds contain the raw material for star formation and hide protostars
    within. Nearly 3,000 light-years distant, the relatively faint IC 1396
    complex
    covers a large region on the sky, spanning over 5 degrees. This
    rendition spans a 1 degree wide field of view though, about the angular
    size of 2 full moons. Of course the dark shapes below and to the right
    of the outstretched Elephant's Trunk, are known to some as The Caravan.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jun 9 00:54:54 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 9

    Pandora's Cluster of Galaxies
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ivo Labbe (Swinburne), Rachel Bezanson
    (University of Pittsburgh), Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

    Explanation: This deep field mosaicked image presents a stunning view
    of galaxy cluster Abell 2744 from the James Webb Space Telescope's
    NIRCam. Also dubbed Pandora's Cluster, Abell 2744 itself appears to be
    a ponderous merger of three different massive galaxy clusters some 3.5
    billion light-years away toward the constellation Sculptor. Dominated
    by dark matter, the mega-cluster warps and distorts the fabric of
    spacetime, gravitationally lensing even more distant objects. Redder
    than the Pandora cluster galaxies many of the lensed sources are very
    distant galaxies in the early Universe, stretched and distorted into
    arcs. Of course distinctive diffraction spikes mark foreground Milky
    Way stars. At the Pandora Cluster's estimated distance this cosmic box
    spans about 6 million light-years. But don't panic. You can explore the
    tantalizing region in a 2 minute video tour.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jun 10 01:04:16 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 10

    Mars and the Beehive
    Image Credit & Copyright: Rolando Ligustri

    Explanation: This month, bright Mars and brilliant Venus are the
    prominent celestial beacons in planet Earth's western skies after
    sunset. Wandering through the constellation Cancer the Crab, the Red
    Planet was captured here on the evening of June 3 near the stars of
    open cluster Messier 44. Recognized since antiquity this nearby,
    naked-eye star cluster is also known as the Praesepe or the Beehive
    cluster. A swarm of stars all much younger than the Sun, the Beehive
    cluster is a mere 600 light-years distant. Seen with a yellowish hue,
    Mars is about 17 light-minutes away. On June 12/13 Venus will take its
    turn posing next to the stars of the Beehive cluster. But the dazzling
    light of Venus will make the Beehive stars difficult to see by eye
    alone.

    Tomorrow's picture: the spectrum of the Sun
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jun 11 00:21:52 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 11
    A rainbow of the Sun's colors is shown from deep red on the upper left
    to deep blue on the lower right. Some horizontal lines have gaps that
    appear dark where some colors are missing. the image. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    The Sun and Its Missing Colors
    Image Credit: Nigel Sharp (NSF), FTS, NSO, KPNO, AURA, NSF

    Explanation: Here are all the visible colors of the Sun, produced by
    passing the Sun's light through a prism-like device. The spectrum was
    created at the McMath-Pierce Solar Observatory and shows, first off,
    that although our white-appearing Sun emits light of nearly every
    color, it appears brightest in yellow-green light. The dark patches in
    the featured spectrum arise from gas at or above the Sun's surface
    absorbing sunlight emitted below. Since different types of gas absorb
    different colors of light, it is possible to determine what gasses
    compose the Sun. Helium, for example, was first discovered in 1870 on a
    solar spectrum and only later found here on Earth. Today, the majority
    of spectral absorption lines have been identified - but not all.

    Tomorrow's picture: largest satellites
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jun 12 00:13:28 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 12
    A crescent moon is shown against blue background. Many craters are
    visible in great detail. To the upper left appears some kind of small
    machine which is actually the International Space Station also in orbit
    around the Earth. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    The Largest Satellites of Earth
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tianyao Yang

    Explanation: WhatCÇÖs that near the Moon? ItCÇÖs the International Space
    Station (ISS). Although the ISS may appear to be physically near the
    Moon, it is not CÇö it is physically near the Earth. In low Earth orbit
    and circulating around our big blue marble about every 90 minutes, the
    ISS was captured photographically as it crossed nearly in front of the
    Moon. The Moon, itself in a month-long orbit around the Earth, shows a
    crescent phase as only a curving sliver of its Sun-illuminated half is
    visible from the Earth. The featured image was taken in late March from
    Shanghai, China and shows not only details of Earth's largest
    human-made satellite, but details of the cratered and barren surface of
    Earth's largest natural satellite. Over the next few years, humanity is
    planning to send more people and machines to the Moon than ever before.

    Tomorrow's picture: another two
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jun 13 07:52:14 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 13

    Moons Across Jupiter
    Image Credit: NASA; ESA, JPL, Cassini Imaging Team, SSI; Processing:
    Kevin M. Gill

    Explanation: Jupiter's moons circle Jupiter. The featured video depicts
    Europa and Io, two of Jupiter's largest moons, crossing in front of the
    grand planet's Great Red Spot, the largest known storm system in our
    Solar System. The video was composed from images taken by the robotic
    Cassini spacecraft as it passed Jupiter in 2000, on its way to Saturn.
    The two moons visible are volcanic Io, in the distance, and icy Europa.
    In the time-lapse video, Europa appears to overtake Io, which is odd
    because Io is closer to Jupiter and moves faster. The explanation is
    that the motion of the fast Cassini spacecraft changes the camera
    location significantly during imaging. Jupiter is currently being
    visited by NASA's robotic Juno spacecraft, while ESA's Jupiter Icy
    Moons Explorer (JUICE), launched in April, is enroute.

    Tomorrow's picture: interstellar predator
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jun 14 00:25:42 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 14
    A dark brown cloud that appears similar to a shark is seen against a
    background filled with stars and less prominent blue-shaded nebulas.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    The Shark Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Stephen Kennedy

    Explanation: There is no sea on Earth large enough to contain the Shark
    nebula. This predator apparition poses us no danger as it is composed
    only of interstellar gas and dust. Dark dust like that featured here is
    somewhat like cigarette smoke and created in the cool atmospheres of
    giant stars. After being expelled with gas and gravitationally
    recondensing, massive stars may carve intricate structures into their
    birth cloud using their high energy light and fast stellar winds as
    sculpting tools. The heat they generate evaporates the murky molecular
    cloud as well as causing ambient hydrogen gas to disperse and glow red.
    During disintegration, we humans can enjoy imagining these great clouds
    as common icons, like we do for water clouds on Earth. Including
    smaller dust nebulae such as Lynds Dark Nebula 1235 and Van den Bergh
    149 & 150, the Shark nebula spans about 15 light years and lies about
    650 light years away toward the constellation of the King of Aethiopia
    (Cepheus).

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jun 15 00:11:36 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 15

    M15: Dense Globular Star Cluster
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive; Processing: Ehsan
    Ebrahimian

    Explanation: Messier 15 is an immense swarm of over 100,000 stars. A 13
    billion year old relic of the early formative years of our galaxy it's
    one of about 170 globular star clusters that still roam the halo of the
    Milky Way. Centered in this sharp reprocessed Hubble image, M15 lies
    some 35,000 light-years away toward the constellation Pegasus. Its
    diameter is about 200 light-years, but more than half its stars are
    packed into the central 10 light-years or so, making one of the densest
    concentrations of stars known. Hubble-based measurements of the
    increasing velocities of M15's central stars are evidence that a
    massive black hole resides at the center of the dense cluster. M15 is
    also known to harbour a planetary nebula. Called Pease 1 (aka PN Ps 1),
    it can be seen in this image as a small blue blob below and just right
    of center.

    Tomorrow's picture: when time lapses
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jun 16 01:02:34 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 16

    Sunset to Sunrise over the Baltic Sea
    Image Credit & Copyright: Bernd Pr++schold (TWAN)

    Explanation: This serene view from the coast of Sweden looks across the
    Baltic sea and compresses time, presenting the passage of one night in
    a single photograph. From sunset to sunrise, moonlight illuminates the
    creative sea and skyscape. Fleeting clouds, fixed stars, and flowing
    northern lights leave their traces in planet Earth's sky. To construct
    the timelapse image, 3296 video frames were recorded on the night of
    June's Full Moon between 7:04pm and 6:35am local time. As time
    progresses from left to right, a single column of pixels was taken from
    the corresponding individual frame and combined in sequence into a
    single digital image 3296 pixels wide.

    Happy Birthday APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jun 17 00:18:02 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 17

    Planet Earth at Night II
    Video Credit: NASA, Gateway to Astronaut Photography, ISS Expedition
    53; Music: The Low Seas (The 126ers)

    Explanation: Recorded during 2017, timelapse sequences from the
    International Space Station are compiled in this serene video of planet
    Earth at Night. Fans of low Earth orbit can start by enjoying the view
    as green and red aurora borealis slather up the sky. The night scene
    tracks from northwest to southeast across North America, toward the
    Gulf of Mexico and the Florida coast. A second sequence follows
    European city lights, crosses the Mediterranean Sea, and passes over a
    bright Nile river in northern Africa. Seen from the orbital outpost,
    erratic flashes of lightning appear in thunder storms below and stars
    rise above the planet's curved horizon through a faint atmospheric
    airglow. Of course, from home you can always check out the vital signs
    of Planet Earth Now.

    Tomorrow's picture: How many sides does northern Saturn have?
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jun 18 00:15:00 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 18
    Saturn's north pole is shown with vibrant false colors. The outer
    boundary appears as a rounded hexagon. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    Saturn's Northern Hexagon
    Image Credit & Copyright: NASA, ESA, JPL, SSI, Cassini Imaging Team

    Explanation: Why would clouds form a hexagon on Saturn? Nobody is sure.
    Originally discovered during the Voyager flybys of Saturn in the 1980s,
    nobody has ever seen anything like it anywhere else in the Solar
    System. Acquiring its first sunlit views of far northern Saturn in late
    2012, the Cassini spacecraft's wide-angle camera recorded this
    stunning, false-color image of the ringed planet's north pole. The
    composite of near-infrared image data results in red hues for low
    clouds and green for high ones, giving the Saturnian cloudscape a vivid
    appearance. This and similar images show the stability of the hexagon
    even 20+ years after Voyager. Movies of Saturn's North Pole show the
    cloud structure maintaining its hexagonal structure while rotating.
    Unlike individual clouds appearing like a hexagon on Earth, the Saturn
    cloud pattern appears to have six well defined sides of nearly equal
    length. Four Earths could fit inside the hexagon. Beyond the cloud tops
    at the upper right, arcs of the planet's eye-catching rings are tinted
    bright blue.

    Tomorrow's picture: space tornado
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jun 19 00:15:32 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 19
    The center of the Lagoon Nebula is pictured in false colors. Toward the
    center left, dark dust swirls around glowing gas and bright stars.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    The Busy Center of the Lagoon Nebula
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing: Francisco Javier Pobes
    Serrano

    Explanation: The center of the Lagoon Nebula is a whirlwind of
    spectacular star formation. Visible near the image center, at least two
    long funnel-shaped clouds, each roughly half a light-year long, have
    been formed by extreme stellar winds and intense energetic starlight. A
    tremendously bright nearby star, Herschel 36, lights the area. Vast
    walls of dust hide and redden other hot young stars. As energy from
    these stars pours into the cool dust and gas, large temperature
    differences in adjoining regions can be created generating shearing
    winds which may cause the funnels. This picture, spanning about 15
    light years, combines images taken in four colors by the orbiting
    Hubble Space Telescope. The Lagoon Nebula, also known as M8, lies about
    5000 light years distant toward the constellation of the Archer
    (Sagittarius).

    Tomorrow's picture: large galactic bird
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jun 20 00:06:54 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 20
    Two identical images are shown side by side. On each, a silhouette of a
    person holding a long stick is shown standing on a rock before the sea.
    Above the person, running diagonally, is the central band of our Milky
    Way Galaxy. On the right image, a type of bird called a Nandu is shown
    in outline. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    The +æand+| in the Milky Way
    Image Credit & Copyright: Fefo Bouvier; Line Drawing: Alfonso Rosso

    Explanation: Have you seen the bird in the Milky Way? Beyond the man in
    the Moon, the night sky is filled with stories, and cultures throughout
    history have projected some of their most enduring legends onto the
    stars and dust above. Generations of people see these celestial icons,
    hear their associated stories, and pass them down. Pictured here is not
    only a segment of the central band of our Milky Way galaxy, but,
    according to folklore of several native peoples of Uruguay, the outline
    of a great bird called +æand+|. Furthermore, +æand+|'s footprint is
    associated with the Southern Cross asterism. In the foreground, in
    silhouette, is a statue of Mar+¡a Micaela Guyunusa, an indigenous woman
    of the Charr+|a people who lived in the 1800s and endures as a symbol of
    colonial resistance. The composite image was taken in mid-April in Cabo
    Polonio, Uruguay, with the Atlantic Ocean in the background.

    Tomorrow's picture: the way of the Sun
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jun 21 00:13:36 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 21
    The Sun's path is shown while setting in multiple exposures over three
    separate days. The top path was taken during a summer solstice, the
    middle path during an equinox, and the lower path during a winter
    solstice. The foreground shows grass and some rocks and trees. Please
    see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Three Sun Paths
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marcella Giulia Pace & Giuseppe De Don+á

    Explanation: Does the Sun follow the same path every day? No. The Sun's
    path changes during the year, tracing a longer route during the summer
    than the winter. Pictured here, the Sun's arc was captured from noon to
    sunset on three days, from highest in the sky to lowest: summer
    solstice, equinox, and winter solstice. The images were taken near
    Gatto Corvino Village in Sicily, Italy in 2020 and 2021. The path and
    time the Sun spends in the sky is more important in determining the
    season than how close the Earth is to the Sun. In fact, the Earth is
    closest to the Sun in January, during northern winter. Today is a
    solstice, so today the Sun is taking its longest path of the year
    across the sky in Earth's northern hemisphere, but the shortest path in
    the southern hemisphere.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jun 22 00:38:28 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 22

    Stars and Dust across Corona Australis
    Image Credit & Copyright: Alessandro Cipolat Bares

    Explanation: Cosmic dust clouds cross a rich field of stars in this
    telescopic vista near the northern boundary of Corona Australis, the
    Southern Crown. Part of a sprawling molecular cloud complex this star
    forming region is a mere 500 light-years away. That's about one third
    the distance of the more famous stellar nursery known as the Orion
    Nebula. The 2 degree wide frame would span 15 light-years at the
    clouds' estimated distance. Mixed with bright nebulosities the dust
    clouds effectively block light from more distant background stars in
    the Milky Way and obscure from view embedded stars still in the process
    of formation. Large dark nebula Bernes 157 is on the left. To its right
    are a group of pretty reflection nebulae cataloged as NGC 6726, 6727,
    6729, and IC 4812. Their characteristic blue color is produced as light
    from hot stars is reflected by the cosmic dust. The more compact NGC
    6729 surrounds young variable star R Coronae Australis. Just below it,
    filamentary arcs and loops are identified as Herbig Haro objects
    associated with energetic newborn stars. In fact, at the heart of this
    area lies the Coronet Cluster, one of the nearest and most active star
    forming regions.

    Tomorrow's picture: the condor galaxy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jun 23 00:15:26 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 23

    Giant Galaxies in Pavo
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby, Observatorio El Sauce

    Explanation: Over 500,000 light years across, NGC 6872 (top right) is a
    truly enormous barred spiral galaxy, at least 5 times the size of our
    own very large Milky Way. The appearance of this giant galaxy's
    distorted and stretched out spiral arms suggests the magnificent wings
    of a giant bird. Of course its popular moniker is the Condor galaxy. It
    lies about 200 million light-years distant toward the southern
    constellation Pavo, the Peacock. Lined with star-forming regions, the
    distorted spiral arms are due to NGC 6872's gravitational interaction
    with the nearby smaller galaxy IC 4970, seen just above the giant
    galaxy's core. The Pavo galaxy group's dominant giant elliptical
    galaxy, NGC 6876 is below and left of the soaring Condor galaxy.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jun 24 01:00:42 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 24

    3D Ingenuity
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS, ASU

    Explanation: The multicolor, stereo imaging Mastcam-Z on the
    Perseverance rover zoomed in to capture this 3D close-up (get out your
    red/blue glasses) of the Mars Ingenuity helicopter on mission sol 45.
    That's Earth-date 2021 April 5. Casting a shadow on the Martian
    surface, Ingenuity is standing alone on its four landing legs next to
    the rover's wheel tracks. The experimental helicopter's solar panel,
    charging batteries that keep it warm through the cold Martian nights
    and power its flight, sits just above Ingenuity's two 1.2 meter (4
    foot) long counter-rotating blades. Thirteen sols later, on April 19,
    Ingenuity became the first aircraft to perform powered, controlled
    flight on another planet. It has since gone on to complete more than 50
    flights through the thin atmosphere of Mars.

    Tomorrow's picture: Jovian lightning
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jun 25 00:39:52 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 25
    A large swirling cloud on Jupiter is shown with a bright green spot
    near its top. The cloud is surrounded by other less descript parts of
    Jupiter's upper atmosphere. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Lightning on Jupiter
    Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Processing & License: Kevin
    M. Gill

    Explanation: Does lightning occur only on Earth? No. Spacecraft in our
    Solar System have detected lightning on other planets, including Mars,
    Jupiter and Saturn, and lightning is likely on Venus, Uranus, and
    Neptune. Lightning is a sudden rush of electrically charged particles
    from one location to another. On Earth, drafts of colliding ice and
    water droplets usually create lightning-generating charge separation,
    but what happens on Jupiter? Images and data from NASA's
    Jupiter-orbiting Juno spacecraft bolster previous speculation that
    Jovian lightning is also created in clouds containing water and ice. In
    the featured Juno photograph, an optical flash was captured in a large
    cloud vortex near Jupiter's north pole. During the next few months,
    Juno will perform several close sweeps over Jupiter's night side,
    likely allowing the robotic probe to capture more data and images of
    Jovian lightning.

    Tomorrow's picture: mountains below venus
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jun 26 13:09:14 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 26
    An orange sky hovers above snow-covered mountains. A blurry line
    divides the orange sky from a darker sky. In the foreground are hills
    and a house. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    The Belt of Venus over Mount Everest
    Image Credit & Copyright: Soumyadeep Mukherjee

    Explanation: You've surely seen it, but you might not have noticed it.
    During a cloudless twilight, just before sunrise or after sunset, part
    of the atmosphere above the horizon appears slightly dark and
    off-color. Called the Belt of Venus, this transitional band between the
    dark eclipsed sky and the bright day sky can be seen most prominently
    in the direction opposite the Sun. Straight above, blue sky is normal
    sunlight reflecting off the atmosphere, while near the horizon the
    clear sky can appear more orange or red. In the Belt of Venus, the
    atmosphere reflects more light from the setting (or rising) Sun and so
    appears more red. Featured here, the Belt of Venus was photographed
    over several Himalayan mountains including, second from the right,
    Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth. Although usually not
    mentioned, the belt is frequently caught by accident in other
    photographs.

    Tomorrow's picture: ultraviolet red planet
    __________________________________________________________________

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    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jun 27 00:39:28 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 27

    MAVEN's Ultraviolet Mars
    Image Credit: MAVEN, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics,
    Univ. Colorado, NASA

    Explanation: These two global views of Mars were captured at
    ultraviolet wavelengths, beyond the spectrum visible to human eyes.
    Recorded by the MAVEN spacecraft's Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph
    instrument in July 2022 (left) and January 2023, three otherwise
    invisible ultraviolet bands are mapped into red, green, and blue
    colors. That color scheme presents the Red Planet's surface features in
    shades of tan and green. Haze and clouds appear white or blue, while
    high altitude ozone takes on a dramatic purple hue. On the left, Mars'
    south polar ice cap is in brilliant white at the bottom but shrinking
    during the southern hemisphere's summer season. On the right, the
    northern hemisphere's polar region is seen shrouded in clouds and
    atmospheric ozone. Known to some as the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile
    EvolutioN spacecraft, MAVEN has been exploring Mars' tenuous upper
    atmosphere, ionosphere, and its interactions with the Sun and solar
    wind since 2014.

    Tomorrow's picture: galaxies away
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jun 28 01:09:46 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 28

    Messier 24: Sagittarius Star Cloud
    Image Credit & Copyright: Emmanuel Astronomono

    Explanation: Unlike most entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog of
    deep sky objects, M24 is not a bright galaxy, star cluster, or nebula.
    It's a gap in nearby, obscuring interstellar dust clouds that allows a
    view of the distant stars in the Sagittarius spiral arm of our Milky
    Way galaxy. Direct your gaze through this gap with binoculars or small
    telescope and you are looking through a window over 300 light-years
    wide at stars some 10,000 light-years or more from Earth. Sometimes
    called the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud, M24's luminous stars fill this
    gorgeous starscape. Covering over 3 degrees or the width of 6 full
    moons in the constellation Sagittarius, the telescopic field of view
    includes dark markings B92 and B93 near center, along with other clouds
    of dust and glowing nebulae toward the center of the Milky Way.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jun 29 02:52:42 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 29
    The illustration shows the beams from pulsars around the image and a
    pair of merging black holes on the upper left. A grid depicting the
    warping of spacetime by passing gravitational waves spreads across the
    image center. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    A Message from the Gravitational Universe
    Illustration Credit: NANOGrav Physics Frontier Center; Text: Natalia
    Lewandowska (SUNY Oswego)

    Explanation: Monitoring 68 pulsars with very large radio telescopes,
    the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves
    (NANOGrav) has uncovered evidence for the gravitational wave (GW)
    background by carefully measuring slight shifts in the arrival times of
    pulses. These shifts are correlated between different pulsars in a way
    that indicates that they are caused by GWs. This GW background is
    likely due to hundreds of thousands or even millions of supermassive
    black hole binaries. Teams in Europe, Asia and Australia have also
    independently reported their results today. Previously, the LIGO and
    Virgo detectors have detected higher-frequency GWs from the merging of
    individual pairs of massive orbiting objects, such as stellar-mass
    black holes. The featured illustration highlights this
    spacetime-shaking result by depicting two orbiting supermassive black
    holes and several of the pulsars that would appear to have slight
    timing shifts. The imprint these GWs make on spacetime itself is
    illustrated by a distorted grid.

    Open Science: Browse 3,000+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: asteroid day
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jun 30 00:26:14 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 June 30
    A dark background is filled with many light-blue ellipses. Toward the
    center, near circles that are labelled as the orbits of the inner
    planets of our Solar System are drawn. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    Orbits of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids
    Illustration Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech

    Explanation: Are asteroids dangerous? Some are, but the likelihood of a
    dangerous asteroid striking the Earth during any given year is low.
    Because some past mass extinction events have been linked to asteroid
    impacts, however, humanity has made it a priority to find and catalog
    those asteroids that may one day affect life on Earth. Pictured here
    are the orbits of the over 1,000 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids
    (PHAs). These documented tumbling boulders of rock and ice are over 140
    meters across and will pass within 7.5 million kilometers of Earth --
    about 20 times the distance to the Moon. Although none of them will
    strike the Earth in the next 100 years -- not all PHAs have been
    discovered, and past 100 years, many orbits become hard to predict.
    Were an asteroid of this size to impact the Earth, it could raise
    dangerous tsunamis, for example. To investigate Earth-saving
    strategies, NASA successfully tested the Double Asteroid Redirection
    Test (DART) mission last year. Of course, rocks and ice bits of much
    smaller size strike the Earth every day, usually pose no danger, and
    sometimes create memorable fireball and meteor displays.

    Today is: Asteroid Day Tomorrow's picture: three galaxies
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jul 1 02:16:18 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 1

    Three Galaxies in Draco
    Image Credit & Copyright: David Vernet , Jean-Fran+ºois Bax , Serge
    Brunier, OCA/C2PU

    Explanation: This tantalizing trio of galaxies sometimes called the
    Draco Group, is located in the northern constellation of (you guessed
    it) Draco, the Dragon. From left to right are face-on spiral NGC 5985,
    elliptical galaxy NGC 5982, and edge-on spiral NGC 5981, all found
    within this single telescopic field of view that spans a little more
    than the width of the full moon. While the group is far too small to be
    a galaxy cluster, and has not been catalogued as a compact galaxy
    group, the three galaxies all do lie roughly 100 million light-years
    from planet Earth. Not as well known as other tight groupings of
    galaxies, the contrast in visual appearance still makes this triplet an
    attractive subject for astroimagers. On close examination with
    spectrographs, the bright core of striking spiral NGC 5985 shows
    prominent emission in specific wavelengths of light, prompting
    astronomers to classify it as a Seyfert, a type of active galaxy. This
    impressively deep exposure hints at a faint dim halo along with
    sharp-edged shells surrounding elliptical NGC 5982, evidence of past
    galactic mergers. It also reveals many even more distant background
    galaxies.

    Tomorrow's picture: over and under
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jul 2 00:11:48 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 2
    A long vertical image shows a band of the night sky from horizon at the
    bottom to the opposite horizon -- at the image top. A person stands on
    a snow covered landscape with the central band of the Milky Way running
    between horizons. Each horizon is lit by red, yellow, and green
    auroras. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Milky Way and Aurora over Antarctica
    Image Credit & Copyright: LI Hang

    Explanation: It was one of the better skies of this long night. In
    parts of Antarctica, not only is it winter, but the Sun can spend weeks
    below the horizon. At China's Zhongshan Station, people sometimes
    venture out into the cold to photograph a spectacular night sky. The
    featured image from one such outing was taken in mid-July of 2015, just
    before the end of this polar night. Pointing up, the wide angle lens
    captured not only the ground at the bottom, but at the top as well. In
    the foreground, a colleague is taking pictures. In the distance, a
    spherical satellite receiver and several windmills are visible.
    Numerous stars dot the night sky, including Sirius and Canopus. Far in
    the background, stretching overhead from horizon to horizon, is the
    central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. Even further in the distance,
    visible as extended smudges near the top, are the Large and Small
    Magellanic Clouds, satellite galaxies near our huge Milky Way Galaxy.

    Explore the Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: venus beyond blue
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jul 3 02:08:18 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 3
    Planet Venus is pictured in ultraviolet light. The spherical planet
    appears circular in tan colors with hints of blue. Complex cloud
    patterns are evident. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Venus in Ultraviolet from Akatsuki
    Image Credit & Copyright: JAXA, Planet-C Project Team; h/t: Mehmet
    Hakan +ûzsara+º

    Explanation: Why is Venus so different from Earth? To help find out,
    Japan launched the robotic Akatsuki spacecraft which entered orbit
    around Venus late in 2015 after an unplanned five-year adventure around
    the inner Solar System. Even though Akatsuki was past its original
    planned lifetime, the spacecraft and instruments were operating so well
    that much of its original mission was reinstated. Also known as the
    Venus Climate Orbiter, Akatsuki's instruments investigated unknowns
    about Earth's sister planet, including whether volcanoes are still
    active, whether lightning occurs in the dense atmosphere, and why wind
    speeds greatly exceed the planet's rotation speed. In the featured
    image taken by Akatsuki's UVI camera, the day-side of Venus is seen
    shown with planet-scale V-shaped cloud pattern. The image displays
    three ultraviolet colors and indicates a dip in the relative abundance
    of sulfur dioxide shown in faint blue. Analyses of Akatsuki images and
    data has shown, among other discoveries, that Venus has equatorial jet
    similar to Earth's jet stream.

    Tomorrow's picture: sudden sky surprise
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jul 4 00:13:30 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 4
    Planet Venus is pictured in ultraviolet light. The spherical planet
    appears circular in tan colors with hints of blue. Complex cloud
    patterns are evident. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Aurora over Icelandic Waterfall
    Image Credit & Copyright: Cari Letelier

    Explanation: It seemed like the sky exploded. The original idea was to
    photograph an aurora over a waterfall. After waiting for hours under
    opaque clouds, though, hope was running out. Others left. Then,
    unexpectedly, the clouds moved away. Suddenly, particles from a large
    solar magnetic storm were visible impacting the Earth's upper
    atmosphere with full effect. The night sky filled with colors and
    motion in a thrilling auroral display. Struggling to steady the camera
    from high Earthly winds, the 34 exposures that compose the featured
    image were taken. The resulting featured composite image shows the
    photogenic Godafoss (Go+#afoss) waterfall in northern Iceland in front
    of a very active aurora in late February. The solar surface explosion
    that expelled the energetic particles occurred a few days before. Our
    Sun is showing an impressive amount of surface activity as it
    approaches solar maximum, indicating that more impressive auroras are
    likely to appear in Earth's northern and southern sky over the next few
    years.

    Tomorrow's picture: very large map
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jul 5 01:08:52 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 5
    A map of the observable universe is illustrated in a wedge with the the
    Earth on the bottom and the universe fanning out above. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    A Map of the Observable Universe
    Image Credit & Copyright: B. M+¬nard & N. Shtarkman; Data: SDSS, Planck,
    JHU, Sloan, NASA, ESA

    Explanation: What if you could see out to the edge of the observable
    universe? You would see galaxies, galaxies, galaxies, and then, well,
    quasars, which are the bright centers of distant galaxies. To expand
    understanding of the very largest scales that humanity can see, a map
    of the galaxies and quasars found by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey from
    2000 to 2020 -- out to near the edge of the observable universe -- has
    been composed. Featured here, one wedge from this survey encompasses
    about 200,000 galaxies and quasars out beyond a look-back time of 12
    billion years and cosmological redshift 5. Almost every dot in the
    nearby lower part of the illustration represents a galaxy, with redness
    indicating increasing redshift and distance. Similarly, almost every
    dot on the upper part represents a distant quasar, with blue-shaded
    dots being closer than red. Clearly shown among many discoveries,
    gravity between galaxies has caused the nearby universe to condense and
    become increasingly more filamentary than the distant universe.

    More Detailed Maps: Related to Today's APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jul 6 01:08:00 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 6

    Fireworks vs Supermoon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Seeley

    Explanation: On July 4, an almost Full Moon rose in planet Earth's
    evening skies. Also known as a Buck Moon, the full lunar phase (full on
    July 3 at 11:39 UTC) was near perigee, the closest point in the Moon's
    almost monthly orbit around planet Earth. That qualified this July's
    Full Moon as a supermoon, the first of four supermoons in 2023. Seen
    from Cocoa Beach along Florida's Space Coast on July 4, any big,
    bright, beautiful Full Moon would still have to compete for attention
    though. July's super-moonrise was captured here against a
    super-colorful fireworks display.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jul 7 01:04:44 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 7

    The Double Cluster in Perseus
    Image Credit & Copyright: M+Ñrten Frosth

    Explanation: This pretty starfield spans about three full moons (1.5
    degrees) across the heroic northern constellation of Perseus. It holds
    the famous pair of open star clusters, h and Chi Persei. Also cataloged
    as NGC 869 (top) and NGC 884, both clusters are about 7,000 light-years
    away and contain stars much younger and hotter than the Sun. Separated
    by only a few hundred light-years, the clusters are both 13 million
    years young based on the ages of their individual stars, evidence that
    they were likely a product of the same star-forming region. Always a
    rewarding sight in binoculars, the Double Cluster is even visible to
    the unaided eye from dark locations.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jul 8 00:15:56 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 8

    Stickney Crater
    Image Credit: HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA

    Explanation: Stickney Crater, the largest crater on the martian moon
    Phobos, is named for Chloe Angeline Stickney Hall, mathematician and
    wife of astronomer Asaph Hall. Asaph Hall discovered both the Red
    Planet's moons in 1877. Over 9 kilometers across, Stickney is nearly
    half the diameter of Phobos itself, so large that the impact that
    blasted out the crater likely came close to shattering the tiny moon.
    This enhanced-color image of Stickney and surroundings was recorded by
    the HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as it passed
    within some six thousand kilometers of Phobos in March of 2008. Even
    though the surface gravity of asteroid-like Phobos is less than
    1/1000th Earth's gravity, streaks suggest loose material slid down
    inside the crater walls over time. Light bluish regions near the
    crater's rim could indicate a relatively freshly exposed surface. The
    origin of the curious grooves along the surface is mysterious but may
    be related to tidal stresses experienced by close-orbiting Phobos or
    the crater-forming impact itself.

    Tomorrow's picture: doomed star
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jul 10 01:19:04 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 10
    A busy star formation region is shown highlighted by red glowing clouds
    and dark ominously-shaped dust. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Stars, Dust and Nebula in NGC 6559
    Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block, Telescope Live

    Explanation: When stars form, pandemonium reigns. A textbook case is
    the star forming region NGC 6559. Visible in the featured image are red
    glowing emission nebulas of hydrogen, blue reflection nebulas of dust,
    dark absorption nebulas of dust, and the stars that formed from them.
    The first massive stars formed from the dense gas will emit energetic
    light and winds that erode, fragment, and sculpt their birthplace. And
    then they explode. The resulting morass can be as beautiful as it is
    complex. After tens of millions of years, the dust boils away, the gas
    gets swept away, and all that is left is a bare open cluster of stars.

    Tomorrow's picture: sun spotted
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jul 11 00:14:46 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 11
    Our Sun is pictured with hundreds of dark sunspots. The image is
    actually a composite of all of the sunspots visible during the first
    half of this year. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Sunspots on an Active Sun
    Image Credit: NASA, SDO; Processing & Copyright: +Penol +Panl-#

    Explanation: Why is our Sun so active now? No one is sure. An increase
    in surface activity was expected because our Sun is approaching solar
    maximum in 2025. However, last month our Sun sprouted more sunspots
    than in any month during the entire previous 11-year solar cycle -- and
    even dating back to 2002. The featured picture is a composite of images
    taken every day from January to June by NASA's Solar Dynamic
    Observatory. Showing a high abundance of sunspots, large individual
    spots can be tracked across the Sun's disk, left to right, over about
    two weeks. As a solar cycle continues, sunspots typically appear closer
    to the equator. Sunspots are just one way that our Sun displays surface
    activity -- another is flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that
    expel particles out into the Solar System. Since these particles can
    affect astronauts and electronics, tracking surface disturbances is of
    more than aesthetic value. Conversely, solar activity can have very
    high aesthetic value -- in the Earth's atmosphere when they trigger
    aurora.

    Tomorrow's picture: star bar with rings
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jul 12 00:56:20 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 12
    A spiral galaxy is shown with a yellow center, blue rings and spiral
    arms, and dark brown and red dust. The surrounding dark field contains
    both local stars and more distant galaxies. Please see the explanation
    for more detailed information.

    Rings and Bar of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1398
    Image Credit: Mark Hanson; Data: Mike Selby

    Explanation: Why do some spiral galaxies have a ring around the center?
    Spiral galaxy NGC 1398 not only has a ring of pearly stars, gas and
    dust around its center, but a bar of stars and gas across its center,
    and spiral arms that appear like ribbons farther out. The featured deep
    image from Observatorio El Sauce in Chile shows the grand spiral galaxy
    in impressive detail. NGC 1398 lies about 65 million light years
    distant, meaning the light we see today left this galaxy when dinosaurs
    were disappearing from the Earth. The photogenic galaxy is visible with
    a small telescope toward the constellation of the Furnace (Fornax). The
    ring near the center is likely an expanding density wave of star
    formation, caused either by a gravitational encounter with another
    galaxy, or by the galaxy's own gravitational asymmetries.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jul 13 00:32:10 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 13

    Webb's Rho Ophiuchi
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (STScI),
    Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

    Explanation: A mere 390 light-years away, Sun-like stars and future
    planetary systems are forming in the Rho Ophiuchi molecular cloud
    complex, the closest star-forming region to our fair planet. The James
    Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam peered into the nearby natal chaos to
    capture this infrared image at an inspiring scale. The spectacular
    cosmic snapshot was released to celebrate the successful first year of
    Webb's exploration of the Universe. The frame spans less than a
    light-year across the Rho Ophiuchi region and contains about 50 young
    stars. Brighter stars clearly sport Webb's characteristic pattern of
    diffraction spikes. Huge jets of shocked molecular hydrogen blasting
    from newborn stars are red in the image, with the large, yellowish
    dusty cavity carved out by the energetic young star near its center.
    Near some stars in the stunning image are shadows cast by their
    protoplanetary disks.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jul 14 01:10:50 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 14

    Comet C/2023 E1 ATLAS near Perihelion
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

    Explanation: Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) was just spotted in March, another
    comet found by the NASA funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert
    System. On July 1 this Comet ATLAS reached perihelion, its closest
    approach to the Sun. Shortly afterwards the telescopic comet was
    captured in this frame sporting a pretty greenish coma and faint,
    narrow ion tail against a background of stars in the far northern
    constellation Ursa Minor. This comet's closest approach to Earth is
    still to come though. On August 18 this visitor to the inner Solar
    System will be a mere 3 light-minutes or so from our fair planet. Based
    on its inclination to the ecliptic plane and orbital period of about 85
    years C/2023 E1 (ATLAS) is considered a Halley-type comet.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jul 15 00:41:12 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 15

    Webb's First Deep Field
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, NIRCam

    Explanation: This stunning infrared image was released one year ago as
    the James Webb Space Telescope began its exploration of the cosmos. The
    view of the early Universe toward the southern constellation Volans was
    achieved in 12.5 hours of exposure with Webb's NIRCam instrument. Of
    course the stars with six spikes are well within our own Milky Way.
    Their diffraction pattern is characteristic of Webb's 18 hexagonal
    mirror segments operating together as a single 6.5 meter diameter
    primary mirror. The thousands of galaxies flooding the field of view
    are members of the distant galaxy cluster SMACS0723-73, some 4.6
    billion light-years away. Luminous arcs that seem to infest the deep
    field are even more distant galaxies though. Their images are distorted
    and magnified by the dark matter dominated mass of the galaxy cluster,
    an effect known as gravitational lensing. Analyzing light from two
    separate arcs below the bright spiky star, Webb's NIRISS instrument
    indicates the arcs are both images of the same background galaxy. And
    that galaxy's light took about 9.5 billion years to reach the James
    Webb Space Telescope.

    Tomorrow's picture: view with a thrill
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jul 16 00:23:28 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 16
    A person is seen facing away, standing on a peak. Other mountain peaks
    surround them. City lights are seen in towns and along roads below.
    Stars in the night sky are above. The band of the Milky Way galaxy
    slants down from the upper left. A bright green meteor streak slants
    down from above. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Meteor and Milky Way over the Alps
    Image Credit & Copyright: Nicholas Roemmelt (Venture Photography)

    Explanation: Now this was a view with a thrill. From Mount Tschirgant
    in the Alps, you can see not only nearby towns and distant Tyrolean
    peaks, but also, weather permitting, stars, nebulas, and the band of
    the Milky Way Galaxy. What made the arduous climb worthwhile this
    night, though, was another peak -- the peak of the 2018 Perseids Meteor
    Shower. As hoped, dispersing clouds allowed a picturesque sky-gazing
    session that included many faint meteors, all while a carefully
    positioned camera took a series of exposures. Suddenly, a thrilling
    meteor -- bright and colorful -- slashed down right next to the nearly
    vertical band of the Milky Way. As luck would have it, the camera
    caught it too. Therefore, a new image in the series was quickly taken
    with one of the sky-gazers posing on the nearby peak. Later, all of the
    images were digitally combined.

    Tomorrow's picture: liberating carbon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jul 18 00:07:14 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 18
    A mountaintop is shown covered by brush. Across the horizon are several
    telescopes. Behind the mountaintop is a deep exposure of the sky
    showing the central band of our Milky Way galaxy and several well-known
    stars and nebulas. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Milky Way above La Palma Observatory
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marcin Rosadzi+äski

    Explanation: What's happening in the night sky? To help find out,
    telescopes all over the globe will be pointing into deep space.
    Investigations will include trying to understand the early universe,
    finding and tracking Earth-menacing asteroids, searching for planets
    that might contain extra-terrestrial life, and monitoring stars to help
    better understand our Sun. The featured composite includes foreground
    and background images taken in April from a mountaintop on La Palma
    island in the Canary Islands of Spain. Pictured, several telescopes
    from the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory are shown in front of a
    dark night sky. Telescopes in the foreground include, left to right,
    Magic 1, Galileo, Magic 2, Gran Canarian, and LST. Sky highlights in
    the background include the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy, the
    constellations of Sagittarius, Ophiuchus and Scorpius, the red-glowing
    Eagle and Lagoon Nebulas, and the stars Alrami and Antares. Due to
    observatories like this, humanity has understood more about our night
    sky in the past 100 years than ever before in all of human history.

    Tomorrow's picture: beyond the birds
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jul 19 00:03:04 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 19
    A rocket is seen after lift-off with a long smoke plume. The rocket is
    captured against a blue sky and has gone through a cloud deck. In the
    foreground is an empty tan-colored field. Please see the explanation
    for more detailed information.

    Chandrayaan-3 Launches to the Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Sruthi Suresh (Space Group)

    Explanation: Birds don't fly this high. Airplanes don't go this fast.
    The Statue of Liberty weighs less. No species other than human can even
    comprehend what is going on, nor could any human just a millennium ago.
    The launch of a rocket bound for space is an event that inspires awe
    and challenges description. Pictured here last week, the Indian Space
    Research Organization's LVM3 rocket blasted off from the Satish Dhawan
    Space Centre on Sriharikota Island, India. From a standing start, the
    600,000+ kilogram rocket ship lifted the massive Chandrayaan-3 off the
    Earth. The Chandrayaan-3 mission is scheduled to reach the Moon in late
    August and land a robotic rover near the lunar South Pole. Rockets
    bound for space are now launched from somewhere on Earth every few
    days.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jul 20 00:09:32 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 20

    M64: The Black Eye Galaxy Close Up
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Processing: Jonathan Lodge

    Explanation: This magnificent spiral galaxy is Messier 64, often called
    the Black Eye Galaxy or the Sleeping Beauty Galaxy for its dark-lidded
    appearance in telescopic views. The spiral's central region, about
    7,400 light-years across, is pictured in this reprocessed image from
    the Hubble Space Telescope. M64 lies some 17 million light-years
    distant in the otherwise well-groomed northern constellation Coma
    Berenices. The enormous dust clouds partially obscuring M64's central
    region are laced with young, blue star clusters and the reddish glow of
    hydrogen associated with star forming regions. But imposing clouds of
    dust are not this galaxy's only peculiar feature. Observations show
    that M64 is actually composed of two concentric, counter-rotating
    systems. While all the stars in M64 rotate in the same direction as the
    interstellar gas in the galaxy's central region, gas in the outer
    regions, extending to about 40,000 light-years, rotates in the opposite
    direction. The dusty eye and bizarre rotation are likely the result of
    a billion year old merger of two different galaxies.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jul 21 00:08:30 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 21

    Galactic Cirrus: Mandel Wilson 9
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gabriel Rodrigues Santos

    Explanation: The combined light of stars along the Milky Way are
    reflected by these cosmic dust clouds that soar 300 light-years or so
    above the plane of our galaxy. Known to some as integrated flux nebulae
    and commonly found at high galactic latitudes, the dusty galactic
    cirrus clouds are faint. But they can be traced over large regions of
    the sky toward the North and South Galactic poles. Along with the
    reflection of starlight, studies indicate the dust clouds produce a
    faint reddish luminescence as interstellar dust grains convert
    invisible ultraviolet radiation to visible red light. Also capturing
    nearby Milky Way stars and distant background galaxies, this remarkably
    deep, wide-field image explores a complex of faint galactic cirrus
    known as Mandel Wilson 9. It spans over three degrees across planet
    Earth's skies toward the far southern constellation Apus.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jul 23 02:34:04 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 23
    An old and corroded mechanism is shown fronted by a large wheel. The
    mechanism has patches of tan and brown color but it is mostly green.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    The Antikythera Mechanism
    Image Credit & License: Marsyas, Wikipedia

    Explanation: It does what? No one knew that 2,000 years ago, the
    technology existed to build such a device. The Antikythera mechanism,
    pictured, is now widely regarded as the first computer. Found at the
    bottom of the sea aboard a decaying Greek ship, its complexity prompted
    decades of study, and even today some of its functions likely remain
    unknown. X-ray images of the device, however, have confirmed that a
    main function of its numerous clock-like wheels and gears is to create
    a portable, hand-cranked, Earth-centered, orrery of the sky, predicting
    future star and planet locations as well as lunar and solar eclipses.
    The corroded core of the Antikythera mechanism's largest gear is
    featured, spanning about 13 centimeters, while the entire mechanism was
    33 centimeters high, making it similar in size to a large book.
    Recently, modern computer modeling of missing components is allowing
    for the creation of a more complete replica of this surprising ancient
    machine.

    Tomorrow's picture: rainbow meteor
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jul 24 08:42:10 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 24
    A bright colorful streak crossed the image center, which wisps of
    colorful gas extending out. In the background is a dark starfield.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Chemicals Glow as a Meteor Disintegrates
    Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Kleinburger

    Explanation: Meteors can be colorful. While the human eye usually
    cannot discern many colors, cameras often can. Pictured here is a
    fireball, a disintegrating meteor that was not only one of the
    brightest the photographer has ever seen, but colorful. The meteor was
    captured by chance in mid-July with a camera set up on Hochkar Mountain
    in Austria to photograph the central band of our Milky Way galaxy. The
    radiant grit, likely cast off by a comet or asteroid long ago, had the
    misfortune to enter Earth's atmosphere. Colors in meteors usually
    originate from ionized chemical elements released as the meteor
    disintegrates, with blue-green typically originating from magnesium,
    calcium radiating violet, and nickel glowing green. Red, however,
    typically originates from energized nitrogen and oxygen in the Earth's
    atmosphere. This bright meteoric fireball was gone in a flash -- less
    than a second -- but it left a wind-blown ionization trail that
    remained visible for almost a minute.

    Tomorrow's picture: X-ray eagle
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jul 25 05:55:12 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 25
    Pillars of gas and dark dust extend diagonally from the bottom left to
    the upper right. Bright X-ray sources are superimposed as bright dots
    around the image. Infrared dust glows behind the pillars. Please see
    the explanation for more detailed information.

    The Eagle Nebula with X-ray Hot Stars
    Image Credit: X-ray: Chandra: NASA/CXC/SAO, XMM: ESA/XMM-Newton; IR:
    JWST: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI, Spitzer: NASA/JPL/CalTech; Visible: Hubble:
    NASA/ESA/STScI, ESO; Image Processing: L. Frattare, J. Major, N. Wolk,
    and K. Arcand

    Explanation: What do the famous Eagle Nebula star pillars look like in
    X-ray light? To find out, NASA's orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory
    peered in and through these interstellar mountains of star formation.
    It was found that in M16 the dust pillars themselves do not emit many
    X-rays, but a lot of small-but-bright X-ray sources became evident.
    These sources are shown as bright dots on the featured image which is a
    composite of exposures from Chandra (X-rays), XMM (X-rays), JWST
    (infrared), Spitzer (infrared), Hubble (visible), and the VLT
    (visible). What stars produce these X-rays remains a topic of research,
    but some are hypothesized to be hot, recently-formed, low-mass stars,
    while others are thought to be hot, older, high-mass stars. These X-ray
    hot stars are scattered around the frame -- the previously identified
    Evaporating Gaseous Globules (EGGS) seen in visible light are not
    currently hot enough to emit X-rays.

    Tomorrow's picture: undersea overhead
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jul 26 16:51:38 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 26
    A sprawling nebula is pictured with gold tinted gas covering the top,
    blue, the middle, and dark brown the bottom. Stars cover the frame but
    are most prominent near the bottom. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    IC 4628: The Prawn Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel Stern

    Explanation: South of Antares, in the tail of the nebula-rich
    constellation Scorpius, lies emission nebula IC 4628. Nearby hot,
    massive stars, millions of years young, irradiate the nebula with
    invisible ultraviolet light, stripping electrons from atoms. The
    electrons eventually recombine with the atoms to produce the visible
    nebular glow, dominated by the red emission of hydrogen. At an
    estimated distance of 6,000 light-years, the region shown is about 250
    light-years across, spanning over three full moons on the sky. The
    nebula is also cataloged as Gum 56 for Australian astronomer Colin
    Stanley Gum, but seafood-loving deep sky-enthusiasts might know this
    cosmic cloud as the Prawn Nebula. The graceful color image is a new
    astronomical composition taken over several nights in April from Rio
    Hurtado, Chile.

    Tomorrow's picture: galaxies in the river
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jul 27 00:21:16 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 27

    Galaxies in the River
    Image Credit & License: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA; R. Colombari, M.
    Zamani & D. de Martin (NSFCÇÖs NOIRLab)

    Explanation: Large galaxies grow by eating small ones. Even our own
    galaxy engages in a sort of galactic cannibalism, absorbing small
    galaxies that are too close and are captured by the Milky Way's
    gravity. In fact, the practice is common in the universe and
    illustrated by this striking pair of interacting galaxies from the
    banks of the southern constellation Eridanus, The River. Located over
    50 million light years away, the large, distorted spiral NGC 1532 is
    seen locked in a gravitational struggle with dwarf galaxy NGC 1531, a
    struggle the smaller galaxy will eventually lose. Seen nearly edge-on,
    spiral NGC 1532 spans about 100,000 light-years. The merging galaxies
    are captured in this sharp image from the Dark Energy Camera mounted on
    the National Science FoundationCÇÖs Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro
    Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. The NGC 1532/1531 pair is
    thought to be similar to the well-studied system of face-on spiral and
    small companion known as M51.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jul 28 01:49:42 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 28

    Young Stars, Stellar Jets
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

    Explanation: High-speed outflows of molecular gas from a pair of
    actively forming young stars shine in infrared light, revealing
    themselves in this NIRcam image from the James Webb Space Telescope.
    Cataloged as HH (Herbig-Haro) 46/47, the young stars are lodged within
    a dark nebula that is largely opaque when viewed in visible light. The
    pair lie at the center of the prominent reddish diffraction spikes in
    the NIRcam image. Their energetic stellar jets extend for nearly a
    light-year, burrowing into the dark interstellar material. A
    tantalizing object to explore with Webb's infrared capabilities, this
    young star system is relatively nearby, located only some 1,140
    light-years distant in the nautical constellation Vela.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jul 29 01:08:02 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 29

    Apollo 11: Catching Some Sun
    Image Credit: Apollo 11, NASA (Image scanned by Kipp Teague)

    Explanation: Bright sunlight glints as long dark shadows mark this
    image of the surface of the Moon. It was taken fifty-four years ago,
    July 20, 1969, by Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first to walk
    on the lunar surface. Pictured is the mission's lunar module, the
    Eagle, and spacesuited lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin. Aldrin is
    unfurling a long sheet of foil also known as the Solar Wind Composition
    Experiment. Exposed facing the Sun, the foil trapped particles
    streaming outward in the solar wind, catching a sample of material from
    the Sun itself. Along with moon rocks and lunar soil samples, the solar
    wind collector was returned for analysis in earthbound laboratories.

    Tomorrow's picture: Sunday's Childe
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jul 30 04:24:54 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 30
    A bright green spiral aurora is seen in a break in the clouds before a
    purple background. The foreground contains green grassland and a
    circular lake. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Spiral Aurora over Icelandic Divide
    Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Casado (Starry Earth, TWAN)

    Explanation: Admire the beauty but fear the beast. The beauty is the
    aurora overhead, here taking the form of a great green spiral, seen
    between picturesque clouds with the bright Moon to the side and stars
    in the background. The beast is the wave of charged particles that
    creates the aurora but might, one day, impair civilization. In 1859,
    following notable auroras seen all across the globe, a pulse of charged
    particles from a coronal mass ejection (CME) associated with a solar
    flare impacted Earth's magnetosphere so forcefully that it created the
    Carrington Event. This assault from the Sun compressed the Earth's
    magnetic field so violently that it created high currents and sparks
    along telegraph wires, shocking many telegraph operators. Were a
    Carrington-class event to impact the Earth today, speculation holds
    that damage might occur to global power grids and electronics on a
    scale never yet experienced. The featured aurora was imaged in 2016
    over Thingvallavatn Lake in Iceland, a lake that partly fills a fault
    that divides Earth's large Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: moon over mars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jul 31 00:43:40 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 July 31
    A dark irregularly-shaped moon is seen in front of the red planet Mars.
    Craters are visible in the foreground and the edge of the planet is
    just visible at the top of the image. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    Phobos over Mars
    Image Credit: ESA, DLR, FU Berlin, Mars Express; Processing & CC BY 2.0
    License: Andrea Luck

    Explanation: Why is Phobos so dark? Phobos, the largest and innermost
    of the two Martian moons, is the darkest moon in the entire Solar
    System. Its unusual orbit and color indicate that it may be a captured
    asteroid composed of a mixture of ice and dark rock. The featured
    assigned-color picture of Phobos near the edge of Mars was captured in
    late 2021 by ESA's robot spacecraft Mars Express, currently orbiting
    Mars. Phobos is a heavily cratered and barren moon, with its largest
    crater located on the far side. From images like this, Phobos has been
    determined to be covered by perhaps a meter of loose dust. Phobos
    orbits so close to Mars that from some places it would appear to rise
    and set twice a day, while from other places it would not be visible at
    all. Phobos' orbit around Mars is continually decaying -- it will
    likely break up with pieces crashing to the Martian surface in about 50
    million years.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: monster at the Sun's edge
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Aug 1 00:39:02 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 1
    The edge of the Sun is shown sporting a large gaseous prominence that
    looks like a science-fiction alien. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Monster Solar Prominence
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Wenz

    Explanation: The monsters that live on the Sun are not like us. They
    are larger than the Earth and made of gas hotter than in any teapot.
    They have no eyes, but at times, many tentacles. They float. Usually,
    they slowly change shape and just fade back onto the Sun over about a
    month. Sometimes, though, they suddenly explode and unleash energetic
    particles into the Solar System that can attack the Earth. Pictured is
    a huge solar prominence imaged almost two weeks ago in the light of
    hydrogen. Captured by a small telescope in Gilbert, Arizona, USA, the
    monsteresque plume of gas was held aloft by the ever-present but
    ever-changing magnetic field near the surface of the Sun. Our active
    Sun continues to show an unusually high number of prominences,
    filaments, sunspots, and large active regions as solar maximum
    approaches in 2025.

    Tomorrow's picture: super space wind
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Aug 2 00:25:26 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 2
    The spiral galaxy is shown with many complex red filaments extending
    out. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    M82: Galaxy with a Supergalactic Wind
    NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Copyright: Harshwardhan Pathak

    Explanation: Why is the Cigar Galaxy billowing red smoke? M82, as this
    starburst galaxy is also known, was stirred up by a recent pass near
    large spiral galaxy M81. This doesn't fully explain the source of the
    red-glowing outwardly expanding gas and dust, however. Evidence
    indicates that this gas and dust is being driven out by the combined
    emerging particle winds of many stars, together creating a galactic
    superwind. The dust particles are thought to originate in M82's
    interstellar medium and are actually similar in size to particles in
    cigar smoke. The featured photographic mosaic highlights a specific
    color of red light strongly emitted by ionized hydrogen gas, showing
    detailed filaments of this gas and dust. The filaments extend for over
    10,000 light years. The 12-million light-year distant Cigar Galaxy is
    the brightest galaxy in the sky in infrared light and can be seen in
    visible light with a small telescope towards the constellation of the
    Great Bear (Ursa Major).

    APOD in world languages: Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Beijing),
    Chinese (Taiwan), Croatian, Czech, Dutch, French,
    German, Hebrew, Indonesian, Japanese, Montenegrin, Polish, Russian,
    Serbian, Slovenian, Spanish, Taiwanese, Turkish, and Ukrainian
    Tomorrow's picture: launch and landing
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Aug 3 00:09:58 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 3

    The Falcon and the Redstone
    Image Credit & Copyright: Matt Haskell

    Explanation: In a photo from the early hours of July 29 (UTC), a
    Redstone rocket and Mercury capsule are on display at Cape Canaveral
    Launch Complex 5. Beyond the Redstone, the 8 minute long exposure has
    captured the arcing launch streak of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The
    Falcon's heavy communications satellite payload, at a record setting 9
    metric tons, is bound for geosynchronous orbit some 22,000 miles above
    planet Earth. The historic launch of a Redstone rocket carried
    astronaut Alan Shepard on a suborbital spaceflight in May 1961 to an
    altitude of about 116 miles. Near the top of the frame, this Falcon
    rocket's two reusable side boosters separate and execute brief entry
    burns. They returned to land side by side at Canaveral's Landing Zone 1
    and 2 in the distance.

    Tomorrow's picture: moonrays
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Aug 5 08:06:48 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 5

    NGC 1360: The Robin's Egg Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dong Liang

    Explanation: This pretty nebula lies some 1,500 light-years away, its
    shape and color in this telescopic view reminiscent of a robin's egg.
    The cosmic cloud spans about 3 light-years, nestled securely within the
    boundaries of the southern constellation Fornax. Recognized as a
    planetary nebula, egg-shaped NGC 1360 doesn't represent a beginning
    though. Instead it corresponds to a brief and final phase in the
    evolution of an aging star. In fact, visible at the center of the
    nebula, the central star of NGC 1360 is known to be a binary star
    system likely consisting of two evolved white dwarf stars, less massive
    but much hotter than the Sun. Their intense and otherwise invisible
    ultraviolet radiation has stripped away electrons from the atoms in
    their mutually surrounding gaseous shroud. The predominant blue-green
    hue of NGC 1360 seen here is the strong emission produced as electrons
    recombine with doubly ionized oxygen atoms.

    Tomorrow's picture: supernova remnant
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Aug 6 02:38:48 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 6
    A thick transparent ribbon of red gas runs from the lower left to the
    upper right. A dark starfield with stars and galaxies surrounds the
    bright red ribbon. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    SN 1006: A Supernova Ribbon from Hubble
    Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgement: W.
    Blair et al. (JHU)

    Explanation: What created this unusual space ribbon? The answer: one of
    the most violent explosions ever witnessed by ancient humans. Back in
    the year 1006 AD, light reached Earth from a stellar explosion in the
    constellation of the Wolf (Lupus), creating a "guest star" in the sky
    that appeared brighter than Venus and lasted for over two years. The
    supernova, now cataloged at SN 1006, occurred about 7,000 light years
    away and has left a large remnant that continues to expand and fade
    today. Pictured here is a small part of that expanding supernova
    remnant dominated by a thin and outwardly moving shock front that heats
    and ionizes surrounding ambient gas. The supernova remnant SN 1006 now
    has a diameter of nearly 60 light years.

    Tomorrow's picture: pelican stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Aug 7 00:10:12 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 7
    Mulitple filaments of dark brown run from top to bottom while a bright
    orange dome with small pillars occurs on the bottom right. In the
    background is a blue-glowing gas. Stars dot the frame. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    The Pelican Nebula in Gas, Dust, and Stars
    Credit & Copyright: Abe Jones

    Explanation: The Pelican Nebula is slowly being transformed. IC 5070
    (the official designation) is divided from the larger North America
    Nebula by a molecular cloud filled with dark dust. The Pelican,
    however, receives much study because it is a particularly active mix of
    star formation and evolving gas clouds. The featured picture was
    produced in three specific colors -- light emitted by sulfur, hydrogen,
    and oxygen -- that can help us to better understand these interactions.
    The light from young energetic stars is slowly transforming the cold
    gas to hot gas, with the advancing boundary between the two, known as
    an ionization front, visible in bright orange on the right.
    Particularly dense tentacles of cold gas remain. Millions of years from
    now, the Pelican nebula, bounded by dark nebula LDN 935, might no
    longer be known as the Pelican, as the balance and placement of stars
    and gas will surely leave something that appears completely different.

    Tomorrow's picture: Jupiter and the Moons
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Steve Wolf@1:135/210 to Alan Ianson on Mon Aug 7 09:57:04 2023
    Would be nice if we could DL these pics. I don't see the point of just announcing them.

    ... Computers all wait at the same speed!

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/01/28 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Black Flag <ACiD Telnet HQ> blackflag.acid.org:23 (1:135/210)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to Steve Wolf on Mon Aug 7 12:21:46 2023
    Would be nice if we could DL these pics. I don't see the point of just announcing them.

    You can download them in many ways. If you run a BBS you can connect the NASA file area and you will get these files shortly after they are hatched.

    Nodes are free to contact me if they need a link to the NASA area and we can do that.

    These files are also avialable on the BBS. The BBS is available at..

    telnet://trmb.ca:2030

    There is also an ITN mailer listening at the above address and you can request any file in the filebase by name.

    Anyone is also free to browse and download files from the BBS FTP site at..

    ftp://trmb.ca

    That's an old style FTP site. Be sure to enter "binary" (without the quotes) from command prompt before downloading binary files like zip files.

    The nasa files are in the fido/nasa directory.

    Aside from that these files are available at any connected BBS and also the NASA website at where these file originate.

    https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Aug@2:460/256 to Alan Ianson on Mon Aug 7 22:54:46 2023
    Hi Alan...

    Would be nice if we could DL these pics. I don't see the point of just announcing them.
    You can download them in many ways. If you run a BBS you can connect the NASA file area and you will get these files shortly after they are hatched.
    Nodes are free to contact me if they need a link to the NASA area and we can do that.
    These files are also avialable on the BBS. The BBS is available at.. telnet://trmb.ca:2030
    There is also an ITN mailer listening at the above address and you can request any file in the filebase by name.
    Anyone is also free to browse and download files from the BBS FTP site at..
    ftp://trmb.ca
    That's an old style FTP site. Be sure to enter "binary" (without the quotes) from command prompt before downloading binary files like zip files.
    The nasa files are in the fido/nasa directory.
    Aside from that these files are available at any connected BBS and also the NASA website at where these file originate.
    https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/

    Maybe an occasional how-to for fetching copies of images would be good.

    --
    /|ug
    https://t.me/aabolins

    --- Want fido for iOS/MacOS/Android/Win/Linux? https://shrtco.de/tpJ9yV
    * Origin: Fido by Telegram BBS from Stas Mishchenkov (2:460/256)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to Aug on Mon Aug 7 13:34:34 2023
    Maybe an occasional how-to for fetching copies of images would be good.

    Can you give me an example of what a how-to might look like?

    Should that how-to be added to the new file announcement?

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Aug 8 00:16:52 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 8
    Earth Moon, in crescent phase, is seen just above the image center.
    Directly below is a bright spot surrounded by four other spots, all in
    a row, which are all moons of Jupiter. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    Moon Meets Jupiter
    Credit & Copyright: Jordi L. Coy

    Explanation: What's that below the Moon? Jupiter -- and its largest
    moons. Many skygazers across planet Earth enjoyed the close conjunction
    of Earth's Moon passing nearly in front of Jupiter in mid-June. The
    featured image is a single exposure of the event taken from Mor+|n de la
    Frontera, Spain. The sunlit lunar crescent on the left is overexposed,
    while the Moon's night side, on the right, is only faintly illuminated
    by Earthshine. Lined up diagonally below the Moon, left to right, are
    Jupiter's bright Galilean satellites: Callisto, Ganymede, Io (hard to
    see as it is very near to Jupiter), and Europa. In fact, Callisto,
    Ganymede, and Io are larger than Earth's Moon, while Europa is only
    slightly smaller. NASA's robotic spacecraft Juno is currently orbiting
    Jupiter and made a close pass near Io only a week ago. If you look up
    in the night sky tonight, you will again see two of the brightest
    objects angularly close together -- because tonight is another
    Moon-Jupiter conjunction.

    Tomorrow's picture: falling space dust
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From August Abolins@2:221/1.58 to Alan Ianson on Tue Aug 8 21:29:00 2023
    Hello Alan Ianson!

    ** On Monday 07.08.23 - 13:34, Alan Ianson wrote to Aug:

    Maybe an occasional how-to for fetching copies of images would be good.

    Can you give me an example of what a how-to might look like?

    You just want me to do all the work?!? :D

    Actually, what you posted was pretty good, just streamline it
    down to the essentials.


    Should that how-to be added to the new file announcement?

    An occassional post to the echo would be a fine reminder.
    --
    ../|ug

    --- OpenXP 5.0.57
    * Origin: (2:221/1.58)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Aug 9 00:53:08 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 9
    Mulitple streaks cover a night sky filled with stars. An observtory
    dome is visible in the foreground. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Meteor Shower: Perseids from Perseus
    Credit & Copyright: Petr Hor+ílek / Institute of Physics in Opava

    Explanation: This is a good week to see meteors. Comet dust will rain
    down on planet Earth, streaking through dark skies during peak nights
    of the annual Perseid Meteor Shower. The featured composite image was
    taken during the 2018 Perseids from the Poloniny Dark Sky Park in
    Slovakia. The dome of the observatory in the foreground is on the
    grounds of Kolonica Observatory. Although the comet dust particles
    travel parallel to each other, the resulting shower meteors clearly
    seem to radiate from a single point on the sky in the eponymous
    constellation Perseus. The radiant effect is due to perspective, as the
    parallel tracks appear to converge at a distance, like train tracks.
    The Perseid Meteor Shower is expected to reach its highest peak on
    Saturday after midnight. Since a crescent Moon will rise only very late
    that night, cloudless skies will be darker than usual, making a high
    number of faint meteors potentially visible this year.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Aug 10 00:25:52 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 10

    Five Meters over Mars
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Ingenuity

    Explanation: On mission sol 872 (Earth date August 3) Ingenuity snapped
    this sharp image on its 54th flight above the surface of the Red
    Planet. During the flight the Mars Helicopter hovered about 5 meters,
    or just over 16 feet, above the Jezero crater floor. Tips of
    Ingenuity's landing legs peek over the left and right edges in the
    camera's field of view. Tracks visible near the upper right corner lead
    to the Perseverance Mars Rover, seen looking on from a distance at the
    top right edge of the frame. Planned as a brief "pop-up" flight,
    Ingenuity's 54th flight lasted less than 25 seconds. It followed
    Ingenuity's 53rd flight made on July 22 that resulted in an unscheduled
    landing.

    Tomorrow's picture: 255 hours
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Aug 11 00:05:42 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 11

    Messier 51 in 255 Hours
    Image Credit & Copyright: The Deep Sky Collective - Carl Bj++rk,
    Thomas B+ñhnck, Sebastian Donoso, Jake Gentillon, Antoine and Dalia
    Grelin, Stephen Guberski, Richard Hall,
    Tino Heuberger, Jason Jacks, Paul Kent, Brian Meyers, William Ostling,
    Nicolas Puig, Tim Schaeffer, Felix Sch++fb+ñnker, Mikhail Vasilev

    Explanation: An intriguing pair of interacting galaxies, M51 is the
    51st entry in Charles Messier's famous catalog. Perhaps the original
    spiral nebula, the large galaxy with whirlpool-like spiral structure
    seen nearly face-on is also cataloged as NGC 5194. Its spiral arms and
    dust lanes sweep in front of a companion galaxy (right), NGC 5195. Some
    31 million light-years distant, within the boundaries of the
    well-trained constellation Canes Venatici, M51 looks faint and fuzzy to
    the eye in direct telescopic views. But this remarkably deep image
    shows off stunning details of the galaxy pair's striking colors and
    extensive tidal debris. A collaboration of astro-imagers using
    telescopes on planet Earth combined over 10 days of exposure time to
    create this definitive galaxy portrait of M51. The image includes 118
    hours of narrowband data that also reveals a vast glowing cloud of
    reddish ionized hydrogen gas discovered in the M51 system.

    Tomorrow's picture: 26 squiggles
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Aug 12 00:39:12 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 12

    Ghirigori - Star Scribbles
    Image Credit & Copyright: Paolo Palma

    Explanation: It's fun to scribble on the canvas of the sky. You can use
    a creative photographic technique to cause the light of point-like
    stars to dance across a digital image by tapping lightly on the
    telescope while making an exposure. The result will be a squiggly line
    traced by the star (or two squiggles traced by binary stars) that can
    reveal the star's color. Colorful lines, dubbed Ghirigori, made from
    stars found in the northern sky constellations Bootes, Corona Borealis,
    Ophiucus, and Coma Berenices, are captured in this artistic mosaic. The
    25 stars creating the varied and colorful squiggles are identified
    around the border. Of course, temperature determines the color of a
    star. While whitish stars tend to be close to the Sun's temperature,
    stars with bluer hues are hotter, and yellow and red colors are cooler
    than the Sun.

    Weekend Watch: Perseid Meteor Shower
    Tomorrow's picture: a tip of the sombrero
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Aug 13 00:32:22 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 13
    A red-tinged ring of dust is seen nearly on edge. In the ring's center
    and extending around the frame, blue gas and stars are shown. Please
    see the explanation for more detailed information.

    The Sombrero Galaxy in Infrared
    Credit: R. Kennicutt (Steward Obs.) et al., SSC, JPL, Caltech, NASA

    Explanation: This floating ring is the size of a galaxy. In fact, it is
    a galaxy -- or at least part of one: the photogenic Sombrero Galaxy,
    one of the largest galaxies in the nearby Virgo Cluster of Galaxies.
    The dark band of dust that obscures the mid-section of the Sombrero
    Galaxy in optical light actually glows brightly in infrared light. The
    featured image, digitally sharpened, shows the infrared glow, recently
    recorded by the orbiting Spitzer Space Telescope, superposed in
    false-color on an existing image taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope
    in visible light. The Sombrero Galaxy, also known as M104, spans about
    50,000 light years across and lies 28 million light years away. M104
    can be seen with a small telescope in the direction of the
    constellation Virgo.

    Tomorrow's picture: ring strings
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Aug 14 01:05:32 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 14
    An oval nebula is seen in false color. The nebula appears blue in the
    center, orange and red around the rim, and orange and purple filaments
    extending to the edge of the frame. Stars are seen throughout the
    frame. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    The Ring Nebula from Webb
    Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, JWST; Processing: Zi Yang Kong

    Explanation: The Ring Nebula (M57), is more complicated than it appears
    through a small telescope. The easily visible central ring is about one
    light-year across, but this remarkable exposure by the James Webb Space
    Telescope explores this popular nebula with a deep exposure in infrared
    light. Strings of gas, like eyelashes around a cosmic eye, become
    evident around the Ring in this digitally enhanced featured image in
    assigned colors. These long filaments may be caused by shadowing of
    knots of dense gas in the ring from energetic light emitted within. The
    Ring Nebula is an elongated planetary nebula, a type of gas cloud
    created when a Sun-like star evolves to throw off its outer atmosphere
    to become a white dwarf star. The central oval in the Ring Nebula lies
    about 2,500 light-years away toward the musical constellation Lyra.

    Tomorrow's picture: triple iced sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Aug 15 00:22:02 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 15
    A body of water is seen in front of a night sky. The water reflects the
    sky. In the sky, on the right are green aurora. In the center is an
    orange plume. On the right are three while plumes. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    A Triply Glowing Night Sky over Iceland
    Credit & Copyright: Wioleta Gorecka; Text: Natalia Lewandowska (SUNY
    Oswego)

    Explanation: The Sun is not the quiet place it seems. It expels an
    unsteady stream of energetic electrons and protons known as the solar
    wind. These charged particles deform the Earth's magnetosphere, change
    paths, and collide with atoms in Earth's atmosphere, causing the
    generation of light in auroras like that visible in green in the image
    left. Earth itself is also geologically active and covered with
    volcanoes. For example, Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland, seen
    emitting hot gas in orange near the image center. Iceland is one of the
    most geologically active places on Earth. On the far right is the
    Svartsengi geothermal power plant which creates the famous human-made
    Blue Lagoon, shown emitting white gas plumes. The featured composition
    therefore highlights three different sky phenomena, including both
    natural and human-made phenomena.

    Tomorrow's picture: a cosmic embrace
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Aug 16 00:29:52 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 16

    Arp 93: A Cosmic Embrace
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby, Observatorio El Sauce

    Explanation: Locked in a cosmic embrace, two large galaxies are merging
    at the center of this sharp telescopic field of view. The interacting
    system cataloged as Arp 93 is some 200 million light-years distant
    toward the constellation Aquarius in planet Earth's sky. Individually
    the galaxies are identified as NGC 7285 (right) and NGC 7284. Their
    bright cores are still separated by about 20,000 light-years or so, but
    a massive tidal stream, a result of their ongoing gravitational
    interaction, extends over 200,000 light-years toward the bottom of the
    frame. Interacting galaxies do look peculiar, but are now understood to
    be common in the Universe. In fact, closer to home, the large spiral
    Andromeda Galaxy is known to be approaching the Milky Way. Arp 93 may
    well present an analog of their distant future cosmic embrace.

    Tomorrow's picture: a cosmic zoo
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Aug 17 00:14:16 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 17

    A Cosmic Zoo in Cepheus
    Image Credit & Copyright: Yann Sainty

    Explanation: Sprawling emission nebulae IC 1396 and Sh2-129 mix glowing
    interstellar gas and dark dust clouds in this nearly 12 degree wide
    field of view toward the northern constellation Cepheus the King.
    Energized by its central star IC 1396 (left), is hundreds of
    light-years across and some 3,000 light-years distant. The nebula's
    intriguing dark shapes include a winding dark cloud popularly known as
    the Elephant's Trunk below and right of center. Tens of light-years
    long, it holds the raw material for star formation and is known to hide
    protostars within. Located a similar distance from planet Earth, the
    bright knots and swept back ridges of emission of Sh2-129 on the right
    suggest its popular name, the Flying Bat Nebula. Within the Flying Bat,
    the most recently recognized addition to this royal cosmic zoo is the
    faint bluish emission from Ou4, the Giant Squid Nebula. Near the lower
    right edge of the frame, the suggestive dark marking on the sky
    cataloged as Barnard 150 is also known as the dark Seahorse Nebula.

    Notable submissions to APOD: Perseids Meteor Shower 2023
    Tomorrow's picture: northern Pluto
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Aug 18 01:16:56 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 18

    Northern Pluto
    Image Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins Univ./APL, Southwest Research
    Institute

    Explanation: Gaze across the frozen canyons of northern Pluto in this
    contrast enhanced color scene. The image data used to construct it was
    acquired in July 2015 by the New Horizons spacecraft as it made the
    first reconnaissance flight through the remote Pluto system six billion
    kilometers from the Sun. Now known as Lowell Regio, the region was
    named for Percival Lowell, founder of the Lowell Observatory. Also
    famous for his speculation that there were canals on Mars, Lowell
    started the search that ultimately led to Pluto's discovery in 1930 by
    Clyde Tombaugh. In this frame Pluto's North Pole is above and left of
    center. The pale bluish floor of the broad canyon on the left is about
    70 kilometers (45 miles) wide, running vertically toward the south.
    Higher elevations take on a yellowish hue. New Horizon's measurements
    were used to determine that in addition to nitrogen ice, methane ice is
    abundant across Lowell Regio. So far, Pluto is the only Solar System
    world named by an 11-year-old girl.

    Tomorrow's picture: ringed ice giant
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Aug 19 00:05:36 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 19

    Ringed Ice Giant Neptune
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, NIRCam

    Explanation: Ringed ice giant Neptune lies near the center of this
    sharp near-infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope. The dim
    and distant world is the farthest planet from the Sun, about 30 times
    farther away than planet Earth. But in the stunning Webb view, the
    planet's dark and ghostly appearance is due to atmospheric methane that
    absorbs infrared light. High altitude clouds that reach above most of
    Neptune's absorbing methane easily stand out in the image though.
    Coated with frozen nitrogen, Neptune's largest moon Triton is brighter
    than Neptune in reflected sunlight, seen at the upper left sporting the
    Webb telescope's characteristic diffraction spikes. Including Triton,
    seven of Neptune's 14 known moons can be identified in the field of
    view. Neptune's faint rings are striking in this space-based planetary
    portrait. Details of the complex ring system are seen here for the
    first time since Neptune was visited by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in
    August 1989.

    Tomorrow's picture: long cloud
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Aug 20 01:05:50 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 20
    Building in a city are pictured. Above the buildings appears a long
    dark cylindrical cloud that goes to the horizon. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    A Roll Cloud Over Wisconsin
    Credit: Megan Hanrahan (Pierre cb), Wikipedia

    Explanation: What kind of cloud is this? A type of arcus cloud called a
    roll cloud. These rare long clouds may form near advancing cold fronts.
    In particular, a downdraft from an advancing storm front can cause
    moist warm air to rise, cool below its dew point, and so form a cloud.
    When this happens uniformly along an extended front, a roll cloud may
    form. Roll clouds may actually have air circulating along the long
    horizontal axis of the cloud. A roll cloud is not thought to be able to
    morph into a tornado. Unlike a similar shelf cloud, a roll cloud is
    completely detached from their parent cumulonimbus cloud. Pictured
    here, a roll cloud extends far into the distance as a storm approaches
    in 2007 in Racine, Wisconsin, USA.

    Tomorrow's picture: comet unknown
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Aug 21 00:05:50 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 21
    A dark starfield is shown with a dim green blur in the middle. Faintly
    extending from the green blur is a tail toward the left. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Introducing Comet Nishimura
    Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

    Explanation: Will Comet Nishimura become visible to the unaided eye?
    Given the unpredictability of comets, no one can say for sure, but it
    currently seems like a good bet. The comet was discovered only ten days
    ago by Hideo Nishimura during 30-second exposures with a standard
    digital camera. Since then, C/2023 P1 Nishimura has increased in
    brightness and its path across the inner Solar System determined. As
    the comet dives toward the Sun, it will surely continue to intensify
    and possibly become a naked-eye object in early September. A problem is
    that the comet will also be angularly near the Sun, so it will only be
    possible to see it near sunset or sunrise. The comet will get so close
    to the Sun -- inside the orbit of planet Mercury -- that its nucleus
    may break up. Pictured, Comet Nishimura was imaged three days ago from
    June Lake, California, USA while sporting a green coma and a thin tail.

    Tomorrow's picture: nebula unknown
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Aug 22 00:56:28 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 22
    A diffuse nebula is seen against a dark starfield. The center of the
    nebula is blue and it is surrounded by a red glow. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    The Pistachio Nebula
    Credit & Copyright: Bray Falls & Chester Hall-Fernandez

    Explanation: This nebula had never been noted before. Newly discovered
    nebulas are usually angularly small and found by professionals using
    large telescopes. In contrast, the Pistachio Nebula was discovered by
    dedicated amateurs and, although faint, is nearly the size of the full
    Moon. In modern times, amateurs with even small telescopes can create
    long exposures over sky areas much larger than most professional
    telescopes can see. They can therefore discover both previously unknown
    areas of extended emission around known objects, as well as entirely
    unknown objects, like nebulas. The pictured Pistachio Nebula is shown
    in oxygen emission (blue) and hydrogen emission (red). The nature of
    the hot central star is currently unknown, and the nebula might be
    labeled a planetary nebula if it turns out to be a white dwarf star.
    The featured image is a composite of over 70 hours of exposure taken in
    early June under the dark skies of Namibia.

    Tomorrow's picture: comet rain
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Aug 23 04:17:14 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 23
    A color meteor streak is seen above the Andromeda spiral galaxy. Please
    see the explanation for more detailed information.

    The Meteor and the Galaxy
    Credit & Copyright: Jose Pedrero

    Explanation: It came from outer space. It -- in this case a sand-sized
    bit of a comet nucleus -- was likely ejected many years ago from
    Sun-orbiting Comet Swift-Tuttle, but then continued to orbit the Sun
    alone. When the Earth crossed through this orbit, the piece of comet
    debris impacted the atmosphere of our fair planet and was seen as a
    meteor. This meteor deteriorated, causing gases to be emitted that
    glowed in colors emitted by its component elements. The featured image
    was taken last week from Castilla La Mancha, Spain, during the peak
    night of the Perseids meteor shower. The picturesque meteor streak
    happened to appear in the only one of 50 frames that also included the
    Andromeda galaxy. Stars dot the frame, each much further away than the
    meteor. Compared to the stars, the Andromeda galaxy (M31) is, again,
    much further away.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Aug 24 00:15:04 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 24

    Meteors along the Milky Way
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ali Hosseini Nezhad

    Explanation: Under dark and mostly moonless night skies, many denizens
    of planet Earth were able to watch this year's Perseid meteor shower.
    Seen from a grassy hillside from Shiraz, Iran these Perseid meteors
    streak along the northern summer Milky Way before dawn on Sunday,
    August 13. Frames used to construct the composited image were captured
    near the active annual meteor shower's peak between 02:00 AM and 04:30
    AM local time. Not in this night skyscape, the shower's radiant in the
    heroic constellation Perseus is far above the camera's field of view.
    But fans of northern summer nights can still spot a familiar asterism.
    Formed by bright stars Deneb, Vega, and Altair, the Summer Triangle
    spans the luminous band of the Milky Way.

    Tomorrow's picture: seasons of Saturn
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Aug 25 03:52:50 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 25

    A Season of Saturn
    Image Credit & Copyright: Andy Casely

    Explanation: Ringed planet Saturn will be at its 2023 opposition,
    opposite the Sun in Earth's skies, on August 27. While that puts the
    sixth planet from the Sun at its brightest and well-placed for viewing,
    its beautiful ring system isn't visible to the unaided eye. Still, this
    sequence of telescopic images taken a year apart over the last six
    years follows both Saturn and rings as seen from inner planet Earth.
    The gas giant's ring plane tilts from most open in 2018 to approaching
    edge-on in 2023 (top to bottom). That's summer to nearly the autumn
    equinox for Saturn's northern hemisphere. In the sharp planetary
    portraits, Saturn's northern hexagon and a large storm system are
    clearly visible in 2018. In 2023, ice moon Tethys is transiting,
    casting its shadow across southern hemisphere cloud bands, while
    Saturn's cold blue south pole is emerging from almost a decade of
    winter darkness.

    Tomorrow's picture: phases of Venus
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Aug 26 00:48:32 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 26

    Crescents of Venus
    Image Credit & Copyright: Roberto Ortu

    Explanation: Just as the Moon goes through phases, Venus' visible
    sunlit hemisphere waxes and wanes. This sequence of telescopic images
    illustrates the steady changes for Venus during its recent 2023
    apparition as our evening star. Gliding along its interior orbit
    between Earth and Sun, Venus grows larger during that period because it
    is approaching planet Earth. Its crescent narrows though, as the inner
    planet swings closer to our line-of-sight to the Sun. Closest to the
    Earth-Sun line but passing about 8 degrees south of the Sun, on August
    13 Venus reached its (non-judgmental) inferior conjunction. And now
    Venus shines above the eastern horizon in predawn skies, completing its
    transition to planet Earth's morning star. On August 21, NASA's Parker
    Solar Probe completed its sixth gravity assist flyby of Venus, using
    the encounter to maneuver the probe toward its closest approach yet to
    the Sun.

    Tomorrow's picture: Three Galaxies and a Comet
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Aug 27 01:51:36 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 27
    A rocky landscape is capped by a dark night sky. In the sky, the band
    of our Milky Way Galaxy runs along the right, while two fuzzy patches
    that are the LMC and SMC are visible on the right. Thousands of stars
    are resolved all over the frame. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Three Galaxies and a Comet
    Credit & Copyright: Miloslav Druckmuller (Brno University of
    Technology)

    Explanation: Diffuse starlight and dark nebulae along the southern
    Milky Way arc over the horizon and sprawl diagonally through this
    gorgeous nightscape. The breath-taking mosaic spans a wide 100 degrees,
    with the rugged terrain of the Patagonia, Argentina region in the
    foreground. Along with the insider's view of our own galaxy, the image
    features our outside perspective on two irregular satellite galaxies -
    the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. The scene also captures the
    broad tail and bright coma of Comet McNaught, the Great Comet of 2007.

    Tomorrow's picture: game stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Aug 28 00:45:30 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 28
    A nebula that appears blue in the middle and is surrounded by
    red-glowing gas is featured. Dramatic lanes of dark dust cut through
    the nebula's left side. A group of stars is visible toward the nebula's
    center. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Star Formation in the Pacman Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Craig Stocks

    Explanation: Look through the cosmic cloud cataloged as NGC 281 and you
    might miss the stars of open cluster IC 1590. Formed within the nebula,
    that cluster's young, massive stars ultimately power the pervasive
    nebular glow. The eye-catching shapes looming in the featured portrait
    of NGC 281 are sculpted dusty columns and dense Bok globules seen in
    silhouette, eroded by intense, energetic winds and radiation from the
    hot cluster stars. If they survive long enough, the dusty structures
    could also be sites of future star formation. Playfully called the
    Pacman Nebula because of its overall shape, NGC 281 is about 10,000
    light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. This sharp composite
    image was made through narrow-band filters. It combines emission from
    the nebula's hydrogen and oxygen atoms to synthesize red, green, and
    blue colors. The scene spans well over 80 light-years at the estimated
    distance of NGC 281.

    Tomorrow's picture: spiral webb
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Aug 29 01:09:28 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 29
    Spiral galaxy M66 is shown in infrared light as seen by the orbiting
    James Webb Space Telescope. A reddish-brown center is seen in the
    galaxy with a blue-colored spiral arms surrounding it. A close
    inspection will reveal that these spiral arms are not symmetrical.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Unusual Spiral Galaxy M66 from Webb
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, JWST; Processing: Brian Tomlinson

    Explanation: Why isn't spiral galaxy M66 symmetric? Usually, density
    waves of gas, dust, and newly formed stars circle a spiral galaxy's
    center and create a nearly symmetric galaxy. The differences between
    M66's spiral arms and the apparent displacement of its nucleus are all
    likely caused by previous close interactions and the tidal
    gravitational pulls of nearby galaxy neighbors M65 and NGC 3628. The
    galaxy, featured here in infrared light taken by the James Webb Space
    Telescope, spans about 100,000 light years, lies about 35 million light
    years distant, and is the largest galaxy in a group known as the Leo
    Triplet. Like many spiral galaxies, the long and intricate dust lanes
    of M66 are seen intertwined with the bright stars and intergalactic
    dust that follow the spiral arms.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Aug 30 01:10:28 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 30

    Full Moons of August
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gianni Tumino

    Explanation: Near perigee, the closest point in its almost moonthly
    orbit, a Full Moon rose as the Sun set on August 1. Its brighter than
    average lunar disk was captured in this dramatic moonrise sequence over
    dense cloud banks along the eastern horizon from Ragusa, Sicily.
    Illuminating night skies around planet Earth it was the second
    supermoon of 2023. Yet again near perigee, the third supermoon of 2023
    will also shine on an August night. Rising as the Sun sets tonight this
    second Full Moon in August will be known to some as a Blue Moon, even
    though scattered sunlight gives the lunar disk a reddened hue. Defined
    as the second full moon in a calendar month, blue moons occur only once
    every 2 or 3 years. That's because lunar phases take 29.5 days, almost
    a calendar month, to go through a complete cycle. Tonight an August
    Blue Moon will find itself beside bright planet Saturn.

    Tomorrow's picture: the Crew-7 nebula
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Aug 31 00:31:00 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 August 31

    The Crew-7 Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Seeley

    Explanation: Not the James Webb Space Telescope's latest view of a
    distant galactic nebula, this illuminated cloud of gas and dust dazzled
    early morning spacecoast skygazers on August 26. The snapshot was taken
    about 2 minutes after the launch of of a Falcon 9 rocket on the SpaceX
    Crew-7 mission, the seventh commercial crew rotation mission for the
    International Space Station. It captures drifting plumes and exhaust
    from the separated first and second stage illuminated against the still
    dark skies. Near the center of the image, within the ragged blueish
    ring, are two bright points of light. The lower one is the second stage
    of the rocket carrying 4 humans to space in a Crew Dragon spacecraft.
    The bright point above is the Falcon 9 first stage booster orienting
    itself for the trip back to Landing Zone-1 at Cape Canaveral, planet
    Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: a great little patch
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Sep 2 01:19:36 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 2

    NGC 7023: The Iris Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Lorand Fenyes

    Explanation: These cosmic clouds have blossomed 1,300 light-years away
    in the fertile starfields of the constellation Cepheus. Called the Iris
    Nebula, NGC 7023 is not the only nebula to evoke the imagery of
    flowers. Still, this deep telescopic image shows off the Iris Nebula's
    range of colors and symmetries embedded in surrounding fields of
    interstellar dust. Within the Iris itself, dusty nebular material
    surrounds a hot, young star. The dominant color of the brighter
    reflection nebula is blue, characteristic of dust grains reflecting
    starlight. Central filaments of the reflection nebula glow with a faint
    reddish photoluminescence as some dust grains effectively convert the
    star's invisible ultraviolet radiation to visible red light. Infrared
    observations indicate that this nebula contains complex carbon
    molecules known as PAHs. The dusty blue petals of the Iris Nebula span
    about six light-years.

    Tomorrow's picture: a cosmic souffle
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Sep 3 00:31:50 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 3
    A fuzzy comet is shown in gray on the upper left against a dark space
    background. The comet's tail extends diagnonally to the lower right.
    The main part of the comet is seen broken up into many trailing pieces.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 Fragments
    Credit: NASA, ESA, H. Weaver (JHU / APL), M. Mutchler and Z. Levay
    (STScI)

    Explanation: Periodic comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 has broken up at
    least twice. A cosmic souffle of ice and dust left over from the early
    solar system, this comet was first seen to split into several large
    pieces during the close-in part of its orbit in 1995. However, in the
    2006 passage, it disintegrated into dozens of fragments that stretched
    several degrees across the sky. Since comets are relatively fragile,
    stresses from heat, gravity and outgassing, for example, could be
    responsible for their tendency to break up in such a spectacular
    fashion when they near the hot Sun. The Hubble Space Telescope
    recorded, in 2006, the featured sharp view of prolific Fragment B,
    itself trailing a multitude of smaller pieces, each with its own
    cometary coma and tail. The picture spans over 3,000 kilometers at the
    comet's distance of 32 million kilometers from planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: star bursts
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Sep 5 00:46:32 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 5
    A large Moon is seen behind a historic stone structure. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Blue Supermoon Beyond Syracuse
    Credit & Copyright: Kevin Saragozza

    Explanation: The last full moon was doubly unusual. First of all, it
    was a blue moon. A modern definition of a blue moon is a second full
    moon to occur during one calendar month. Since there are 13 full moons
    in 2023, one month has to have two -- and that month was August. The
    first full moon was on August 1 and named a Sturgeon Moon. The second
    reason that the last full moon was unusual was because it was a
    supermoon. A modern definition of supermoon is a moon that reaches its
    full phase when it is relatively close to Earth -- and so appears a bit
    larger and brighter than average. Pictured, the blue supermoon of 2023
    was imaged hovering far behind a historic castle and lighthouse in
    Syracuse, Sicily, Italy.

    Gallery: Selected August 2023 supermoon images submitted to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: sky in motion
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Sep 6 02:39:32 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 6

    HESS Telescopes Explore the High-Energy Sky
    Credit & Copyright: Video Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN), H.E.S.S.
    Collaboration;
    Music: Ibaotu catalog number 1044988 (Used with permission)

    Explanation: They may look like modern mechanical dinosaurs, but they
    are enormous swiveling eyes that watch the sky. The High Energy
    Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) Observatory is composed of four 12-meter
    reflecting-mirror telescopes surrounding a larger telescope housing a
    28-meter mirror. They are designed to detect strange flickers of blue
    light -- Cherenkov radiation --emitted when charged particles move
    slightly faster than the speed of light in air. This light is emitted
    when a gamma ray from a distant source strikes a molecule in Earth's
    atmosphere and starts a charged-particle shower. H.E.S.S. is sensitive
    to some of the highest energy photons (TeV) crossing the universe.
    Operating since 2003 in Namibia, H.E.S.S. has searched for dark matter
    and has discovered over 50 sources emitting high energy radiation
    including supernova remnants and the centers of galaxies that contain
    supermassive black holes. Pictured in June, H.E.S.S. telescopes swivel
    and stare in time-lapse sequences shot in front of our Milky Way Galaxy
    and the Magellanic Clouds -- as the occasional Earth-orbiting satellite
    zips by.

    Surf the Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: large star cloud
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Sep 7 01:04:32 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 7

    The Large Cloud of Magellan
    Image Credit & Copyright: Chris Willocks

    Explanation: The 16th century Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan
    and his crew had plenty of time to study the southern sky during the
    first circumnavigation of planet Earth. As a result, two fuzzy
    cloud-like objects easily visible to southern hemisphere skygazers are
    known as the Clouds of Magellan, now understood to be satellite
    galaxies of our much larger, spiral Milky Way galaxy. About 160,000
    light-years distant in the constellation Dorado, the Large Magellanic
    Cloud is seen in this sharp galaxy portrait. Spanning about 15,000
    light-years or so, it is the most massive of the Milky Way's satellite
    galaxies and is the home of the closest supernova in modern times, SN
    1987A. The prominent patch above center is 30 Doradus, also known as
    the magnificent Tarantula Nebula, a giant star-forming region about
    1,000 light-years across.

    Tomorrow's picture: large star factory
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Sep 8 01:58:20 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 8

    Star Factory Messier 17
    Image Credit & Copyright: Kim Quick, Terry Hancock, and Tom Masterson
    (Grand Mesa Observatory)

    Explanation: Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, the star factory
    known as Messier 17 lies some 5,500 light-years away in the nebula-rich
    constellation Sagittarius. At that distance, this 1/3 degree wide field
    of view spans over 30 light-years. The sharp composite, color image
    highlights faint details of the region's gas and dust clouds against a
    backdrop of central Milky Way stars. Stellar winds and energetic light
    from hot, massive stars formed from M17's stock of cosmic gas and dust
    have slowly carved away at the remaining interstellar material,
    producing the cavernous appearance and undulating shapes. M17 is also
    known as the Omega Nebula or the Swan Nebula.

    Tomorrow's picture: large galaxy cloud
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Sep 9 04:10:18 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 9
    A comet is shown with its green coma on the bottom right and a long and
    structured ion tail flowing diagonally across the image toward the top
    left. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Comet Nishimura Grows
    Credit & Copyright: Peter Kennett

    Explanation: Comet Nishimura is growing. More precisely, the tails
    C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) are growing as it nears the Sun. Discovered only
    last month, the comet is already near naked eye brightness as it now
    moves inside the Earth's orbit. The comet will be nearest the Earth
    next week, but nearest the Sun the week after -- on September 17.
    Speculation holds that expelled ice and dust from Comet Nishimura's
    last visit to the inner Solar System may have created the Sigma Hydrids
    meteor shower which peaks yearly in December. If so, then this meteor
    shower may become more active, refreshed with new comet debris.
    Pictured, Comet Nishimura was captured from Edgewood, New Mexico, USA
    four nights ago, showing a long ion tail structured by interactions
    with the Sun's wind. Look for this comet near your eastern horizon just
    before sunrise for the next few mornings, but very near your western
    horizon just after sunset next week -- as its coma continues to
    brighten and its tails continue to grow.

    Gallery: Selected Comet Nishimura images submitted to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: person, moon, sun
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Sep 10 05:24:00 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 10
    A person is seen standing at the top of a ridge. The person appears as
    a silhouette onto the central dark region of an annular solar eclipse.
    The annular solar eclipse is a bright ring with a large dark hole in
    the middle. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    An Annular Solar Eclipse over New Mexico
    Credit & Copyright: Colleen Pinski

    Explanation: What is this person doing? In 2012, an annular eclipse of
    the Sun was visible over a narrow path that crossed the northern
    Pacific Ocean and several western US states. In an annular solar
    eclipse, the Moon is too far from the Earth to block out the entire
    Sun, leaving the Sun peeking out over the Moon's disk in a ring of
    fire. To capture this unusual solar event, an industrious photographer
    drove from Arizona to New Mexico to find just the right vista. After
    setting up and just as the eclipsed Sun was setting over a ridge about
    0.5 kilometers away, a person unknowingly walked right into the shot.
    Although grateful for the unexpected human element, the photographer
    never learned the identity of the silhouetted interloper. It appears
    likely that the person is holding a circular device that would enable
    them to get their own view of the eclipse. The shot was taken at sunset
    on 2012 May 20 at 7:36 pm local time from a park near Albuquerque. Next
    month, on October 14, a different narrow swath across North and South
    America will be exposed to a different annular solar eclipse, if the
    sky is clear. Simultaneously, cloud-free observers almost anywhere on
    either continent will be able to see a partial solar eclipse.

    Tomorrow's picture: active comet
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Sep 11 02:58:14 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 11
    A scenic and hilly landscape is shown just before sunrise. On the left
    is Comet Nishimura near the horizon with a long tail fading off toward
    the top of the frame. On the right is a bright spot that is Venus. The
    sunrise sky is dark blue at the top but morphs into tan at the horizon,
    while the foreground hills are green. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    Beautiful Comet Nishimura
    Credit & Copyright: Petr Hor+ílek / Institute of Physics in Opava

    Explanation: This scene would be beautiful even without the comet. By
    itself, the sunrise sky is an elegant deep blue on high, with faint
    white stars peeking through, while near the horizon is a pleasing tan.
    By itself, the foreground hills of eastern Slovakia are appealingly
    green, with the Zad+êa hura and Ve-'k+í hora hills in the distance, and
    with the lights of small towns along the way. Venus, by itself on the
    right, appears unusually exquisite, surrounded by a colorful
    atmospheric corona. But what attracts the eye most is the comet. On the
    left, in this composite image taken just before dawn yesterday morning,
    is Comet Nishimura. On recent mornings around the globe, its bright
    coma and long ion tail make many a morning panoramic photo unusually
    beautiful. Tomorrow, C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) will pass its nearest to the
    Earth for about the next 434 years.

    Tomorrow's picture: galaxies galore
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Sep 12 00:54:20 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 12

    Galaxy Cluster Abell 370 and Beyond
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Jennifer Lotz and the HFF Team (STScI)

    Explanation: Some 4 billion light-years away, massive galaxy cluster
    Abell 370 is captured in this sharp Hubble Space Telescope snapshot.
    The cluster of galaxies only appears to be dominated by two giant
    elliptical galaxies and infested with faint arcs. In reality, the
    fainter, scattered bluish arcs, along with the dramatic dragon arc
    below and left of center, are images of galaxies that lie far beyond
    Abell 370. About twice as distant, their otherwise undetected light is
    magnified and distorted by the cluster's enormous gravitational mass,
    overwhelmingly dominated by unseen dark matter. Providing a tantalizing
    glimpse of galaxies in the early universe, the effect is known as
    gravitational lensing. A consequence of warped spacetime, lensing was
    predicted by Einstein almost a century ago. Far beyond the spiky
    foreground Milky Way star at lower right, Abell 370 is seen toward the
    constellation Cetus, the Sea Monster. It was the last of six galaxy
    clusters imaged in the Frontier Fields project.

    Tomorrow's picture: partly hidden
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Sep 14 02:13:22 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 14

    NGC 7331 and Beyond
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ian Gorenstein

    Explanation: Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 7331 is often touted as
    an analog to our own Milky Way. About 50 million light-years distant in
    the northern constellation Pegasus, NGC 7331 was recognized early on as
    a spiral nebula and is actually one of the brighter galaxies not
    included in Charles Messier's famous 18th century catalog. Since the
    galaxy's disk is inclined to our line-of-sight, long telescopic
    exposures often result in images that evokes a strong sense of depth.
    The effect is further enhanced in this sharp image by galaxies that lie
    beyond the gorgeous island universe. The most prominent background
    galaxies are about one tenth the apparent size of NGC 7331 and so lie
    roughly ten times farther away. Their close alignment on the sky with
    NGC 7331 occurs just by chance. Lingering above the plane of the Milky
    Way, this striking visual grouping of galaxies is known to some as the
    Deer Lick Group.

    Tomorrow's picture: good morning moon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Sep 15 04:05:34 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 15

    Venus, Moon, and the Smoking Mountain
    Image Credit & Copyright: Luis Miguel Meade Rodr+¡guez

    Explanation: Venus has returned as a brilliant morning star. From a
    window seat on a flight to Mexico City, the bright celestial beacon was
    captured just before sunrise in this astronomical snapshot, taken on
    September 12. Venus, at the upper right, shared the early predawn skies
    with an old crescent Moon. Seen from this stratospheric perspective,
    both mountain peaks and clouds appear in silhouette along a glowing
    eastern horizon. The dramatic, long, low cloud bank was created by
    venting from planet Earth's active volcano Popocat+¬petl.

    Tomorrow's picture: Fire over Ice
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Sep 16 05:51:14 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 16

    Fireball over Iceland
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jennifer Franklin

    Explanation: On September 12, from a location just south of the Arctic
    Circle, stones of Iceland's modern Arctic Henge point skyward in this
    startling scene. Entertaining an intrepid group of aurora hunters
    during a geomagnetic storm, alluring northern lights dance across the
    darkened sky when a stunning fireball meteor explodes. Awestruck, the
    camera-equipped skygazers captured video and still images of the boreal
    bolide, at its peak about as bright as a full moon. Though quickly
    fading from view, the fireball left a lingering visible trail or
    persistent train. The wraith-like trail was seen for minutes wafting in
    the upper atmosphere at altitudes of 60 to 90 kilometers along with the
    auroral glow.

    Tomorrow's picture: Magnified Moon Mountains
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Sep 18 05:23:20 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 18
    A lone tree is seen on the right of a dark grassy field. Above and on
    the right, a bright red filamentary glow is seen in the sky. The
    filaments of this glow may seem similar to the branches of the tree.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    The Red Sprite and the Tree
    Credit & Copyright: Maxime Villaeys

    Explanation: The sprite and tree could hardly be more different. To
    start, the red sprite is an unusual form of lightning, while the tree
    is a common plant. The sprite is far away -- high in Earth's
    atmosphere, while the tree is nearby -- only about a football field
    away. The sprite is fast -- electrons streaming up and down at near
    light's speed, while the tree is slow -- wood anchored to the ground.
    The sprite is bright -- lighting up the sky, while the tree is dim --
    shining mostly by reflected light. The sprite was fleeting -- lasting
    only a small fraction of a second, while the tree is durable -- living
    now for many years. Both however, when captured together, appear oddly
    similar in this featured composite image captured early this month in
    France as a thunderstorm passed over mountains of the Atlantic
    Pyrenees.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: star jets from webb
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Sep 19 00:48:30 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 19
    Two jets are seen in red and blue moving out from a central object
    shroueded by a diffuse dark brown. The rest of the frame is dark but
    with an few bright stars. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    HH 211: Jets from a Forming Star
    Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Webb; Processing: Tom Ray (DIAS Dublin)

    Explanation: Do stars always create jets as they form? No one is sure.
    As a gas cloud gravitationally contracts, it forms a disk that can spin
    too fast to continue contracting into a protostar. Theorists
    hypothesize that this spin can be reduced by expelling jets. This
    speculation coincides with known Herbig-Haro (HH) objects, young
    stellar objects seen to emit jets -- sometimes in spectacular fashion.
    Pictured is Herbig-Haro 211, a young star in formation recently imaged
    by the Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in infrared light and in great
    detail. Along with the two narrow beams of particles, red shock waves
    can be seen as the outflows impact existing interstellar gas. The jets
    of HH 221 will likely change shape as they brighten and fade over the
    next 100,000 years, as research into the details of star formation
    continues.

    Tomorrow's picture: another star's planets
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Sep 21 00:11:52 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 21

    Tagging Bennu
    Image Credit: OSIRIS-REx, University of Arizona, NASA, Goddard
    Scientific Visualization Studio

    Explanation: The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft's arm reached out and touched
    asteroid 101955 Bennu on October 20, 2020, after a careful approach to
    the small, near-Earth asteroid's boulder-strewn surface. Dubbed a
    Touch-And-Go (TAG) sampling event, the 30 centimeter wide sampling head
    (TAGSAM) appears to crush some of the rocks in this close-up recorded
    by the spacecraft's SamCam. The image was snapped just after surface
    contact some 321 million kilometers from planet Earth. One second
    later, the spacecraft fired nitrogen gas from a bottle intended to blow
    a substantial amount of Bennu's regolith into the sampling head,
    collecting the loose surface material. And now, nearly three years
    later, on Sunday, September 24, that sample of asteroid Bennu is
    scheduled to arrive on planet Earth. The sample return capsule will be
    dropped off by the OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft as it makes a close flyby of
    Earth. Twenty minutes after the drop-off, the spacecraft will fire its
    thrusters to divert past Earth and continue on to orbit near-Earth
    asteroid 99942 Apophis.

    Tomorrow's picture: reflections of the cosmos
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Sep 22 10:12:00 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 22

    Cosmos in Reflection
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN)

    Explanation: During the day, over 12,000 large mirrors reflect sunlight
    at the 100-megawatt, molten-salt, solar thermal power plant at the
    western edge of the Gobi desert near Dunhuang, Gansu Province, China.
    Individual mirror panels turn to track the sun like sunflowers. They
    conspire to act as a single super mirror reflecting the sunlight toward
    a fixed position, the power station's central tower. During the night
    the mirrors stand motionless though. They reflect the light of the
    countless distant stars, clusters and nebulae of the Milky Way and
    beyond. This sci-fi night skyscape was created with a camera fixed to a
    tripod near the edge of the giant mirror matrix on September 15. The
    camera's combined sequence of digital exposures captures concentric
    arcs of celestial star trails through the night with star trails in
    surreal mirrored reflection.

    Tomorrow's picture: analog analemma's afternoon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Sep 23 00:09:08 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 23

    Afternoon Analemma
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ian Griffin (Otago Museum)

    Explanation: An analemma is that figure-8 curve you get when you mark
    the position of the Sun at the same time each day for one year. To make
    this one, a 4x5 pinhole camera was set up looking north in southern New
    Zealand skies. The shutter was briefly opened each clear day in the
    afternoon at 4pm local time exposing the same photosensitized glass
    plate for the year spanning September 23, 2022 to September 19, 2023.
    On two days, the winter and summer solstices, the shutter was opened
    again 15 minutes after the main exposure and remained open until sunset
    to create the sun trails at the bottom and top of the curve. The
    equinox dates correspond to positions in the middle of the curve, not
    the crossover point. Of course, the curve itself is inverted compared
    to an analemma traced from the northern hemisphere. And while fall
    begins today at the Autumnal Equinox for the northern hemisphere, it's
    the Spring Equinox in the south.

    Tomorrow's picture: sunrise solar eclipse
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Sep 24 00:24:32 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 24

    A Ring of Fire Sunrise Solar Eclipse
    Video Credit: Colin Legg & Geoff Sims; Music: Peter Nanasi

    Explanation: What's rising above the horizon behind those clouds? It's
    the Sun. Most sunrises don't look like this, though, because most
    sunrises don't include the Moon. In the early morning of 2013 May 10,
    however, from Western Australia, the Moon was between the Earth and the
    rising Sun. At times, it would be hard for the uninformed to understand
    what was happening. In an annular eclipse, the Moon is too far from the
    Earth to block the entire Sun, and at most leaves a ring of fire where
    sunlight pours out around every edge of the Moon. The featured
    time-lapse video also recorded the eclipse through the high refraction
    of the Earth's atmosphere just above the horizon, making the unusual
    rising Sun and Moon appear also flattened. As the video continues, the
    Sun continues to rise, while the Sun and Moon begin to separate. The
    next annular solar eclipse will occur in less than three weeks. On
    Saturday, October 14, a ring of fire will be visible through clear
    skies from a thin swath crossing both North and South America.

    Tour the Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: big blue bird
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Sep 25 00:25:18 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 25
    A starfield with two bright stars at the top of the frame and two
    galaxies at the bottom. The upper galaxy is a spiral galaxy and has an
    appearance reminiscent of a hummingbird. The lower galaxy is a
    featureless elliptical galaxy. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Arp 142: The Hummingbird Galaxy
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Processing & Copyright: Basudeb
    Chakrabarti

    Explanation: What's happening to this spiral galaxy? Just a few hundred
    million years ago, NGC 2936, the upper of the two large galaxies shown
    at the bottom, was likely a normal spiral galaxy -- spinning, creating
    stars -- and minding its own business. But then it got too close to the
    massive elliptical galaxy NGC 2937, just below, and took a turn.
    Sometimes dubbed the Hummingbird Galaxy for its iconic shape, NGC 2936
    is not only being deflected but also being distorted by the close
    gravitational interaction. Behind filaments of dark interstellar dust,
    bright blue stars form the nose of the hummingbird, while the center of
    the spiral appears as an eye. Alternatively, the galaxy pair, together
    known as Arp 142, look to some like Porpoise or a penguin protecting an
    egg. The featured re-processed image showing Arp 142 in great detail
    was taken recently by the Hubble Space Telescope. Arp 142 lies about
    300 million light years away toward the constellation of the Water
    Snake (Hydra). In a billion years or so the two galaxies will likely
    merge into one larger galaxy.

    Tomorrow's picture: big blue horse
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Sep 26 01:32:04 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 26
    A starfield surrounds a large nebula that is mostly brown and blue and
    has an appearance reminiscent of the head of a horse. This nebula is
    not the more famous

    IC 4592: The Blue Horsehead Reflection Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Antoine & Dalia Grelin

    Explanation: Do you see the horse's head? What you are seeing is not
    the famous Horsehead nebula toward Orion, but rather a fainter nebula
    that only takes on a familiar form with deeper imaging. The main part
    of the here-imaged molecular cloud complex is reflection nebula IC
    4592. Reflection nebulas are made up of very fine dust that normally
    appears dark but can look quite blue when reflecting the visible light
    of energetic nearby stars. In this case, the source of much of the
    reflected light is a star at the eye of the horse. That star is part of
    Nu Scorpii, one of the brighter star systems toward the constellation
    of the Scorpion (Scorpius). A second reflection nebula dubbed IC 4601
    is visible surrounding two stars above and to the right of the image
    center.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Sep 27 01:23:02 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 27
    A rural road is pictured running to the horizon with rural grassy
    fields on both sides. Rising from the lower left is the central band of
    our Milky Way Galaxy. Rising from the horizon -- just at the visible
    end of the road, is a thin twisting band of light twisting green and
    red bands -- a STEVE. The STEVE crosses in front of the Milky Way band
    making a big

    STEVE and Milky Way Cross over Rural Road
    Image Credit & Copyright: Theresa Clarke

    Explanation: Not every road ends in a STEVE. A week ago, a sky
    enthusiast's journey began with a goal: to photograph an aurora over
    Lake Huron. Driving through rural Ontario, Canada, the forecasted sky
    show started unexpectedly early, causing the photographer to stop
    before arriving at the scenic Great Lake. Aurora images were taken
    toward the north -- but over land, not sea. While waiting for a second
    round of auroras, a peculiar band of light was noticed to the west.
    Slowly, the photographer and friends realized that this western band
    was likely an unusual type of aurora: a Strong Thermal Emission
    Velocity Enhancement (STEVE). Moreover, this STEVE was putting on quite
    a show: appearing intertwined with the central band of our Milky Way
    Galaxy while intersecting the horizon just near the end of the country
    road. After capturing this cosmic X on camera, the photographer paused
    to appreciate the unexpected awesomeness of finding extraordinary
    beauty in an ordinary setting.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Sep 28 00:14:54 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 28

    The Deep Lagoon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Josep Drudis, Christian Sasse

    Explanation: Ridges of glowing interstellar gas and dark dust clouds
    inhabit the turbulent, cosmic depths of the Lagoon Nebula. Also known
    as M8, The bright star forming region is about 5,000 light-years
    distant. It makes for a popular stop on telescopic tours of the
    constellation Sagittarius toward the center of our Milky Way Galaxy.
    Dominated by the telltale red emission of ionized hydrogen atoms
    recombining with stripped electrons, this deep telescopic view of the
    Lagoon's central reaches is about 40 light-years across. The bright
    hourglass shape near the center of the frame is gas ionized and
    sculpted by energetic radiation and extreme stellar winds from a
    massive young star.

    Tomorrow's picture: just back from Bennu
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Sep 29 00:09:04 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 29

    Back from Bennu
    Image Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber

    Explanation: Back from asteroid 101955 Bennu, a 110-pound, 31-inch wide
    sample return capsule rests in a desert on planet Earth in this photo,
    taken at the Department of Defense Utah Test and Training Range near
    Salt Lake City last Sunday, September 24. Dropped off by the OSIRIS-Rex
    spacecraft, the capsule looks charred from the extreme temperatures
    experienced during its blistering descent through Earth's dense
    atmosphere. OSIRIS-Rex began its home-ward journey from Bennu in May of
    2021. Delivered to NASACÇÖs Johnson Space Center in Houston on September
    25, the capsule's canister is expected to contain an uncontaminated
    sample of about a half pound (250 grams) of Bennu's loosely packed
    regolith. Working in a new laboratory designed for the OSIRIS-REx
    mission, scientists and engineers will complete the canister
    disassembly process, and plan to unveil the sample of the near-Earth
    asteroid in a broadcast event on October 11.

    Tomorrow's picture: shine on
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Sep 30 01:28:04 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 September 30

    A Harvest Moon over Tuscany
    Image Credit & Copyright: Antonio Tartarini

    Explanation: For northern hemisphere dwellers, September's Full Moon
    was the Harvest Moon. Reflecting warm hues at sunset, it rises behind
    cypress trees huddled on a hill top in Tuscany, Italy in this telephoto
    view from September 28. Famed in festival, story, and song, Harvest
    Moon is just the traditional name of the full moon nearest the autumnal
    equinox. According to lore the name is a fitting one. Despite the
    diminishing daylight hours as the growing season drew to a close,
    farmers could harvest crops by the light of a full moon shining on from
    dusk to dawn. This Harvest Moon was also known to some as a supermoon,
    a term becoming a traditional name for a full moon near perigee. It was
    the fourth and final supermoon for 2023.

    Note: Non-NASA APOD mirror sites will be updated if the US goverment
    shuts down.
    Tomorrow's picture: new moon near apogee
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Oct 1 22:49:20 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 1
    An empty desert is shown with rolling tan sand dunes and a tan glow to
    the air above. A lone tree grows in the image center. High above, the
    Sun glows - but the center of the Sun is blackened out by an unusual
    disk. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    A Desert Eclipse
    Image Credit & Copyright: Maxime Daviron

    Explanation: A good place to see a ring-of-fire eclipse, it seemed,
    would be from a desert. In a desert, there should be relatively few
    obscuring clouds and trees. Therefore late December of 2019, a group of
    photographers traveled to the United Arab Emirates and Rub al-Khali,
    the largest continuous sand desert in world, to capture clear images of
    an unusual eclipse that would be passing over. A ring-of-fire eclipse
    is an annular eclipse that occurs when the Moon is far enough away on
    its elliptical orbit around the Earth so that it appears too small,
    angularly, to cover the entire Sun. At the maximum of an annular
    eclipse, the edges of the Sun can be seen all around the edges of the
    Moon, so that the Moon appears to be a dark spot that covers most --
    but not all -- of the Sun. This particular eclipse, they knew, would
    peak soon after sunrise. After seeking out such a dry and barren place,
    it turned out that some of the most interesting eclipse images actually
    included a tree in the foreground, because, in addition to the sand
    dunes, the tree gave the surreal background a contrasting sense of
    normalcy, scale, and texture. On Saturday, October 14, a new ring of
    fire will be visible through clear skies from a thin swath crossing
    both North and South America.

    Tomorrow's picture: high sprites
    __________________________________________________________________

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    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Oct 2 00:05:46 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 2
    A normal starry sky is punctuated by by several very unusually shaped
    red objects, known as sprites. These sprites are shown in very high
    details including several very well defined

    Sprite Lightning in High Definition
    Image Credit & Copyright: Nicolas Escurat

    Explanation: Sometimes lightning occurs out near space. One such
    lightning type is red sprite lightning, which has only been
    photographed and studied on Earth over the past 25 years. The origins
    of all types of lightning remain topics for research, and scientists
    are still trying to figure out why red sprite lightning occurs at all.
    Research has shown that following a powerful positive cloud-to-ground
    lightning strike, red sprites may start as 100-meter balls of ionized
    air that shoot down from about 80-km high at 10 percent the speed of
    light. They are quickly followed by a group of upward streaking ionized
    balls. Featured here is an extraordinarily high-resolution image of a
    group of red sprites. This image is a single frame lasting only 1/25th
    of a second from a video taken above Castelnaud Castle in Dordogne,
    France, about three weeks ago. The sprites quickly vanished -- no
    sprites were visible even on the very next video frame.

    Tomorrow's picture: eye in the sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Oct 3 00:24:40 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 3
    A vertical planetary nebula is shown in orange around the outside but
    with a blue glow in the center. The outside is shaped like a tilted
    hourglass, while the inside appears similar to an eye. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    MyCn 18: The Engraved Hourglass Planetary Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Processing &
    Copyright: Harshwardhan Pathak

    Explanation: Do you see the hourglass shape -- or does it see you? If
    you can picture it, the rings of MyCn 18 trace the outline of an
    hourglass -- although one with an unusual eye in its center. Either
    way, the sands of time are running out for the central star of this
    hourglass-shaped planetary nebula. With its nuclear fuel exhausted,
    this brief, spectacular, closing phase of a Sun-like star's life occurs
    as its outer layers are ejected - its core becoming a cooling, fading
    white dwarf. In 1995, astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
    to make a series of images of planetary nebulae, including the one
    featured here. Pictured, delicate rings of colorful glowing gas
    (nitrogen-red, hydrogen-green, and oxygen-blue) outline the tenuous
    walls of the hourglass. The unprecedented sharpness of the Hubble
    images has revealed surprising details of the nebula ejection process
    that are helping to resolve the outstanding mysteries of the complex
    shapes and symmetries of planetary nebulas like MyCn 18.

    Tomorrow's picture: witch head?
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Oct 4 00:42:36 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 4
    A colorful star field surrounds a big blue reflection nebula. The
    nebula is elongated across the wide frame and said to resemble the head
    of folklore-based witch. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    IC 2118: The Witch Head Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Abdullah Alharbi

    Explanation: Does this nebula look like the head of a witch? The nebula
    is known popularly as the Witch Head Nebula because, it is said, the
    nebula's shape resembles a Halloween-style caricature of a witch's
    head. Exactly how, though, can be a topic of imaginative speculation.
    What is clear is that IC 2118 is about 50 light-years across and made
    of gas and dust that points to -- because it has been partly eroded by
    -- the nearby star Rigel. One of the brighter stars in the
    constellation Orion, Rigel lies below the bottom of the featured image.
    The blue color of the Witch Head Nebula and is caused not only by
    Rigel's intense blue starlight but because the dust grains scatter blue
    light more efficiently than red. The same physical process causes
    Earth's daytime sky to appear blue, although the scatterers in planet
    Earth's atmosphere are molecules of nitrogen and oxygen.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Oct 5 00:12:12 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 05

    Ring of Fire over Monument Valley
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel (TWAN)

    Explanation: Tracking along a narrow path, the shadow of a new moon
    will race across North, Central, and South America, on October 14. When
    viewed from the shadow path the apparent size of the lunar disk will
    not quite completely cover the Sun though. Instead, the moon in
    silhouette will appear during the minutes of totality surrounded by a
    fiery ring, an annular solar eclipse more dramatically known as a ring
    of fire eclipse. This striking time lapse sequence from May of 2012
    illustrates the stages of a ring of fire eclipse. From before eclipse
    start until sunset, they are seen over the iconic buttes of planet
    Earth's Monument Valley. Remarkably, the October 14 ring of fire
    eclipse will also be visible over Monument Valley, beginning after
    sunrise in the eastern sky.

    Tomorrow's picture: 100th anniversary
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Oct 6 00:36:34 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 6

    Edwin Hubble Discovers the Universe
    Image Credit & Copyright: Courtesy Carnegie Institution for Science

    Explanation: How big is our universe? This question, among others, was
    debated by two leading astronomers in 1920 in what has since become
    known as astronomy's Great Debate. Many astronomers then believed that
    our Milky Way Galaxy was the entire universe. Many others, though,
    believed that our galaxy was just one of many. In the Great Debate,
    each argument was detailed, but no consensus was reached. The answer
    came over three years later with the detected variation of single spot
    in the Andromeda Nebula, as shown on the original glass discovery plate
    digitally reproduced here. When Edwin Hubble compared images, he
    noticed that this spot varied, and on October 6, 1923 wrote "VAR!" on
    the plate. The best explanation, Hubble knew, was that this spot was
    the image of a variable star that was very far away. So M31 was really
    the Andromeda Galaxy -- a galaxy possibly similar to our own. Annotated
    100 years ago, the featured image may not be pretty, but the variable
    spot on it opened a window through which humanity gazed knowingly, for
    the first time, into a surprisingly vast cosmos.

    Tomorrow's picture: once and future stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Oct 7 00:19:00 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 7
    The featured image shows M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, in both infrared
    light, colored orange, and visible light, colored white and blue.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    The Once and Future Stars of Andromeda
    Image Credit: NASA, NSF, NOAJ, Hubble, Subaru, Mayall, DSS, Spitzer;
    Processing & Copyright: Robert Gendler & Russell Croman

    Explanation: This picture of Andromeda shows not only where stars are
    now, but where stars will be. The big, beautiful Andromeda Galaxy, M31,
    is a spiral galaxy a mere 2.5 million light-years away. Image data from
    space-based and ground-based observatories have been combined here to
    produce this intriguing composite view of Andromeda at wavelengths both
    inside and outside normally visible light. The visible light shows
    where M31's stars are now, highlighted in white and blue hues and
    imaged by the Hubble, Subaru, and Mayall telescopes. The infrared light
    shows where M31's future stars will soon form, highlighted in orange
    hues and imaged by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The infrared light
    tracks enormous lanes of dust, warmed by stars, sweeping along
    Andromeda's spiral arms. This dust is a tracer of the galaxy's vast
    interstellar gas, raw material for future star formation. Of course,
    the new stars will likely form over the next hundred million years or
    so. That's well before Andromeda merges with our Milky Way Galaxy in
    about 5 billion years.

    Tomorrow's picture: in front of the Sun
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Oct 8 00:42:08 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 8
    A partially eclipse Sun is shown. In front of the Sun are sunspots, the
    Moon, clouds, and an airplane. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Plane, Clouds, Moon, Spots, Sun
    Image Credit & Copyright: Doyle and Shannon Slifer

    Explanation: What's that in front of the Sun? The closest object is an
    airplane, visible just below the Sun's center and caught purely by
    chance. Next out are numerous clouds in Earth's atmosphere, creating a
    series of darkened horizontal streaks. Farther out is Earth's Moon,
    seen as the large dark circular bite on the upper right. Just above the
    airplane and just below the Sun's surface are sunspots. The main
    sunspot group captured here, AR 2192, was in 2014 one of the largest
    ever recorded and had been crackling and bursting with flares since it
    came around the edge of the Sun a week before. This show of solar
    silhouettes was unfortunately short-lived. Within a few seconds the
    plane flew away. Within a few minutes the clouds drifted off. Within a
    few hours the partial solar eclipse of the Sun by the Moon was over.
    Fortunately, when it comes to the Sun, even unexpected alignments are
    surprisingly frequent. Perhaps one will be imaged this Saturday when a
    new partial solar eclipse will be visible from much of North and South
    America.

    APOD editor to speak: in Houghton, Michigan on Thursday, October 12 at
    6 pm
    Tomorrow's picture: strange sunrise eclipse
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Oct 9 00:17:20 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 9
    A partially eclipse of a Sun rising over water is shown. A ship appears
    on the right. The Sun appears reddened by the Intervening EarthCÇÖs
    atmosphere. An inversion layer in the atmosphere makes part of the Sun
    appeared doubled near the horizon. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    A Distorted Sunrise Eclipse
    Image Credit & Copyright: Elias Chasiotis

    Explanation: Yes, but have you ever seen a sunrise like this? Here,
    after initial cloudiness, the Sun appeared to rise in two pieces and
    during a partial eclipse in 2019, causing the photographer to describe
    it as the most stunning sunrise of his life. The dark circle near the
    top of the atmospherically-reddened Sun is the Moon -- but so is the
    dark peak just below it. This is because along the way, the Earth's
    atmosphere had a layer of unusually warm air over the sea which acted
    like a gigantic lens and created a second image. For a normal sunrise
    or sunset, this rare phenomenon of atmospheric optics is known as the
    Etruscan vase effect. The featured picture was captured in December
    2019 from Al Wakrah, Qatar. Some observers in a narrow band of Earth to
    the east were able to see a full annular solar eclipse -- where the
    Moon appears completely surrounded by the background Sun in a ring of
    fire. The next solar eclipse, also an annular eclipse for well-placed
    observers, will occur this coming Saturday.

    APOD editor to speak: in Houghton, Michigan on Thursday, October 12 at
    6 pm
    Tomorrow's picture: hidden in Orion
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Oct 10 02:07:34 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 10
    The center of the Orion Nebula is seen in infrared light as imaged by
    the James Webb Space Telescope. In the center is the Trapezium Star
    Cluster. The main image is in near infrared light, while the rollover
    image is in mid-infrared light. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Hidden Orion from Webb
    Image Credit & License: NASA, ESA, CSA, JWST; Processing: M.
    McCaughrean & S. Pearson

    Explanation: The Great Nebula in Orion has hidden stars. To the unaided
    eye in visible light, it appears as a small fuzzy patch in the
    constellation of Orion. But this image was taken by the Webb Space
    Telescope in a representative-color composite of red and very near
    infrared light. It confirms with impressive detail that the Orion
    Nebula is a busy neighborhood of young stars, hot gas, and dark dust.
    The rollover image shows the same image in representative colors
    further into the near infrared. The power behind much of the Orion
    Nebula (M42) is the Trapezium - a cluster of bright stars near the
    nebula's center. The diffuse and filamentary glow surrounding the
    bright stars is mostly heated interstellar dust. Detailed inspection of
    these images shows an unexpectedly large number of Jupiter-Mass Binary
    Objects (JuMBOs), pairs of Jupiter-mass objects which might give a clue
    to how stars are forming. The whole Orion Nebula cloud complex, which
    includes the Horsehead Nebula, will slowly disperse over the next few
    million years.

    APOD editor to speak: in Houghton, Michigan on Thursday, October 12 at
    6 pm
    Tomorrow's picture: star gone
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Oct 11 05:19:12 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 11
    A nearby spiral galaxy is shown in great details: NGC 1097. However the
    galaxy is imaged twice, once with a supernova spot appearing on a lower
    spiral arm, and once without. The two frames blink back and forth.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    NGC 1097: Spiral Galaxy with Supernova
    Image Data: Telescope Live (Chile); Image Processing & Copyright:
    Bernard Miller

    Explanation: What's happening in the lower arm of this spiral galaxy? A
    supernova. Last month, supernova SN 2023rve was discovered with UAE's
    Al-Khatim Observatory and later found to be consistent with the death
    explosion of a massive star, possibly leaving behind a black hole.
    Spiral galaxy NGC 1097 is a relatively close 45 million light years
    away and visible with a small telescope toward the southern
    constellation of the Furnace (Fornax). The galaxy is notable not only
    for its picturesque spiral arms, but also for faint jets consistent
    with ancient star streams left over from a galactic collision --
    possibly with the small galaxy seen between its arms on the lower left.
    The featured image highlights the new supernova by blinking between two
    exposures taken several months apart. Finding supernovas in nearby
    galaxies can be important in determining the scale and expansion rate
    of our entire universe -- a topic currently of unexpected tension and
    much debate.

    APOD editor to speak: in Houghton, Michigan on Thursday, October 12 at
    6 pm
    Tomorrow's picture: The Garnet Star
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Oct 12 00:22:28 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 12

    Mu Cephei
    Image Credit & Copyright: David Cruz

    Explanation: Mu Cephei is a very large star. An M-class supergiant some
    1500 times the size of the Sun, it is one of the largest stars visible
    to the unaided eye, and even one of the largest in the entire Galaxy.
    If it replaced the Sun in our fair Solar System, Mu Cephei would easily
    engulf Mars and Jupiter. Historically known as Herschel's Garnet Star,
    Mu Cephei is extremely red. Approximately 2800 light-years distant, the
    supergiant is seen near the edge of reddish emission nebula IC 1396
    toward the royal northern constellation Cepheus in this telescopic
    view. Much cooler and hence redder than the Sun, this supergiant's
    light is further reddened by absorption and scattering due to
    intervening dust within the Milky Way. A well-studied variable star
    understood to be in a late phase of stellar evolution, Mu Cephei is a
    massive star too, destined to ultimately explode as a core-collapse
    supernova.

    APOD editor to speak: in Houghton, Michigan tonight, Thursday, October
    12, at 6 pm
    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Oct 13 00:03:04 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 13

    Hydrogen Clouds of M33
    Image Credit & Copyright: Reinhold Wittich

    Explanation: Gorgeous spiral galaxy Messier 33 seems to have more than
    its fair share of glowing hydrogen gas. A prominent member of the local
    group of galaxies, M33 is also known as the Triangulum Galaxy and lies
    a mere 3 million light-years away. The galaxy's central 30,000
    light-years or so are shown in this sharp galaxy portrait. The portrait
    features M33's reddish ionized hydrogen clouds or HII regions.
    Sprawling along loose spiral arms that wind toward the core, M33's
    giant HII regions are some of the largest known stellar nurseries,
    sites of the formation of short-lived but very massive stars. Intense
    ultraviolet radiation from the luminous, massive stars ionizes the
    surrounding hydrogen gas and ultimately produces the characteristic red
    glow. In this image, broadband data were combined with narrowband data
    recorded through a hydrogen-alpha filter. That filter transmits the
    light of the strongest visible hydrogen emission line.

    Tomorrow's picture: ring around the Sun
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Oct 14 01:48:10 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 14

    Circular Sun Halo
    Image Credit & Copyright: Vincenzo Mirabella

    Explanation: Want to see a ring around the Sun? It's easy to do in
    daytime skies around the world. Created by randomly oriented ice
    crystals in thin high cirrus clouds, circular 22 degree halos are
    visible much more often than rainbows. This one was captured by smart
    phone photography on May 29, 2021 near Rome, Italy. Carefully blocking
    the Sun, for example with a finger tip, is usually all that it takes to
    reveal the common bright halo ring. The halo's characteristic angular
    radius is about equal to the span of your hand, thumb to little finger,
    at the end of your outstretched arm. Want to see a ring of fire
    eclipse? That's harder. The spectacular annular phase of today's
    (October 14) solar eclipse, known as a ring of fire, is briefly visible
    only when standing along the Moon's narrow shadow track that passes
    over limited parts of North, Central, and South America. The solar
    eclipse is partial though, when seen from broader regions throughout
    the Americas.

    Tomorrow's picture: Sun Day
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Oct 17 01:22:46 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 17
    An orange elliptical ring is shown that is a disk of gas and dust
    around the star PDS 70. In the center of the disk is a fuzzy spot and
    near the inner right edge of the disk is another fuzzy spot. Please see
    the explanation for more detailed information.

    PDS 70: Disk, Planets, and Moons
    Image Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO); M. Benisty et al.

    Explanation: It's not the big ring that's attracting the most
    attention. Although the big planet-forming ring around the star PDS 70
    is clearly imaged and itself quite interesting. It's also not the
    planet on the right, just inside the big disk, thatCÇÖs being talked
    about the most. Although the planet PDS 70c is a newly formed and,
    interestingly, similar in size and mass to Jupiter. It's the fuzzy
    patch around the planet PDS 70c that's causing the commotion. That
    fuzzy patch is thought to be a dusty disk that is now forming into
    moons -- and that had never been seen before. The featured image was
    taken in 2021 by the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) of 66 radio
    telescopes in the high Atacama Desert of northern Chile. Based on ALMA
    data, astronomers infer that the moon-forming exoplanetary disk has a
    radius similar to our Earth's orbit, and may one day form three or so
    Luna-sized moons -- not very different from our Jupiter's four.

    Tomorrow's picture: veiled supernova
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Oct 18 01:01:02 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 18
    Brown glowing dust appears to the left of the blue and red filamentary
    gas that composes the western edge of the Veil Nebula, a supernova
    remnant. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Dust and the Western Veil Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jiang Wu

    Explanation: It's so big it is easy to miss. The entire Veil Nebula
    spans six times the diameter of the full moon, but is so dim you need
    binoculars to see it. The nebula was created about 15,000 years ago
    when a star in the constellation of the Swan (Cygnus) exploded. The
    spectacular explosion would have appeared brighter than even Venus for
    a week - but there is no known record of it. Pictured is the western
    edge of the still-expanding gas cloud. Notable gas filaments include
    the Witch's Broom Nebula on the upper left near the bright foreground
    star 52 Cygni, and Fleming's Triangular Wisp (formerly known as
    Pickering's Triangle) running diagonally up the image middle. What is
    rarely imaged -- but seen in the featured long exposure across many
    color bands -- is the reflecting brown dust that runs vertically up the
    image left, dust likely created in the cool atmospheres of massive
    stars.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Oct 20 00:11:38 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 20

    Galaxies and a Comet
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

    Explanation: Galaxies abound in this sharp telescopic image recorded on
    October 12 in dark skies over June Lake, California. The celestial
    scene spans nearly 2 degrees within the boundaries of the well-trained
    northern constellation Canes Venatici. Prominent at the upper left 23.5
    million light-years distant is big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 4258,
    known to some as Messier 106. Eye-catching edge-on spiral NGC 4217 is
    above and right of center about 60 million light-years away. Just
    passing through the pretty field of view is comet C/2023 H2 Lemmon,
    discovered last April in image data from the Mount Lemmon Survey. Here
    the comet sports more of a lime green coma though, along with a faint,
    narrow ion tail stretching toward the top of the frame. This visitor to
    the inner Solar System is presently less than 7 light-minutes away and
    still difficult to spot with binoculars, but it's growing brighter.
    Comet C/2023 H2 Lemmon will reach perihelion, its closest point to the
    Sun, on October 29 and perigee, its closest to our fair planet, on
    November 10 as it transitions from morning to evening northern skies.

    Tomorrow's picture: observe the Moon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Oct 21 00:08:34 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 21

    Quarter Moons
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marcella Giulia Pace

    Explanation: Half way between New Moon and Full Moon is the Moon's
    first quarter phase. That's a quarter of the way around its moonthly
    orbit. At the first quarter phase, half the Moon's visible side is
    illuminated by sunlight. For the Moon's third quarter phase, half way
    between Full Moon and New Moon, sunlight illuminates the other half of
    the visible lunar disk. At both first and third quarter phases, the
    terminator, or shadow line separating the lunar night and day, runs
    down the middle. Near the terminator, long shadows bring lunar craters
    and mountains in to sharp relief, making the quarter phases a good time
    to observe the Moon. But in case you missed some, all the quarter
    phases of the Moon and their calendar dates during 2022 can be found in
    this well-planned array of telephoto images. Of course, you can observe
    a first quarter Moon tonight.

    International: Observe the Moon Night
    Tomorrow's picture: ghostly northern lights
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Oct 22 00:26:00 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 22
    A landscape is pictured with snow and a line of evergreen trees. In the
    sky is a field of stars but also notable green aurora. The largest
    aurora appears similar in form to a Halloween ghost, Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Ghost Aurora over Canada
    Image Credit & Copyright: Yuichi Takasaka, TWAN

    Explanation: What does this aurora look like to you? While braving the
    cold to watch the skies above northern Canada early one morning in
    2013, a most unusual aurora appeared. The aurora definitely appeared to
    be shaped like something, but what? Two ghostly possibilities recorded
    by the astrophotographer were "witch" and "goddess of dawn", but please
    feel free to suggest your own Halloween-enhanced impressions.
    Regardless of fantastical pareidolic interpretations, the pictured
    aurora had a typical green color and was surely caused by the
    scientifically commonplace action of high-energy particles from space
    interacting with oxygen in Earth's upper atmosphere. In the image
    foreground, at the bottom, is a frozen Alexandra Falls, while evergreen
    trees cross the middle.

    Help Wanted: Professional-astronomer level guest writers and assistant
    editors for APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: Io from Juno
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Oct 24 00:06:50 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 24
    Three large galaxies are shown, the rightmost two in collision. The
    galaxy on the far right is a large spiral galaxy with one arm connected
    to an unusual polar galaxy on the left. The smaller galaxy on the far
    left is thought to be far in the background. Please see the explanation
    for more detailed information.

    Arp 87: Merging Galaxies from Hubble
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing: Harshwardhan Pathak

    Explanation: This dance is to the death. As these two large galaxies
    duel, a cosmic bridge of stars, gas, and dust currently stretches over
    75,000 light-years and joins them. The bridge itself is strong evidence
    that these two immense star systems have passed close to each other and
    experienced violent tides induced by mutual gravity. As further
    evidence, the face-on spiral galaxy on the right, also known as NGC
    3808A, exhibits many young blue star clusters produced in a burst of
    star formation. The twisted edge-on spiral on the left (NGC 3808B)
    seems to be wrapped in the material bridging the galaxies and
    surrounded by a curious polar ring. Together, the system is known as
    Arp 87. While such interactions are drawn out over billions of years,
    repeated close passages will ultimately create one merged galaxy.
    Although this scenario does look unusual, galactic mergers are thought
    to be common, with Arp 87 representing a stage in this inevitable
    process. The Arp 87 dancing pair are about 300 million light-years
    distant toward the constellation of the Lion (Leo). The prominent
    edge-on spiral galaxy at the far left appears to be a more distant
    background galaxy and not involved in the on-going merger.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Oct 25 00:56:48 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 25

    Gone in 60 Seconds: A Green Flash Sunset
    Video Credit & Copyright: Tengyu Cai

    Explanation: In 60 seconds, this setting Sun will turn green. Actually,
    the top of the Sun already appears not only green, but wavey -- along
    with all of its edges. The Sun itself is unchanged -- both effects are
    caused by looking along hot and cold layers in Earth's atmosphere. The
    unusual color is known as a green flash and occurs because these
    atmospheric layers not only shift background images but disperse colors
    into slightly different directions, like a prism. The featured video
    was captured earlier this month off the coast of Hawaii, USA. After
    waiting those 60 seconds, at the video's end, the upper part of the Sun
    seems to hover alone in space, while turning not only green, but blue.
    Then suddenly, the Sun appears to shrink to nothing -- only to return
    tomorrow.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Oct 26 01:14:18 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 26

    Orionids in Taurus
    Image Credit & Copyright: David Cortner

    Explanation: History's first known periodic comet, Comet Halley
    (1P/Halley), returns to the inner Solar System every 76 years or so.
    The famous comet made its last appearance to the naked-eye in 1986. But
    dusty debris from Comet Halley can be seen raining through planet
    Earth's skies twice a year during two annual meteor showers, the Eta
    Aquarids in May and the Orionids in October. In fact, an unhurried
    series of exposures captured these two bright meteors, vaporizing bits
    of Halley dust, during the early morning hours of October 23 against a
    starry background along the Taurus molecular cloud. Impacting the
    atmosphere at about 66 kilometers per second their greenish streaks
    point back to the shower's radiant just north of Orion's bright star
    Betelgeuse off the lower left side of the frame. The familiar Pleiades
    star cluster anchors the dusty celestial scene at the right.

    Tomorrow's picture: 2P/Encke
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Oct 27 00:25:50 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 27

    Encke and the Tadpoles
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

    Explanation: History's second known periodic comet is Comet Encke
    (2P/Encke). As it swings through the inner Solar System, Encke's orbit
    takes it from an aphelion, its greatest distance from the Sun, inside
    the orbit of Jupiter to a perihelion just inside the orbit of Mercury.
    Returning to its perihelion every 3.3 years, Encke has the shortest
    period of the Solar System's major comets. Comet Encke is also
    associated with (at least) two annual meteor showers on planet Earth,
    the North and South Taurids. Both showers are active in late October
    and early November. Their two separate radiants lie near bright star
    Aldebaran in the head-strong constellation Taurus. A faint comet, Encke
    was captured in this telescopic field of view imaged on the morning of
    August 24. Then, Encke's pretty greenish coma was close on the sky to
    the young, embedded star cluster and light-years long, tadpole-shaped
    star-forming clouds in emission nebula IC 410. Now near bright star
    Spica in Virgo Comet Encke passed its 2023 perihelion only five days
    ago, on October 22.

    Tomorrow's picture: mostly a ghostly weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Oct 28 00:49:24 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 28

    The Ghosts of Gamma Cas
    Image Credit & Copyright: Guillaume Gruntz, Jean-Fran+ºois Bax

    Explanation: Gamma Cassiopeiae shines high in northern autumn evening
    skies. It's the brightest spiky star in this telescopic field of view
    toward the constellation Cassiopeia. Gamma Cas shares the
    ethereal-looking scene with ghostly interstellar clouds of gas and
    dust, IC 59 (top left) and IC 63. About 600 light-years distant, the
    clouds aren't actually ghosts. They are slowly disappearing though,
    eroding under the influence of energetic radiation from hot and
    luminous gamma Cas. Gamma Cas is physically located only 3 to 4
    light-years from the nebulae. Slightly closer to gamma Cas, IC 63 is
    dominated by red H-alpha light emitted as hydrogen atoms ionized by the
    star's ultraviolet radiation recombine with electrons. Farther from the
    star, IC 59 shows proportionally less H-alpha emission but more of the
    characteristic blue tint of dust reflected star light. The cosmic stage
    spans over 1 degree or 10 light-years at the estimated distance of
    gamma Cas and friends.

    Tomorrow's picture: ghosts of the Cepheus Flare
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Oct 29 00:10:16 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 29
    Two images of a partial lunar eclipse are shown. On the left the image
    is overexposed everywhere except the bottom right where the eclipsed
    part of the Moon is visible. On the right image most of the image is
    normally exposed but the bottom right part is dark. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    A Partial Lunar Eclipse
    Image Credit & Copyright: Orazio Mezzio

    Explanation: What's happened to the Moon? Within the last day, part of
    the Moon moved through the Earth's shadow. This happens about once or
    twice a year, but not every month since the Moon's orbit around the
    Earth is slightly tilted. Pictured here, the face of a full Hunter's
    Moon is shown twice from Italy during this partial lunar eclipse. On
    the left, most of the Moon appears overexposed except for the eclipsed
    bottom right, which shows some familiar lunar surface details. In
    contrast, on the right, most of the (same) Moon appears normally
    exposed, with the exception of the bottom right, which now appears
    dark. All lunar eclipses are visible from the half of the Earth facing
    the Moon at the time of the eclipse, but this eclipse was visible
    specifically from Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, clouds
    permitting. In April, a total solar eclipse will be visible from North
    America.

    Album: Selected partial lunar eclipse images sent in to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: a devil on mars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Oct 30 00:26:50 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 30
    A dark starfield is shown with several brown nebulas. Many of the
    nebulas appear to have unusual shapes, with one possibly resembling a
    bat, while other may resemble people. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    Reflections of the Ghost Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Bogdan Jarzyna

    Explanation: Do any shapes seem to jump out at you from this
    interstellar field of stars and dust? The jeweled expanse, filled with
    faint, starlight-reflecting clouds, drifts through the night in the
    royal constellation of Cepheus. Far from your own neighborhood on
    planet Earth, these ghostly apparitions lurk along the plane of the
    Milky Way at the edge of the Cepheus Flare molecular cloud complex some
    1,200 light-years away. Over two light-years across and brighter than
    the other spooky chimeras, VdB 141 or Sh2-136 is also known as the
    Ghost Nebula, seen toward the bottom of the featured image. Within the
    reflection nebula are the telltale signs of dense cores collapsing in
    the early stages of star formation.

    Tour the Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: all hallow's eve
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Oct 31 00:24:16 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 October 31
    The center of the Wizard Nebula is shown featuring gas glowing in red
    and dust reflecting in blue. Dark dust pillars are seen throughout the
    image. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Halloween and the Wizard Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Richard McInnis

    Explanation: Halloween's origin is ancient and astronomical. Since the
    fifth century BC, Halloween has been celebrated as a cross-quarter day,
    a day halfway between an equinox (equal day / equal night) and a
    solstice (minimum day / maximum night in the northern hemisphere). With
    a modern calendar however, even though Halloween occurs today, the real
    cross-quarter day will occur next week. Another cross-quarter day is
    Groundhog Day. Halloween's modern celebration retains historic roots in
    dressing to scare away the spirits of the dead. Perhaps a fitting
    tribute to this ancient holiday is this closeup view of the Wizard
    Nebula (NGC 7380). Visually, the interplay of stars, gas, and dust has
    created a shape that appears to some like a fictional ancient sorcerer.
    Although the nebula may last only a few million years, some of the
    stars being conjured from the gas by the great gravitational powers may
    outlive our Sun.

    Tomorrow's picture: sun block
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Nov 1 00:45:14 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 1
    A sequence of Sun and Moon images are shown behind a scenic foreground
    that features the large Factory Butte. The foreground was taken during
    the maximum part of the annular eclipse and seems somehow oddly lit.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Annular Solar Eclipse over Utah
    Image Credit & Copyright: MaryBeth Kiczenski

    Explanation: Part of the Sun disappeared earlier this month, but few
    people were worried. The missing part, which included the center from
    some locations, just went behind the Moon in what is known as an
    annular solar eclipse. Featured here is an eclipse sequence taken as
    the Moon was overtaking the rising Sun in the sky. The foreground hill
    is Factory Butte in Utah, USA. The rays flaring out from the Sun are
    not real -- they result from camera aperture diffraction and are known
    as sunstar. The Moon is real, but it is artificially brightened to
    enhance its outline -- which helps the viewer better visualize the
    Moon's changing position during this ring-of-fire eclipse. As stunning
    as this eclipse sequence is, it was considered just practice by the
    astrophotographer. The reason? She hopes to use this experience to
    better photograph the total solar eclipse that will occur over North
    America on April 8, 2024.

    Apply today (USA): Become a NASA Partner Eclipse Ambassador
    Eclipse Album: Selected images sent in to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Nov 2 00:29:52 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 2

    The Fornax Cluster of Galaxies
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marcelo Rivera

    Explanation: Named for the southern constellation toward which most of
    its galaxies can be found, the Fornax Cluster is one of the closest
    clusters of galaxies. About 62 million light-years away, it's over 20
    times more distant than our neighboring Andromeda Galaxy, but only
    about 10 percent farther along than the better known and more populated
    Virgo Galaxy Cluster. Seen across this three degree wide field-of-view,
    almost every yellowish splotch on the image is an elliptical galaxy in
    the Fornax cluster. Elliptical galaxies NGC 1399 and NGC 1404 are the
    dominant, bright cluster members toward the bottom center. A standout,
    large barred spiral galaxy, NGC 1365, is visible on the upper right as
    a prominent Fornax cluster member.

    Tomorrow's picture: opposite the Sun
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Nov 4 01:34:18 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 4

    Dinkinesh Moonrise
    Image Credit: NASA/Goddard, SwRI, Johns Hopkins APL, NOIRLab

    Explanation: Last Wednesday the voyaging Lucy spacecraft encountered
    its first asteroid, 152830 Dinkinesh, and discovered the inner-main
    belt asteroid has a moon. From a distance of just over 400 kilometers,
    Lucy's Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager captured this close-up of the
    binary system during a flyby at 4.5 kilometer per second or around
    10,000 miles per hour. A marvelous world, Dinkinesh itself is small,
    less than 800 meters (about 0.5 miles) across at its widest. Its
    satellite is seen from the spacecraft's perspective to emerge from
    behind the primary asteroid. The asteroid moon is estimated to be only
    about 220 meters wide.

    Tomorrow's picture: aurora borealis
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Nov 5 04:34:04 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 5
    The night sky over a snowy tree-adorned landscape glows in green and
    purple. The auroral glow might appear to some to be shaped like a
    creature. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Creature Aurora Over Norway
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ole C. Salomonsen (Arctic Light Photo)

    Explanation: It was Halloween and the sky looked like a creature.
    Exactly which creature, the astrophotographer was unsure (but possibly
    you can suggest one). Exactly what caused this eerie apparition in 2013
    was sure: one of the best auroral displays that year. This spectacular
    aurora had an unusually high degree of detail. Pictured here, the vivid
    green and purple auroral colors are caused by high atmospheric oxygen
    and nitrogen reacting to a burst of incoming electrons. Birch trees in
    Troms+., Norway formed an also eerie foreground. Frequently, new
    photogenic auroras accompany new geomagnetic storms.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: devil on mars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Nov 6 00:03:58 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 6
    The night sky over a valley is shown complete with the central band of
    the Milky Way Galaxy crossing up from the lower left. On the right the
    sky just over the hill glows an unusual red: aurora. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Red Aurora over Italy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Giorgia Hofer

    Explanation: What was that red glow on the horizon last night? Aurora.
    Our unusually active Sun produced a surface explosion a few days ago
    that sent out a burst of electrons, protons, and more massive charged
    nuclei. This coronal mass ejection (CME) triggered auroras here on
    Earth that are being reported unusually far south in Earth's northern
    hemisphere. For example, this was the first time that the
    astrophotographer captured aurora from her home country of Italy.
    Additionally, many images from these auroras appear quite red in color.
    In the featured image, the town of Comelico Superiore in the Italian
    Alps is visible in the foreground, with the central band of our Milky
    Way galaxy seen rising from the lower left. What draws the eye the
    most, though, is the bright red aurora on the far right. The featured
    image is a composite with the foreground and background images taken
    consecutively with the same camera and from the same location.

    Aurora Album: Selected images sent in to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: devil on mars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Nov 7 00:05:52 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 7

    A Martian Dust Devil Spins By
    Video Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Perseverance Rover; AI processing:
    PipploIMP

    Explanation: It moved across the surface of Mars -- what was it? A dust
    devil. Such spinning columns of rising air are heated by the warm
    surface and are also common in warm and dry areas on planet Earth.
    Typically lasting only a few minutes, dust devils become visible as
    they pick up loose red-colored dust, leaving the darker and heavier
    sand beneath intact. Dust devils not only look cool -- they can leave
    visible trails, and have been credited with unexpected cleanings of the
    surfaces of solar panels. The images in the featured AI-interpolated
    video were captured in early August by the Perseverance rover currently
    searching for signs of ancient life in Jezero Crater. The six-second
    time-lapse video encapsulates a real duration of just over one minute.
    Visible in the distance, the spinning dust devil was estimated to be
    passing by at about 20 kilometers per hour and extend up about 2
    kilometers high.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: a new space telescope
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Nov 8 00:24:08 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 8
    A deep space image showing many galaxies, some of which are seen in a
    central bar running nearly horizontally across the image. Please see
    the explanation for more detailed information.

    Perseus Galaxy Cluster from Euclid
    Image Credit & License: ESA, Euclid, Euclid Consortium, NASA;
    Processing: Jean-Charles Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay) & Giovanni
    Anselmi; Text: Jean-Charles Cuillandre

    Explanation: There's a new space telescope in the sky: Euclid. Equipped
    with two large panoramic cameras, Euclid captures light from the
    visible to the near-infrared. It took five hours of observing for
    Euclid's 1.2-meter diameter primary mirror to capture, through its
    sharp optics, the 1000+ galaxies in the Perseus cluster, which lies 250
    million light years away. More than 100,000 galaxies are visible in the
    background, some as far away as 10 billion light years. The
    revolutionary nature of Euclid lies in the combination of its wide
    field of view (twice the area of the full moon), its high angular
    resolution (thanks to its 620 Megapixel camera), and its infrared
    vision, which captures both images and spectra. Euclid's initial
    surveys, covering a third of the sky and recording over 2 billion
    galaxies, will enable a study of how dark matter and dark energy have
    shaped our universe.

    Tomorrow's picture: M1
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Nov 9 01:15:28 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 9

    M1: The Crab Nebula
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Tea Temim (Princeton University)

    Explanation: The Crab Nebula is cataloged as M1, the first object on
    Charles Messier's famous 18th century list of things which are not
    comets. In fact, the Crab is now known to be a supernova remnant,
    debris from the death explosion of a massive star witnessed by
    astronomers in the year 1054. This sharp image from the James Webb
    Space TelescopeCÇÖs NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared
    Instrument) explores the eerie glow and fragmented strands of the still
    expanding cloud of interstellar debris in infrared light. One of the
    most exotic objects known to modern astronomers, the Crab Pulsar, a
    neutron star spinning 30 times a second, is visible as a bright spot
    near the nebula's center. Like a cosmic dynamo, this collapsed remnant
    of the stellar core powers the Crab's emission across the
    electromagnetic spectrum. Spanning about 12 light-years, the Crab
    Nebula is a mere 6,500 light-years away in the head-strong
    constellation Taurus.

    Tomorrow's picture: UHZ1
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Nov 10 05:30:20 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 10

    UHZ1: Distant Galaxy and Black Hole
    Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/+ükos Bogd+ín; Infrared:
    NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI;
    Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare & K. Arcand

    Explanation: Dominated by dark matter, massive cluster of galaxies
    Abell 2744 is known to some as Pandora's Cluster. It lies 3.5 billion
    light-years away toward the constellation Sculptor. Using the galaxy
    cluster's enormous mass as a gravitational lens to warp spacetime and
    magnify even more distant objects directly behind it, astronomers have
    found a background galaxy, UHZ1, at a remarkable redshift of Z=10.1.
    That puts UHZ1 far beyond Abell 2744, at a distance of 13.2 billion
    light-years, seen when our universe was about 3 percent of its current
    age. UHZ1 is identified in the insets of this composited image
    combining X-rays (purple hues) from the spacebased Chandra X-ray
    Observatory and infrared light from the James Webb Space Telescope. The
    X-ray emission from UHZ1 detected in the Chandra data is the telltale
    signature of a growing supermassive black hole at the center of the
    ultra high redshift galaxy. That makes UHZ1's growing black hole the
    most distant black hole ever detected in X-rays, a result that now
    hints at how and when the first supermassive black holes in the
    universe formed.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Nov 11 00:18:42 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 11

    The SAR and the Milky Way
    Image Credit & Copyright: Julien Looten

    Explanation: This broad, luminous red arc was a surprising visitor to
    partly cloudy evening skies over northern France. Captured extending
    toward the zenith in a west-to-east mosaic of images from November 5,
    the faint atmospheric ribbon of light is an example of a Stable Auroral
    Red (SAR) arc. The rare night sky phenomenon was also spotted at
    unusually low latitudes around world, along with more dynamic auroral
    displays during an intense geomagnetic storm. SAR arcs and their
    relation to auroral emission have been explored by citizen science and
    satellite investigations. From altitudes substantially above the normal
    auroral glow, the deep red SAR emission is thought to be caused by
    strong heating due to currents flowing in planet Earth's inner
    magnetosphere. Beyond this SAR, the Milky Way arcs above the cloud
    banks along the horizon, a regular visitor to night skies over northern
    France.

    Tomorrow's picture: snow day
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Nov 12 00:16:26 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 12
    A mostly full moon is seen over a snowy sloping hill. An airplane and
    contrail are seen just about the Moon. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    Gibbous Moon beyond Swedish Mountain
    Image Credit & Copyright: G++ran Strand

    Explanation: This is a gibbous Moon. More Earthlings are familiar with
    a full moon, when the entire face of Luna is lit by the Sun, and a
    crescent moon, when only a sliver of the Moon's face is lit. When more
    than half of the Moon is illuminated, though, but still short of full
    illumination, the phase is called gibbous. Rarely seen in television
    and movies, gibbous moons are quite common in the actual night sky. The
    featured image was taken in J+ñmtland, Sweden near the end of 2018
    October. That gibbous moon turned, in a few days, into a crescent moon,
    and then a new moon, then back to a crescent, and a few days past that,
    back to gibbous. Setting up to capture a picturesque gibbous moonscape,
    the photographer was quite surprised to find an airplane, surely well
    in the foreground, appearing to fly past it.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: galaxy mountain
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Nov 13 00:41:32 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 13
    The night sky over a snowy mountain is shown, with the dark sky
    dominated by a large spiral galaxy -- the Andromeda galaxy. Please see
    the explanation for more detailed information.

    Andromeda over the Alps
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dzmitry Kananovich

    Explanation: Have you ever seen the Andromeda galaxy? Although M31
    appears as a faint and fuzzy blob to the unaided eye, the light you see
    will be over two million years old, making it likely the oldest light
    you ever will see directly. The featured image captured Andromeda just
    before it set behind the Swiss Alps early last year. As cool as it may
    be to see this neighboring galaxy to our Milky Way with your own eyes,
    long duration camera exposures can pick up many faint and breathtaking
    details. The image is composite of foreground and background images
    taken consecutively with the same camera and from the same location.
    Recent data indicate that our Milky Way Galaxy will collide and
    coalesce with Andromeda galaxy in a few billion years.

    Follow APOD on Facebook in: Arabic, English, Catalan, Portuguese, or
    Taiwanese
    Tomorrow's picture: planets rock
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Nov 14 00:38:58 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 14
    A seascape surrounds a large tree-covered hill. Surrounding the hill in
    the night sky are three bright dots: the planets Jupiter, Venus, and a
    crescent Moon. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Three Planets Rock
    Image Credit & Copyright: Giovanni Passalacqua; Text: Liz Coelho (Pikes
    Peak)

    Explanation: In the fading darkness before dawn, a tilted triangle
    appeared to balance atop a rock formation off the southern tip of
    Sicily. Making up the points of the triangle are three of the four
    brightest objects visible in EarthCÇÖs sky: Jupiter, Venus and the Moon.
    Though a thin waning crescent, most of the moonCÇÖs disk is visible due
    to earthshine. Captured in this image on 2022 April 27, Venus (center)
    and Jupiter (left) are roughly three degrees apart -- and were headed
    toward a close conjunction. Conjunctions of Venus and Jupiter occur
    about once a year and are visible either in the east before sunrise or
    in the west after sunset. The featured image was taken about an hour
    before the arrival of the brightest object in EarthCÇÖs sky CÇô the Sun.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Nov 15 00:05:36 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 15
    The Crab Nebula, M1, is shown as imaged by the James Webb Space
    Telescope. The rollover image is the same Crab Nebula but this time
    from the Hubble Space Telescope. The Webb image is in near infrared
    light, while the Hubble image is in visible light. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    M1: The Incredible Expanding Crab
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Jeff Hester (ASU), Allison Loll
    (ASU), Tea Temim (Princeton University)

    Explanation: Cataloged as M1, the Crab Nebula is the first on Charles
    Messier's famous list
    of things which are not comets. In fact, the Crab Nebula is now known
    to be a supernova remnant, an expanding cloud of debris from the death
    explosion of a massive star. The violent birth of the Crab was
    witnessed by astronomers in the year 1054. Roughly 10 light-years
    across, the nebula is still expanding at a rate of about 1,500
    kilometers per second. You can see the expansion by comparing these
    sharp images from the Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space
    Telescope. The Crab's dynamic, fragmented filaments were captured in
    visible light by Hubble in 2005 and Webb in infrared light in 2023.
    This cosmic crustacean lies about 6,500 light-years away in the
    constellation Taurus.

    Tomorrow's picture: daytime Moon, morning star
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Nov 16 04:55:30 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 16

    Daytime Moon Meets Morning Star
    Image Credit & Copyright: Katarzyna Kaczmarczyk

    Explanation: Venus now appears as Earth's brilliant morning star,
    shining above the southeastern horizon before dawn. For early morning
    risers, the silvery celestial beacon rose predawn in a close pairing
    with a waning crescent Moon on Thursday, November 9. But from some
    northern locations, the Moon was seen to occult or pass in front of
    Venus. From much of Europe, the lunar occultation could be viewed in
    daylight skies. This time series composite follows the daytime approach
    of Moon and morning star in blue skies from Warsaw, Poland. The
    progression of eight sharp telescopic snapshots, made between 10:56am
    and 10:58am local time, runs from left to right, when Venus winked out
    behind the bright lunar limb.

    Tomorrow's picture: Aurora over Greenland
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Nov 18 01:08:08 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 18

    Planet Earth from Orion
    Image Credit: NASA, Artemis I

    Explanation: One year ago a Space Launch System rocket left planet
    Earth on November 16, 2022 at 1:47am EST carrying the Orion spacecraft
    on the Artemis I mission, the first integrated test of NASACÇÖs deep
    space exploration systems. Over an hour after liftoff from Kennedy
    Space Center's historic Launch Complex 39B, one of Orion's external
    video cameras captured this view of its new perspective from space. In
    the foreground are Orion's Orbital Maneuvering System engine and
    auxillary engines, at the bottom of the European Service Module. Beyond
    one of the module's 7-meter long extended solar array wings lies the
    spacecraft's beautiful home world. Making close flybys of the lunar
    surface and reaching a retrograde orbit 70,000 kilometers beyond the
    Moon, the uncrewed Artemis I mission lasted over 25 days, testing
    capabilities to enable human exploration of the Moon and Mars. Building
    on the success of Artemis I, no earlier than November 2024 the Artemis
    II mission with a crew of 4 will venture around the Moon and back
    again.

    Tomorrow's picture: Sun day
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Nov 20 00:07:50 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 20
    A dark nebula resembling the head of a horse is imaged before a
    red-glowing background. Stars appear throughout the image. Please see
    the explanation for more detailed information.

    The Horsehead Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson & Martin Pugh, SSRO, PROMPT,
    CTIO, NSF

    Explanation: Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, a magnificent
    interstellar dust cloud by chance has assumed this recognizable shape.
    Fittingly named the Horsehead Nebula, it is some 1,500 light-years
    distant, embedded in the vast Orion cloud complex. About five
    light-years "tall," the dark cloud is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is
    visible only because its obscuring dust is silhouetted against the
    glowing red emission nebula IC 434. Stars are forming within the dark
    cloud. Contrasting blue reflection nebula NGC 2023, surrounding a hot,
    young star, is at the lower left of the full image. The featured
    gorgeous color image combines both narrowband and broadband images
    recorded using several different telescopes.

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    Tomorrow's picture: supernova wisp
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Nov 21 00:09:30 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 21
    A nebula consisting of blue and red wisps starts thin at the image
    bottom but expands into a triangle at the image top. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Fleming's Triangular Wisp
    Image Credit & Copyright: Cristiano Gualco

    Explanation: These chaotic and tangled filaments of shocked, glowing
    gas are spread across planet Earth's sky toward the constellation of
    Cygnus as part of the Veil Nebula. The Veil Nebula itself is a large
    supernova remnant, an expanding cloud born of the death explosion of a
    massive star. Light from the original supernova explosion likely
    reached Earth over 5,000 years ago. The glowing filaments are really
    more like long ripples in a sheet seen almost edge on, remarkably well
    separated into the glow of ionized hydrogen atoms shown in red and
    oxygen in blue hues. Also known as the Cygnus Loop and cataloged as NGC
    6979, the Veil Nebula now spans about 6 times the diameter of the full
    Moon. The length of the wisp corresponds to about 30 light years, given
    its estimated distance of 2,400 light years. Often identified as
    Pickering's Triangle for a director of Harvard College Observatory, it
    is perhaps better named for its discoverer, astronomer Williamina
    Fleming, as Fleming's Triangular Wisp.

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    Tomorrow's picture: open space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Nov 22 04:23:10 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 22

    IC 342: Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis
    Image Credit & Copyright: Steve Cannistra

    Explanation: Similar in size to large, bright spiral galaxies in our
    neighborhood, IC 342 is a mere 10 million light-years distant in the
    long-necked, northern constellation Camelopardalis. A sprawling island
    universe, IC 342 would otherwise be a prominent galaxy in our night
    sky, but it is hidden from clear view and only glimpsed through the
    veil of stars, gas and dust clouds along the plane of our own Milky Way
    galaxy. Even though IC 342's light is dimmed and reddened by
    intervening cosmic clouds, this sharp telescopic image traces the
    galaxy's own obscuring dust, young star clusters, and glowing star
    forming regions along spiral arms that wind far from the galaxy's core.
    IC 342 has undergone a recent burst of star formation activity and is
    close enough to have gravitationally influenced the evolution of the
    local group of galaxies and the Milky Way.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Nov 23 04:11:44 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 23

    Along the Taurus Molecular Cloud
    Image Credit & Copyright: Yuexiao Shen, Joe Hua

    Explanation: The cosmic brush of star formation composed this
    interstellar canvas of emission, dust, and dark nebulae. A 5 degree
    wide telescopic mosaic, it frames a region found north of bright star
    Aldebaran on the sky, at an inner wall of the local bubble along the
    Taurus molecular cloud. At lower left, emission cataloged as Sh2-239
    shows signs of embedded young stellar objects. The region's Herbig-Haro
    objects, nebulosities associated with newly born stars, are marked by
    tell-tale reddish jets of shocked hydrogen gas. Above and right T
    Tauri, the prototype of the class of T Tauri variable stars, is next to
    a yellowish nebula historically known as Hind's Variable Nebula (NGC
    1555). T Tauri stars are now generally recognized as young, less than a
    few million years old, sun-like stars still in the early stages of
    formation.

    Tomorrow's picture: Stereo Jupiter
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Nov 24 01:46:40 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 24

    Stereo Jupiter near Opposition
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marco Lorenzi

    Explanation: Jupiter looks sharp in these two rooftop telescope images.
    Both were captured on November 17 from Singapore, planet Earth, about
    two weeks after Jupiter's 2023 opposition. Climbing high in midnight
    skies the giant planet was a mere 33.4 light-minutes from Singapore.
    That's about 4 astronomical units away. Jupiter's planet girdling dark
    belts and light zones are visible in remarkable detail, along with the
    giant world's whitish oval vortices. Its signature Great Red Spot is
    still prominent in the south. Jupiter rotates rapidly on its axis once
    every 10 hours. So, based on video frames taken only 15 minutes apart,
    these images form a stereo pair. Look at the center of the pair and
    cross your eyes until the separate images come together to see the
    Solar System's ruling gas giant in 3D.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Nov 25 08:14:50 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 25

    Little Planet Aurora
    Image Credit & Copyright: Victor Lima

    Explanation: Immersed in an eerie greenish light, this rugged little
    planet appears to be home to stunning water falls and an impossibly
    tall mountain. It's planet Earth of course. On the night of November 9
    the nadir-centered 360 degree mosaic was captured by digital camera
    from the Kirkjufell mountain area of western Iceland. Curtains of
    shimmering Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights provide the pale greenish
    illumination. The intense auroral display was caused by solar activity
    that rocked Earth's magnetosphere in early November and produced strong
    geomagnetic storms. Kirkjufell mountain itself stands at the top of the
    stereographic projection's circular horizon. Northern hemisphere
    skygazers will recognize the familiar stars of the Big Dipper just
    above Kirkjufell's peak. At lower right the compact Pleiades star
    cluster and truly giant planet Jupiter also shine in this little
    planet's night sky.

    Tomorrow's picture: The Surface of 67P
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Nov 27 06:17:12 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 27
    A light brown nebula is seen on a dark starfield. The outline of the
    nebula makes it appear like an eagle ray fish. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    LBN 86: The Eagle Ray Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Vikas Chander

    Explanation: This eagle ray glides across a cosmic sea. Officially
    cataloged as SH2-63 and LBN 86, the dark nebula is composed of gas and
    dust that just happens to appear shaped like a common ocean fish. The
    interstellar dust nebula appears light brown as it blocks and reddens
    visible light emitted behind it. Dark nebulas glow primarily in
    infrared light, but also reflect visible light from surrounding stars.
    The dust in dark nebulas is usually sub-millimeter chunks of carbon,
    silicon, and oxygen, frequently coated with frozen carbon monoxide and
    nitrogen. Dark nebulas are also known as molecular clouds because they
    also contain relatively high amounts of molecular hydrogen and larger
    molecules. Previously unnamed, the here dubbed Eagle Ray Nebula is
    normally quite dim but has been imaged clearly over 20-hours through
    dark skies in Chile.

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    Tomorrow's picture: largest moon
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Nov 28 07:48:08 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 28
    A tan sphere is shown with dark markings and a few light craters. The
    sphere is the largest known moon in the Solar System: Jupiter's moon
    Ganymede. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Ganymede from Juno
    Image Credit & Copyright: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Processing &
    License: Kevin M. Gill;

    Explanation: What does the largest moon in the Solar System look like?
    Jupiter's moon Ganymede, larger than even Mercury and Pluto, has an icy
    surface speckled with bright young craters overlying a mixture of
    older, darker, more cratered terrain laced with grooves and ridges. The
    cause of the grooved terrain remains a topic of research, with a
    leading hypothesis relating it to shifting ice plates. Ganymede is
    thought to have an ocean layer that contains more water than Earth --
    and might contain life. Like Earth's Moon, Ganymede keeps the same face
    towards its central planet, in this case Jupiter. The featured image
    was captured in 2021 by NASA's robotic Juno spacecraft when it passed
    by the immense moon. The close pass reduced Juno's orbital period
    around Jupiter from 53 days to 43 days. Juno continues to study the
    giant planet's high gravity, unusual magnetic field, and complex cloud
    structures.

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    Tomorrow's picture: double twister
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Nov 29 01:03:32 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 29
    A funnel cloud is shown, but inside what appears to be a wider funnel
    cloud. A blue sky with a few white clouds is seen in the background,
    while flat plains are seen in the foreground. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    A Landspout Tornado over Kansas
    Image Credit & Copyright: Brad Hannon

    Explanation: Could there be a tornado inside another tornado? In
    general, no. OK, but could there be a tornado inside a wider dust
    devil? No again, for one reason because tornados comes down from the
    sky, but dust devils rise up from the ground. What is pictured is a
    landspout, an unusual type of tornado known to occur on the edge of a
    violent thunderstorm. The featured landspout was imaged and identified
    in Kansas, USA, in June 2019 by an experienced storm chaser. The real
    tornado is in the center, and the outer sheath was possibly created by
    large dust particles thrown out from the central tornado. So far, the
    only planet known to create tornados is Earth, although tornado-like
    activity has been found on the Sun and dust devils are common on Mars.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: Flight Day 13
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Nov 30 09:27:04 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 November 30

    Artemis 1: Flight Day 13
    Image Credit: NASA, Artemis I

    Explanation: On flight day 13 (November 28, 2022) of the Artemis I
    mission, the Orion spacecraft reached its maximum distance from its
    home world. Over 430,000 kilometers from Earth in a distant retrograde
    orbit, Orion surpassed the record for most distant spacecraft designed
    to carry humans. That record was previously set in 1970 during the
    Apollo 13 mission to the Moon. Both Earth and Moon are in the same
    field of view in this video frame from Orion on Artemis I mission
    flight day 13. The planet and its large natural satellite even appear
    about the same apparent size from the uncrewed spacecraft's
    perspective.

    Tomorrow's picture: galaxy rise
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Dec 1 00:52:22 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 1

    Milky Way Rising
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jos+¬ Rodrigues

    Explanation: The core of the Milky Way is rising beyond the Chilean
    mountain-top La Silla Observatory in this deep night skyscape. Seen
    toward the constellation Sagittarius, our home galaxy's center is
    flanked on the left, by the European Southern Observatory's New
    Technology Telescope which pioneered the use of active optics to
    accurately control the shape of large telescope mirrors. To the right
    stands the ESO 3.6-meter Telescope, home of the exoplanet hunting HARPS
    and NIRPS spectrographs. Between them, the galaxy's central bulge is
    filled with obscuring clouds of interstellar dust, bright stars,
    clusters, and nebulae. Prominent reddish hydrogen emission from the
    star-forming Lagoon Nebula, M8, is near center. The Trifid Nebula, M20,
    combines blue light of a dusty reflection nebula with reddish emission
    just left of the cosmic Lagoon. Both are popular stops on telescopic
    tours of the galactic center. The composited image is a stack of
    separate exposures for ground and sky made in April 2023, all captured
    consecutively with the same framing and camera equipment.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 2 00:18:06 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 2

    Startrails over Beijing Ancient Observatory
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN)

    Explanation: You can take a subway ride to visit this observatory in
    Beijing, China but you won't find any telescopes there. Starting in the
    1400s astronomers erected devices at the Beijing Ancient Observatory
    site to enable them to accurately measure and track the positions of
    naked-eye stars and planets. Some of the large, ornate astronomical
    instruments are still standing. You can even see stars from the star
    observation platform today, but now only the very brightest celestial
    beacons are visible against the city lights. In this time series of
    exposures from a camera fixed to a tripod to record graceful arcing
    startrails, the brightest trail is actually the Moon. Its broad arc is
    seen behind the ancient observatory's brass armillary sphere. Compare
    this picture from the Beijing Ancient Observatory taken in September
    2023 to one taken in 1895.

    Tomorrow's picture: moonset
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Dec 3 00:10:22 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 3

    Moon Setting Behind Teide Volcano
    Video Credit & Copyright: Daniel L+|pez (El Cielo de Canarias); Music:
    Piano della Moon (Dan Silva)

    Explanation: These people are not in danger. What is coming down from
    the left is just the Moon, far in the distance. Luna appears so large
    here because she is being photographed through a telescopic lens. What
    is moving is mostly the Earth, whose spin causes the Moon to slowly
    disappear behind Mount Teide, a volcano in the Canary Islands off the
    northwest coast of Africa. The people pictured are 16 kilometers away
    and many are facing the camera because they are watching the Sun rise
    behind the photographer. It is not a coincidence that a full moon rises
    just when the Sun sets because the Sun is always on the opposite side
    of the sky from a full moon. The featured video was made in 2018 during
    the full Milk Moon. The video is not time-lapse -- this was really how
    fast the Moon was setting.

    Tomorrow's picture: moon shot
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Dec 4 10:22:08 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 4
    A thin crescent moon is shown with a bright red contrail going through
    it, right to left. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Plane Crossing Crescent Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Juned Patel

    Explanation: No, the Moon is not a bow, and no, it did not shoot out a
    plane like an arrow. What is pictured is a chance superposition. The
    plane's contrail would normally appear white, but the large volume of
    air toward the rising Sun preferentially knocked away blue light, not
    only making the sky blue, but giving the reflected trail a bright red
    hue. Far in the distance, well behind the plane, the crescent Moon also
    appears slightly reddened. Captured early last month from Bolton, UK,
    the featured image was taken so soon after sunrise that the plane was
    sunlit from below, as was its contrail. Within minutes, unfortunately,
    the impromptu sky show ended. The plane moved out of sight. The Moon
    kept rising but became harder to see through a brightening sky. And the
    contrail gradually dispersed.

    Tomorrow's picture: powerful ray
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Dec 5 00:18:44 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 5
    An illustrations depicts a high energy cosmic ray starting an air
    shower in the Earth's atmosphere. Below is an array of air shower
    detectors. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Energetic Particle Strikes the Earth
    Illustration Credit: Osaka Metropolitan U./L-INSIGHT, Kyoto
    U./Ryuunosuke Takeshige

    Explanation: It was one of the most energetic particles ever known to
    strike the Earth -- but where did it come from? Dubbed Amaterasu after
    the Shinto sun goddess, this particle, as do all cosmic rays that
    strike the Earth's atmosphere, caused an air shower of electrons,
    protons, and other elementary particles to spray down onto the Earth
    below. In the featured illustration, a cosmic ray air shower is
    pictured striking the Telescope Array in Utah, USA, which recorded the
    Amaterasu event in 2021 May. Cosmic ray air showers are common enough
    that you likely have been in a particle spray yourself, although you
    likely wouldn't have noticed. The origin of this energetic particle,
    likely the nucleus of an atom, remains a mystery in two ways. First, it
    is not known how any single particle or atomic nucleus can practically
    acquire so much energy, and second, attempts to trace the particle back
    to where it originated did not indicate any likely potential source.

    Open Science: Browse 3,200+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: torched by stars
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Dec 6 04:28:14 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 6
    Brown dust pillars in the Carina Nebula are shown. Many appear like a
    torch since their ends are lit up with starlight. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Stars Versus Dust in the Carina Nebula
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA); Processing:
    Franco Meconi (Terraza al Cosmos)

    Explanation: It's stars versus dust in the Carina Nebula and the stars
    are winning. More precisely, the energetic light and winds from massive
    newly formed stars are evaporating and dispersing the dusty stellar
    nurseries in which they formed. Located in the Carina Nebula and inside
    a region known informally as Mystic Mountain, these pillars' appearance
    is dominated by opaque brown dust even though it is composed mostly of
    clear hydrogen gas. Even though some of the dust pillars look like
    torches, their ends are not on fire -- rather, they are illuminated by
    nearby stars. About 7,500 light-years distant, the featured image was
    taken with the Hubble Space Telescope and highlights an interior region
    of Carina known as HH1066 which spans nearly a light year. Within a few
    million years, the stars will likely win out completely and the dust
    torches will completely evaporate.

    Tomorrow's picture: Orion and the Ocean of Storms
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Dec 7 01:19:22 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 7

    Orion and the Ocean of Storms
    Image Credit: NASA, Artemis 1

    Explanation: On December 5, 2022, a camera on board the uncrewed Orion
    spacecraft captured this view as Orion approached its return powered
    flyby of the Moon. Beyond one of Orion's extended solar arrays lies
    dark, smooth, terrain along the western edge of the Oceanus
    Procellarum. Prominent on the lunar nearside Oceanus Procellarum, the
    Ocean of Storms, is the largest of the Moon's lava-flooded maria. The
    lunar terminator, shadow line between lunar night and day, runs along
    the left of this frame. The 41 kilometer diameter crater Marius is top
    center, with ray crater Kepler peeking in at the edge, just right of
    the solar array wing. Kepler's bright rays extend to the north and
    west, reaching the dark-floored Marius. On December 11, 2022 the Orion
    spacecraft reached its home world. The historic Artemis 1 mission ended
    with Orion's successful splashdown in planet Earth's water-flooded
    Pacific Ocean.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 9 05:12:56 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 8
    See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
    resolution version available.

    Vega and Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

    Explanation: On December 4, periodic Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks shared this
    telescopic field of view with Vega, alpha star of the northern
    constellation Lyra. Fifth brightest star in planet Earth's night, Vega
    is some 25 light-years distant while the much fainter comet was about
    21 light-minutes away. In recent months, outbursts have caused dramatic
    increases in brightness for Pons-Brooks though. Nicknamed the Devil
    Comet for its hornlike appearance, fans of interstellar spaceflight
    have also suggested the distorted shape of this large comet's central
    coma looks like the Millenium Falcon. A Halley-type comet,
    12P/Pons-Brooks last visited the inner Solar System in 1954. Its next
    perihelion passage or closest approach to the Sun will be April 21,
    2024. That's just two weeks after the April 8 total solar eclipse path
    crosses North America. But, highly inclined to the Solar System's
    ecliptic plane, the orbit of periodic Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks will never
    cross the orbit of planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

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    | About APOD | Discuss | >
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 9 05:46:46 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 9

    Pic du Pleiades
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jean-Francois Graffand

    Explanation: Near dawn on November 19 the Pleiades stood in still dark
    skies over the French Pyrenees. But just before sunrise a serendipitous
    moment was captured in this single 3 second exposure; a bright meteor
    streak appeared to pierce the heart of the galactic star cluster. From
    the camera's perspective, star cluster and meteor were poised directly
    above the mountain top observatory on the Pic du Midi de Bigorre. And
    though astronomers might consider the Pleiades to be relatively close
    by, the grain of dust vaporizing as it plowed through planet Earth's
    upper atmosphere actually missed the cluster's tight grouping of young
    stars by about 400 light-years. While recording a night sky timelapse
    series, the camera and telephoto lens were fixed to a tripod on the
    Tour-de-France-cycled slopes of the Col du Tourmalet about 5 kilometers
    from the Pic du Midi.

    Tomorrow's picture: the plough over the mountain
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Dec 10 01:43:28 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 10
    A landscape shows tall mountains in the distance and evergreen trees
    nearby. Overhead is a star filled sky, with the stars of the Big Dipper
    easily apparent. A rollover image labels names for the Big Dipper
    stars. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Big Dipper over Pyramid Mountain
    Image Credit & Copyright: Steve Cullen

    Explanation: When did you first learn to identify this group of stars?
    Although they are familiar to many people around the world, different
    cultures have associated this asterism with different icons and
    folklore. Known in the USA as the Big Dipper, the stars are part of a
    constellation designated by the International Astronomical Union in
    1922 as the Great Bear (Ursa Major). The recognized star names of these
    stars are (left to right) Alkaid, Mizar/Alcor, Alioth, Megrez, Phecda,
    Merak, and Dubhe. Of course, stars in any given constellation are
    unlikely to be physically related. But surprisingly, most of the Big
    Dipper stars do seem to be headed in the same direction as they plough
    through space, a property they share with other stars spread out over
    an even larger area across the sky. Their measured common motion
    suggests that they all belong to a loose, nearby star cluster, thought
    to be on average only about 75 light-years away and up to 30
    light-years across. The cluster is more properly known as the Ursa
    Major Moving Group. The featured image captured the iconic stars
    recently above Pyramid Mountain in Alberta, Canada.

    Night Sky Network webinar: APOD editor to review coolest space images
    of 2023
    Tomorrow's picture: sun change
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Dec 11 00:31:42 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 11

    Solar Minimum versus Solar Maximum
    Video Credit: NASA, SDO, SVS

    Explanation: The surface of our Sun is constantly changing. Some years
    it is quiet, showing relatively few sunspots and active regions. Other
    years it is churning, showing many sunspots and throwing frequent
    Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and flares. Reacting to magnetism, our
    Sun's surface goes through periods of relative calm, called Solar
    Minimum and relative unrest, called Solar Maximum, every 11 years. The
    featured video shows on the left a month in late 2019 when the Sun was
    near Solar Minimum, while on the right a month in 2014 when near Solar
    Maximum. The video was taken by NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory in far
    ultraviolet light. Our Sun is progressing again toward Solar Maximum in
    2025, but displaying even now a surface with a surprisingly high amount
    of activity.

    Night Sky Network webinar: APOD editor to review coolest space images
    of 2023
    Tomorrow's picture: double sky arches
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Dec 12 00:23:26 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 12
    A night sky filled with stars is shown behind a picturesque foreground.
    The foreground contains rounded rocks and a person before a distant
    sea. The background contains bands of the Milky Way and bright aurora.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Aurora and Milky Way over Norway
    Image Credit & Copyright: Giulio Cobianchi

    Explanation: What are these two giant arches across the sky? Perhaps
    the more familiar one, on the left, is the central band of our Milky
    Way Galaxy. This grand disk of stars and nebulas here appears to
    encircle much of the southern sky. Visible below the stellar arch is
    the rusty-orange planet Mars and the extended Andromeda galaxy. But
    this night had more! For a few minutes during this cold arctic night, a
    second giant arch appeared encircling part of the northern sky: an
    aurora. Auroras are much closer than stars as they are composed of
    glowing air high in Earth's atmosphere. Visible outside the green
    auroral arch is the group of stars popularly known as the Big Dipper.
    The featured digital composite of 20 images was captured in
    mid-November 2022 over the Lofoten Islands in Norway.

    APOD Year in Review (2023): RJN's Night Sky Network Lecture
    Tomorrow's picture: deep heart
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Dec 13 00:04:08 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 13
    A starfield is shown filled with colorful gas glowing in different
    colors, and dark dust. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Deep Field: The Heart Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: William Ostling, Telescope Live

    Explanation: What excites the Heart Nebula? First, the large emission
    nebula on the left, catalogued as IC 1805, looks somewhat like a human
    heart. The nebula glows brightly in red light emitted by its most
    prominent element, hydrogen, but this long-exposure image was also
    blended with light emitted by silicon (yellow) and oxygen (blue). In
    the center of the Heart Nebula are young stars from the open star
    cluster Melotte 15 that are eroding away several picturesque dust
    pillars with their atom-exciting energetic light and winds. The Heart
    Nebula is located about 7,500 light years away toward the constellation
    of Cassiopeia. At the bottom right of the Heart Nebula is the companion
    Fishhead Nebula. This wide and deep image clearly shows, though, that
    glowing gas surrounds the Heart Nebula in all directions.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Dec 14 01:38:40 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 14

    Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; D. Milisavljevic (Purdue
    University), T. Temim (Princeton University), I. De Looze (University
    of Gent)

    Explanation: Massive stars in our Milky Way Galaxy live spectacular
    lives. Collapsing from vast cosmic clouds, their nuclear furnaces
    ignite and create heavy elements in their cores. After only a few
    million years for the most massive stars, the enriched material is
    blasted back into interstellar space where star formation can begin
    anew. The expanding debris cloud known as Cassiopeia A is an example of
    this final phase of the stellar life cycle. Light from the supernova
    explosion that created this remnant would have been first seen in
    planet Earth's sky about 350 years ago, although it took that light
    11,000 years to reach us. This sharp NIRCam image from the James Webb
    Space Telescope shows the still hot filaments and knots in the
    supernova remnant. The whitish, smoke-like outer shell of the expanding
    blast wave is about 20 light-years across, while the bright speck near
    center is a neutron star, the incredibly dense, collapsed remains of
    the massive stellar core. Light echoes from the massive star's
    cataclysmic explosion are also identified in Webb's detailed image of
    supernova remnant Cassiopeia A.

    Tonight watch: The Geminids
    Tomorrow's picture: stellar eclipse
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Dec 15 00:42:48 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 15

    Betelgeuse Eclipsed
    Image Credit & Copyright: Sebastian Voltmer

    Explanation: Asteroid 319 Leona cast a shadow across planet Earth on
    December 12, as it passed in front of bright star Betelgeuse. But to
    see everyone's favorite red giant star fade this time, you had to stand
    near the center of the narrow shadow path starting in central Mexico
    and extending eastward across southern Florida, the Atlantic Ocean,
    southern Europe, and Eurasia. The geocentric celestial event is
    captured in these two panels taken at Almodovar del Rio, Spain from
    before (left) and during the asteroid-star occultation. In both panels
    Betelgeuse is seen above and left, at the shoulder of the familiar
    constellation Orion. Its brightness diminishes noticeably during the
    exceedingly rare occultation when, for several seconds, the giant star
    was briefly eclipsed by a roughly 60 kilometer diameter main-belt
    asteroid.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 16 04:21:56 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 16

    Crescent Enceladus
    Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA

    Explanation: Peering from the shadows, the Saturn-facing hemisphere of
    tantalizing inner moon Enceladus poses in this Cassini spacecraft
    image. North is up in the dramatic scene captured during November 2016
    as Cassini's camera was pointed in a nearly sunward direction about
    130,000 kilometers from the moon's bright crescent. In fact, the
    distant world reflects over 90 percent of the sunlight it receives,
    giving its surface about the same reflectivity as fresh snow. A mere
    500 kilometers in diameter, Enceladus is a surprisingly active moon.
    Data and images collected during Cassini's flybys have revealed water
    vapor and ice grains spewing from south polar geysers and evidence of
    an ocean of liquid water hidden beneath the moon's icy crust.

    Tomorrow's picture: the same color
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Dec 17 00:43:52 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 17
    Two people are pictured from the back looking at a dark star-filled
    sky. The sky is also filled with numerous streaks caused by meteors
    from the Geminids meteor shower. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Geminids over China's Nianhu Lake
    Image Credit & Copyright: Hongyang Luo

    Explanation: Where are all of these meteors coming from? In terms of
    direction on the sky, the pointed answer is the constellation of
    Gemini. That is why the major meteor shower in December is known as the
    Geminids -- because shower meteors all appear to come from a radiant
    toward Gemini. Three dimensionally, however, sand-sized debris expelled
    from the unusual asteroid 3200 Phaethon follows a well-defined orbit
    about our Sun, and the part of the orbit that approaches Earth is
    superposed in front of the constellation of Gemini. Therefore, when
    Earth crosses this orbit, the radiant point of falling debris appears
    in Gemini. Featured here is a composite of many images taken a few days
    ago through dark skies from Nianhu Lake in China. Over 100 bright
    meteor streaks from the Geminids meteor shower are visible.

    APOD Year in Review (2023): RJN's Night Sky Network Lecture
    Tomorrow's picture: the same color
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Dec 18 00:19:22 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 18
    A checkerboard is shown with squares colored light and dark grey. A
    green tube sits on the board and casts a shadow. The image has a letter
    A typed on a dark square, and a letter B types on a light square cast
    in shadow. The question is asked if the two squares, A and B, are
    really the same color. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    The Same Color Illusion
    Image Credit: Edward H. Adelson, Wikipedia

    Explanation: Are squares A and B the same color? They are! To verify
    this, either run your cursor over the image or click here to see them
    connected. The featured illusion, an example of the same color
    illusion, illustrates that purely human perceptions in science may be
    ambiguous or inaccurate, even such a seemingly direct perception as
    relative color. Similar illusions exist on the sky, such as the size of
    the Moon near the horizon, or the apparent shapes of astronomical
    objects. The advent of automated, reproducible measuring devices such
    as CCDs have made science in general and astronomy in particular less
    prone to, but not free of, human-biased illusions.

    APOD Year in Review (2023): RJN's Night Sky Network Lecture
    Tomorrow's picture: california on high
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Dec 19 00:24:58 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 19
    A red gaseous nebula is shown in front of a dark starfield. The shape
    of the nebula resembles the US state of California. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    NGC 1499: The California Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Steven Powell

    Explanation: Could Queen Calafia's mythical island exist in space?
    Perhaps not, but by chance the outline of this molecular space cloud
    echoes the outline of the state of California, USA. Our Sun has its
    home within the Milky Way's Orion Arm, only about 1,000 light-years
    from the California Nebula. Also known as NGC 1499, the classic
    emission nebula is around 100 light-years long. On the featured image,
    the most prominent glow of the California Nebula is the red light
    characteristic of hydrogen atoms recombining with long lost electrons,
    stripped away (ionized) by energetic starlight. The star most likely
    providing the energetic starlight that ionizes much of the nebular gas
    is the bright, hot, bluish Xi Persei just to the right of the nebula. A
    regular target for astrophotographers, the California Nebula can be
    spotted with a wide-field telescope under a dark sky toward the
    constellation of Perseus, not far from the Pleiades.

    Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: ice fog sky
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Dec 20 00:09:12 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 20
    A building is seen from a distance on white snow and with mountains in
    the background. An ice-crystal filled sky is seen above. Superposed on
    the night sky are numerous curving whisps -- halos of ice reflecting
    background moonlight. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Ice Halos over Bavaria
    Image Credit & Copyright: Bastian Werner

    Explanation: What's causing those unusual sky arcs? Ice crystals. While
    crossing a field of fresh snow near F+'ssen, Bavaria, Germany, earlier
    this month, the photographer noticed that he had entered an ice fog.
    For suspended water to freeze into an ice fog requires quite cold
    temperatures, and indeed the air temperature on this day was measured
    at well below zero. The ice fog reflected light from the Sun setting
    behind St. Coleman Church. The result was one of the greatest
    spectacles the photographer has ever seen. First, the spots in the
    featured picture are not background stars but suspended ice and snow.
    Next, two prominent ice halos are visible: the 22-degree halo and the
    46-degree halo. Multiple arcs are also visible, including, from top to
    bottom, antisolar (subsun), circumzenithal, Parry, tangent, and
    parhelic (horizontal). Finally, the balloon shaped curve connecting the
    top arc to the Sun is the rarest of all: it is the heliac arc, created
    by reflection from the sides of hexagonally shaped ice crystals
    suspended in a horizontal orientation.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Dec 21 00:09:56 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 21

    Three Galaxies and a Comet
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

    Explanation: Distant galaxies abound in this one degree wide field of
    view toward the southern constellation Grus (The Crane). But the three
    spiral galaxies at the lower right are quite striking. In fact, all
    three galaxies are grouped about 70 million light years away and
    sometimes known as the Grus Triplet. They share the pretty telescopic
    frame, recorded on December 13, with the comet designated C/2020 V2
    ZTF. Now outbound from the inner Solar System and swinging below the
    ecliptic plane in a hyperbolic orbit, the comet was about 29
    light-minutes from our fair planet in this image. And though comet ZTF
    was brighter when it was closest to the Sun last May and closest to
    Earth in September of 2023, it still shines in telescopes pointed
    toward southern night skies, remaining almost as bright as the Grus
    Triplet galaxies.

    Tomorrow's picture: solstice solargraphy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Dec 22 00:52:38 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 22

    183 Days in the Sun
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jos+¬ Zarcos Palma

    Explanation: A single 183 day exposure with a pinhole camera and
    photographic paper resulted in this long-duration solargraph. Recorded
    from solstice to solstice, June 21 to December 21, in 2022, it follows
    the Sun's daily arcing path through planet Earth's skies from Mertola,
    Portugal. On June 21, the Sun's highest point and longest arc
    represents the longest day and the astronomical beginning of summer in
    the northern hemisphere. The solstice date with the fewest hours of
    daylight is at the beginning of winter in the north, corresponding to
    the Sun's shortest and lowest arc in the 2022 solargraph. For 2023, the
    northern winter solstice was on December 22 at 3:27 UTC. That's
    December 21 for North America time zones.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 23 00:27:04 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 23

    A December Summer Night
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ian Griffin (Otago Museum)

    Explanation: Colours of a serene evening sky are captured in this 8
    minute exposure, made near this December's solstice from New Zealand,
    southern hemisphere, planet Earth. Looking south, star trails form the
    short concentric arcs around the rotating planet's south celestial pole
    positioned just off the top of the frame. At top and left of center are
    trails of the Southern Cross stars and a dark smudge from the Milky
    Way's Coalsack Nebula. Alpha and Beta Centauri make the brighter yellow
    and blue tinted trails, reflected below in the waters of Hoopers Inlet
    in the Pacific coast of the South Island's Otago Peninsula. On that
    short December summer night, aurora australis also gave luminous, green
    and reddish hues to the sky above the hills. An upper atmospheric glow
    distinct from the aurora excited by collisions with energetic
    particles, pale greenish bands of airglow caused by a cascade of
    chemical reactions excited by sunlight can be traced in diagonal bands
    near the top left.

    Tomorrow's picture: a cosmic cocoon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Dec 24 00:57:16 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 24
    A nebula in purple and pink is shown with dust pillars curving around.
    In the center is a bright orange spot. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    NGC 2440: Cocoon of a New White Dwarf
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing: H. Bond (STScI), R.
    Ciardullo (PSU), Forrest Hamilton (STScI)

    Explanation: What's that in the center? Like a butterfly, a white dwarf
    star begins its life by casting off a cocoon of gas that enclosed its
    former self. In this analogy, however, the Sun would be a caterpillar
    and the ejected shell of gas would become the prettiest cocoon of all.
    In the featured cocoon, the planetary nebula designated NGC 2440
    contains one of the hottest white dwarf stars known. The white dwarf
    can be seen as the bright orange dot near the image center. Our Sun
    will eventually become a white dwarf butterfly, but not for another 5
    billion years.

    Tomorrow's picture: mansion mountain moon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Dec 25 00:59:44 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 25
    A tree-lined hill is shown topped by a majestic cathedral. Directly
    behind the cathedral is of a triangular-shaped mountain top. Directly
    behind the mountain is a crescent moon, although the exposure is long
    enough to see the rest of lunar circle. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    Cathedral, Mountain, Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Valerio Minato

    Explanation: Single shots like this require planning. The first step is
    to realize that such an amazing triple-alignment actually takes place.
    The second step is to find the best location to photograph it. But it
    was the third step: being there at exactly the right time -- and when
    the sky was clear -- that was the hardest. Five times over six years
    the photographer tried and found bad weather. Finally, just ten days
    ago, the weather was perfect, and a photographic dream was realized.
    Taken in Piemonte, Italy, the cathedral in the foreground is the
    Basilica of Superga, the mountain in the middle is Monviso, and, well,
    you know which moon is in the background. Here, even though the setting
    Moon was captured in a crescent phase, the exposure was long enough for
    doubly reflected Earthlight, called the da Vinci glow, to illuminate
    the entire top of the Moon.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: cosmic jellyfish
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Dec 26 01:14:04 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 26
    A complex nebula is shown in front of a dense starfield. The nebula
    appears orange. A bright star is seen just to the right of the nebula.
    Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    IC 443: The Jellyfish Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: David Payne

    Explanation: Why is this jellyfish swimming in a sea of stars? Drifting
    near bright star Eta Geminorum, seen at the right, the Jellyfish Nebula
    extends its tentacles from the bright arcing ridge of emission left of
    center. In fact, the cosmic jellyfish is part of bubble-shaped
    supernova remnant IC 443, the expanding debris cloud from a massive
    star that exploded. Light from the explosion first reached planet Earth
    over 30,000 years ago. Like its cousin in astronomical waters, the Crab
    Nebula supernova remnant IC 443 is known to harbor a neutron star --
    the remnant of the collapsed stellar core. The Jellyfish Nebula is
    about 5,000 light-years away. At that distance, the featured image
    would span about 140 light-years across.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: rainbow aurora
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Dec 27 01:12:36 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 27
    A waterfall is shown in the image center below a starry sky. Arching
    above the waterfall is a colorful aurora. Arching above the aurora is
    the central band of the Milky Way. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Rainbow Aurora over Icelandic Waterfall
    Image Credit & Copyright: Stefano Pellegrini

    Explanation: Yes, but can your aurora do this? First, yes, auroras can
    look like rainbows even though they are completely different phenomena.
    Auroras are caused by Sun-created particles being channeled into
    Earth's atmosphere by Earth's magnetic field, and create colors by
    exciting atoms at different heights. Conversely, rainbows are created
    by sunlight backscattering off falling raindrops, and different colors
    are refracted by slightly different angles. Unfortunately, auroras
    canCÇÖt create waterfalls, but if you plan well and are lucky enough, you
    can photograph them together. The featured picture is composed of
    several images taken on the same night last month near the Sk+|gafoss
    waterfall in Iceland. The planning centered on capturing the central
    band of our Milky Way galaxy over the picturesque cascade. By luck, a
    spectacular aurora soon appeared just below the curving arch of the
    Milky Way. Far in the background, the Pleiades star cluster and the
    Andromeda galaxy can be found.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Dec 29 04:06:42 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 29

    Shakespeare in Space
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

    Explanation: In 1986, Voyager 2 became the only spacecraft to explore
    ice giant planet Uranus close up. Still, this newly released image from
    the NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on the James Webb Space Telescope
    offers a detailed look at the distant world. The tilted outer planet
    rotates on its axis once in about 17 hours. Its north pole is presently
    pointed near our line of sight, offering direct views of its northern
    hemisphere and a faint but extensive system of rings. Of the giant
    planet's 27 known moons, 14 are annotated in the image. The brighter
    ones show hints of Webb's characteristic diffraction spikes. And though
    these worlds of the outer Solar System were unknown in Shakespearean
    times, all but two of the 27 Uranian moons are named for characters in
    the English Bard's plays.

    Tomorrow's picture: the cold and tired moon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Dec 30 01:52:42 2023
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2023 December 30

    The Last Full Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Giacomo Venturin

    Explanation: Known to some in the northern hemisphere as December's
    Cold Moon or the Long Night Moon, the last full moon of 2023 is rising
    in this surreal mountain and skyscape. The Daliesque scene was captured
    in a single exposure with a camera and long telephoto lens near Monte
    Grappa, Italy. The full moon is not melting, though. Its stretched and
    distorted appearance near the horizon is caused as refraction along the
    line of sight changes and creates shifting images or mirages of the
    bright lunar disk. The changes in atmospheric refraction correspond to
    atmospheric layers with sharply different temperatures and densities.
    Other effects of atmospheric refraction produced by the long sight-line
    to this full moon rising include the thin red rim seen faintly on the
    distorted lower edge of the Moon and a thin green rim along the top.

    Tomorrow's picture: Illustris
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 1 01:34:20 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 1
    A spiral galaxy with big blue spiral arms is shown with a center that
    appears more yellow. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    NGC 1232: A Grand Design Spiral Galaxy
    Image Credit: FORS, 8.2-meter VLT Antu, ESO

    Explanation: Galaxies are fascinating not only for what is visible, but
    for what is invisible. Grand spiral galaxy NGC 1232, captured in detail
    by one of the Very Large Telescopes, is a good example. The visible is
    dominated by millions of bright stars and dark dust, caught up in a
    gravitational swirl of spiral arms revolving about the center. Open
    clusters containing bright blue stars can be seen sprinkled along these
    spiral arms, while dark lanes of dense interstellar dust can be seen
    sprinkled between them. Less visible, but detectable, are billions of
    dim normal stars and vast tracts of interstellar gas, together wielding
    such high mass that they dominate the dynamics of the inner galaxy.
    Leading theories indicate that even greater amounts of matter are
    invisible, in a form we don't yet know. This pervasive dark matter is
    postulated, in part, to explain the motions of the visible matter in
    the outer regions of galaxies.

    Free APOD Lecture: January 9, 2024 to the Amateur Astronomers of
    Association of New York
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 2 01:14:48 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 2
    A rocket is pictured ascending during launch. A nearly full moon is
    behind it. The rocket exhaust, itself visible, causes the bottom of the
    Moon to appear unusually rippled. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Rocket Transits Rippling Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Steven Madow

    Explanation: Can a rocket make the Moon ripple? No, but it can make a
    background moon appear wavy. The rocket, in this case, was a SpaceX
    Falcon Heavy that blasted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center last
    week. In the featured launch picture, the rocket's exhaust plume glows
    beyond its projection onto the distant, rising, and nearly full moon.
    Oddly, the Moon's lower edge shows unusual drip-like ripples. The Moon
    itself, far in the distance, was really unchanged. The physical cause
    of these apparent ripples was pockets of relatively hot or rarefied air
    deflecting moonlight less strongly than pockets of relatively cool or
    compressed air: refraction. Although the shot was planned, the timing
    of the launch had to be just right for the rocket to be transiting the
    Moon during this single exposure.

    Tomorrow's picture: red sky arc
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jan 3 02:29:54 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 3
    A flat landscape with a pond is imaged at night below a starfield. A
    multicolored aurora is seen in an arc across the image center. Around
    this arc is another red arc that is particularly smooth. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    A SAR Arc from New Zealand
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tristian McDonald; Text: Tiffany Lewis
    (Michigan Tech U.)

    Explanation: What is that unusual red halo surrounding this aurora? It
    is a Stable Auroral Red (SAR) arc. SAR arcs are rare and have only been
    acknowledged and studied since 1954. The featured wide-angle
    photograph, capturing nearly an entire SAR arc surrounding more common
    green and red aurora, was taken earlier this month from Poolburn, New
    Zealand, during an especially energetic geomagnetic storm. Why SAR arcs
    form remains a topic of research, but is likely related to Earth's
    protective magnetic field, a field created by molten iron flowing deep
    inside the Earth. This magnetic field usually redirects incoming
    charged particles from the Sun's wind toward the Earth's poles.
    However, it also traps a ring of ions closer to the equator, where they
    can gain energy from the magnetosphere during high solar activity. The
    energetic electrons in this ion ring can collide with and excite oxygen
    higher in Earth's ionosphere than typical auroras, causing the oxygen
    to glow red. Ongoing research has uncovered evidence that a red SAR arc
    can even transform into a purple and green STEVE.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jan 4 01:39:40 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 4

    Zeta Oph: Runaway Star
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Spitzer Space Telescope

    Explanation: Like a ship plowing through cosmic seas, runaway star Zeta
    Ophiuchi produces the arcing interstellar bow wave or bow shock seen in
    this stunning infrared portrait. In the false-color view, bluish Zeta
    Oph, a star about 20 times more massive than the Sun, lies near the
    center of the frame, moving toward the left at 24 kilometers per
    second. Its strong stellar wind precedes it, compressing and heating
    the dusty interstellar material and shaping the curved shock front.
    What set this star in motion? Zeta Oph was likely once a member of a
    binary star system, its companion star was more massive and hence
    shorter lived. When the companion exploded as a supernova
    catastrophically losing mass, Zeta Oph was flung out of the system.
    About 460 light-years away, Zeta Oph is 65,000 times more luminous than
    the Sun and would be one of the brighter stars in the sky if it weren't
    surrounded by obscuring dust. The image spans about 1.5 degrees or 12
    light-years at the estimated distance of Zeta Ophiuchi. In January
    2020, NASA placed the Spitzer Space Telescope in safe mode, ending its
    16 successful years of exploring the cosmos.

    Tomorrow's picture: at the heart of Orion
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 5 03:30:58 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 5

    Trapezium: At the Heart of Orion
    Image Credit & Copyright: Fred Zimmer, Telescope Live

    Explanation: Near the center of this sharp cosmic portrait, at the
    heart of the Orion Nebula, are four hot, massive stars known as the
    Trapezium. Gathered within a region about 1.5 light-years in radius,
    they dominate the core of the dense Orion Nebula Star Cluster.
    Ultraviolet ionizing radiation from the Trapezium stars, mostly from
    the brightest star Theta-1 Orionis C powers the complex star forming
    region's entire visible glow. About three million years old, the Orion
    Nebula Cluster was even more compact in its younger years and a
    dynamical study indicates that runaway stellar collisions at an earlier
    age may have formed a black hole with more than 100 times the mass of
    the Sun. The presence of a black hole within the cluster could explain
    the observed high velocities of the Trapezium stars. The Orion Nebula's
    distance of some 1,500 light-years would make it one of the closest
    known black holes to planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jan 6 03:10:20 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 6

    The Snows of Churyumov-Gerasimenko
    Images Credit: ESA, Rosetta, MPS, OSIRIS;
    UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA;
    Animation: Jacint Roger Perez

    Explanation: You couldn't really be caught in this blizzard while
    standing by a cliff on periodic comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
    Orbiting the comet in June of 2016, the Rosetta spacecraft's narrow
    angle camera did record streaks of dust and ice particles similar to
    snow as they drifted across the field of view close to the camera and
    above the comet's surface. Still, some of the bright specks in the
    scene are likely due to a rain of energetic charged particles or cosmic
    rays hitting the camera, and the dense background of stars in the
    direction of the constellation of the Big Dog (Canis Major). In the
    video, the background stars are easy to spot trailing from top to
    bottom. The stunning movie was constructed from 33 consecutive images
    taken over 25 minutes while Rosetta cruised some 13 kilometers from the
    comet's nucleus. In September 2016, the nucleus became the final
    resting place for the Rosetta spacecraft after its mission was ended
    with a successful controlled impact on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

    Tomorrow's picture: cats in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jan 7 04:51:32 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 7
    An image of the Cat's Eye Nebula shows an unsually shaped gas structure
    glowing in purple with a bright orange center. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical and X-ray
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive; Chandra X-ray Obs.;
    Processing & Copyright: Rudy Pohl

    Explanation: To some it looks like a cat's eye. To others, perhaps like
    a giant cosmic conch shell. It is actually one of the brightest and
    most highly detailed planetary nebula known, composed of gas expelled
    in the brief yet glorious phase near the end of life of a Sun-like
    star. This nebula's dying central star may have produced the outer
    circular concentric shells by shrugging off outer layers in a series of
    regular convulsions. The formation of the beautiful,
    complex-yet-symmetric inner structures, however, is not well
    understood. The featured image is a composite of a digitally sharpened
    Hubble Space Telescope image with X-ray light captured by the orbiting
    Chandra Observatory. The exquisite floating space statue spans over
    half a light-year across. Of course, gazing into this Cat's Eye,
    humanity may well be seeing the fate of our sun, destined to enter its
    own planetary nebula phase of evolution ... in about 5 billion years.

    Free APOD Lecture: January 9, 2024 to the Amateur Astronomers of
    Association of New York
    Tomorrow's picture: Venus year around
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 8 00:16:50 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 8
    Many images of Venus are shown superposed. Together, they make an arc
    from the top, around the left, to the bottom. The smallest images of
    Venus are at the top and show nearly complete circles. The largest are
    at the bottom and show thin crescent. phases. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    The Phases of Venus
    Image Credit & License: St+¬phane Gonzales

    Explanation: Venus goes through phases. Just like our Moon, Venus can
    appear as a full circular disk, a thin crescent, or anything in
    between. Venus, frequently the brightest object in the post-sunset or
    pre-sunrise sky, appears so small, however, that it usually requires
    binoculars or a small telescope to clearly see its current phase. The
    featured time-lapse sequence was taken over the course of six months in
    2015 from Surg+¿res, Charente-Maritime, France, and shows not only how
    Venus changes phase, but changes angular size as well. When Venus is on
    the far side of the Sun from the Earth, it appears angularly smallest
    and nearest to full phase, while when Venus and Earth are on the same
    side of the Sun, Venus appears larger, but as a crescent. This month
    Venus rises before dawn in waxing gibbous phases.

    Free APOD Lecture: January 9, 2024 to the Amateur Astronomers of
    Association of New York
    Tomorrow's picture: Thor's hat
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 9 00:16:42 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 9
    The image shows a starfield with an oval shaped green-tinged nebula in
    the center. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Thor's Helmet
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ritesh Biswas

    Explanation: Thor not only has his own day (Thursday), but a helmet in
    the heavens. Popularly called Thor's Helmet, NGC 2359 is a hat-shaped
    cosmic cloud with wing-like appendages. Heroically sized even for a
    Norse god, Thor's Helmet is about 30 light-years across. In fact, the
    cosmic head-covering is more like an interstellar bubble, blown with a
    fast wind from the bright, massive star near the bubble's center. Known
    as a Wolf-Rayet star, the central star is an extremely hot giant
    thought to be in a brief, pre-supernova stage of evolution. NGC 2359 is
    located about 15,000 light-years away toward the constellation of the
    Great Overdog. This remarkably sharp image is a mixed cocktail of data
    from narrowband filters, capturing not only natural looking stars but
    details of the nebula's filamentary structures. The star in the center
    of Thor's Helmet is expected to explode in a spectacular supernova
    sometime within the next few thousand years.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jan 10 00:18:00 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 10

    The Light, the Dark, and the Dusty
    Image Credit & Copyright: G+íbor Galambos

    Explanation: This colorful skyscape spans about three full moons across
    nebula rich starfields along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward
    the royal northern constellation Cepheus. Near the edge of the region's
    massive molecular cloud some 2,400 light-years away, bright reddish
    emission region Sharpless (Sh)2-155 is at the center of the frame, also
    known as the Cave Nebula. About 10 light-years across the cosmic cave's
    bright walls of gas are ionized by ultraviolet light from the hot young
    stars around it. Dusty bluish reflection nebulae, like vdB 155 at the
    left, and dense obscuring clouds of dust also abound on the
    interstellar canvas. Astronomical explorations have revealed other
    dramatic signs of star formation, including the bright reddish fleck of
    Herbig-Haro (HH) 168. At the upper left in the frame, the Herbig-Haro
    object emission is generated by energetic jets from a newborn star.

    Tomorrow's picture: unforgotten
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jan 11 00:31:30 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 11

    Quadrantids of the North
    Image Credit & Copyright: Hù'g#öHäØ Yeom Beom-seok

    Explanation: Named for a forgotten constellation, the Quadrantid Meteor
    Shower puts on an annual show for planet Earth's northern hemisphere
    skygazers. The shower's radiant on the sky lies within the old,
    astronomically obsolete constellation Quadrans Muralis. That location
    is not far from the Big Dipper asterism, known to some as the Plough,
    at the boundaries of the modern constellations Bootes and Draco. In
    fact the Big Dipper "handle" stars are near the upper right corner in
    this frame, with the meteor shower radiant just below. North star
    Polaris is toward the top left. Pointing back toward the radiant,
    Quadrantid meteors streak through the night in this skyscape from
    Jangsu, South Korea. The composite image was recorded in the hours
    around the shower's peak on January 4, 2024. A likely source of the
    dust stream that produces Quadrantid meteors was identified in 2003 as
    an asteroid.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 12 00:09:10 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 12

    Good Morning Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Luy, Trier Observatory, TWAN

    Explanation: Yesterday, the Moon was New. But on January 9, early
    morning risers around planet Earth were treated to the sight of an old
    Moon, low in the east as the sky grew bright before dawn. Above the
    city of Saarburg in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany, this simple
    snapshot found the waning Moon's sunlit crescent just before sunrise.
    But also never wandering far from the Sun in Earth's sky, inner planets
    Venus and Mercury shared the cold morning skyview. In the foreground
    are the historic city's tower and castle with ruins from the 10th
    century.

    Tomorrow's picture: circle around the Sun
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Ryan Smallcomb Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jan 13 01:10:06 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 13

    Circling the Sun
    Image Credit & Copyright: Radoslav Zboran

    Explanation: Earth's orbit around the Sun is not a circle, it's an
    ellipse. The point along its elliptical orbit where our fair planet is
    closest to the Sun is called perihelion. This year, perihelion was on
    January 2 at 01:00 UTC, with the Earth about 3 million miles closer to
    the Sun than it was at aphelion (last July 6), the farthest point in
    its elliptical orbit. Of course, distance from the Sun doesn't
    determine the seasons, and it doesn't the determine size of Sun halos.
    Easier to see with the Sun hidden behind a tall tree trunk, this
    beautiful ice halo forms a 22 degree-wide circle around the Sun,
    recorded while strolling through the countryside near Heroldstatt,
    Germany. The Sun halo's 22 degree angular diameter is determined by the
    six-sided geometry of water ice crystals drifting high in planet
    Earth's atmosphere.

    Tomorrow's picture: there be dragons
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Ryan Smallcomb Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 16 00:34:30 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 16
    The constellation of Orion is shown, but the image is so deep that many
    nebula appear, making the belt stars and surrounding star almost
    recognizable. The rollover image labels the brightest stars. Please see
    the explanation for more detailed information.

    The Orion You Can Almost See
    Image Credit & Copyright: Michele Guzzini

    Explanation: Do you recognize this constellation? Although it is one of
    the most recognizable star groupings on the sky, this is a more full
    Orion than you can see -- an Orion only revealed with long exposure
    digital camera imaging and post- processing. Here the cool red giant
    Betelgeuse takes on a strong orange tint as the brightest star on the
    upper left. Orion's hot blue stars are numerous, with supergiant Rigel
    balancing Betelgeuse on the lower right, and Bellatrix at the upper
    right. Lined up in Orion's belt are three stars all about 1,500
    light-years away, born from the constellation's well-studied
    interstellar clouds. Just below Orion's belt is a bright but fuzzy
    patch that might also look familiar -- the stellar nursery known as
    Orion's Nebula. Finally, just barely visible to the unaided eye but
    quite striking here is Barnard's Loop -- a huge gaseous emission nebula
    surrounding Orion's Belt and Nebula discovered over 100 years ago by
    the pioneering Orion photographer E. E. Barnard.

    Tomorrow's picture: the sea of serenity
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Ryan Smallcomb Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jan 18 00:16:18 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 18

    Northern Lights from the Stratosphere
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ralf Rohner

    Explanation: Northern lights shine in this night skyview from planet
    Earth's stratosphere, captured on January 15. The single, 5 second
    exposure was made with a hand-held camera on board an aircraft above
    Winnipeg, Canada. During the exposure, terrestrial lights below leave
    colorful trails along the direction of motion of the speeding aircraft.
    Above the more distant horizon, energetic particles accelerated along
    Earth's magnetic field at the planet's polar regions excite atomic
    oxygen to create the shimmering display of Aurora Borealis. The
    aurora's characteristic greenish hue is generated at altitudes of
    100-300 kilometers and red at even higher altitudes and lower
    atmospheric densities. The luminous glow of faint stars along the plane
    of our Milky Way galaxy arcs through the night, while the Andromeda
    galaxy extends this northern skyview to extragalactic space. A diffuse
    hint of Andromeda, the closest large spiral to the Milky Way, can just
    be seen to the upper left.

    Tomorrow's picture: shortest day in the Solar System
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Ryan Smallcomb Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 19 01:10:04 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 19

    Jupiter over 2 Hours and 30 Minutes
    Image Credit & License: Aur+¬lien Genin

    Explanation: Jupiter, our Solar System's ruling gas giant, is also the
    fastest spinning planet, rotating once in less than 10 hours. The gas
    giant doesn't rotate like a solid body though. A day on Jupiter is
    about 9 hours and 56 minutes long at the poles, decreasing to 9 hours
    and 50 minutes near the equator. The giant planet's fast rotation
    creates strong jet streams, separating its clouds into planet girdling
    bands of dark belts and bright zones. You can easily follow Jupiter's
    rapid rotation in this sharp sequence of images from the night of
    January 15, all taken with a camera and small telescope outside of
    Paris, France. Located just south of the equator, the giant planet's
    giant storm system, also known as the Great Red Spot, can be seen
    moving left to right with the planet's rotation. From lower left to
    upper right, the sequence spans about 2 hours and 30 minutes.

    Tomorrow's picture: boostback burn
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Ryan Smallcomb Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jan 20 00:09:04 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 20

    Falcon Heavy Boostback Burn
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dennis Huff

    Explanation: The December 28 night launch of a Falcon Heavy rocket from
    Kennedy Space Center in Florida marked the fifth launch for the
    rocket's reusable side boosters. About 2 minutes 20 seconds into the
    flight, the two side boosters separated from the rocket's core stage.
    Starting just after booster separation, this three minute long exposure
    captures the pair's remarkable boostback burns, maneuvers executed
    prior to their return to landing zones on planet Earth. While no
    attempt was made to recover the Falcon Heavy's core stage, both side
    boosters landed successfully and can be flown again. The four previous
    flights for these side boosters included last October's launch of
    NASA's asteroid-bound Psyche mission.

    Tomorrow's picture: snow day
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Ryan Smallcomb Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jan 21 01:12:08 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 21
    A telephone poll is shown surrounded by snow. In the background,
    another telephone poll is visible, as are some distant trees. Please
    see the explanation for more detailed information.

    The Upper Michigan Blizzard of 1938
    Image Credit: Bill Brinkman; Courtesy: Paula Rocco

    Explanation: Yes, but can your blizzard do this? In the Upper Peninsula
    of Michigan's Storm of the Century in 1938, some snow drifts reached
    the level of utility poles. Nearly a meter of new and unexpected snow
    fell over two days in a storm that started 86 years ago this week. As
    snow fell and gale-force winds piled snow to surreal heights, many
    roads became not only impassable but unplowable; people became
    stranded, cars, school buses and a train became mired, and even a
    dangerous fire raged. Two people were killed and some students were
    forced to spend several consecutive days at school. The featured image
    was taken by a local resident soon after the storm. Although all of
    this snow eventually melted, repeated snow storms like this help build
    lasting glaciers in snowy regions of our planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: moon versus mountain
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Ryan Smallcomb; Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 22 00:22:20 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 22
    A black and white image of the Moon and a mountain are shown. Both are
    half lit by the Sun, with the other half shadowed. The half-moon is
    directly above the mountain peak. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Shadows of Mountain and Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Enzo Massa Micon

    Explanation: Can the Moon and a mountain really cast similar shadows?
    Yes, but the division between light and dark does not have to be
    aligned. Pictured, a quarter moon was captured above the mountain
    Grivola in Italy in early October of 2022. The Sun is to the right of
    the featured picturesque landscape, illuminating the right side of the
    Moon in a similar way that it illuminates the right side of the
    mountain. This lunar phase is called "quarter" because the lit fraction
    visible from Earth is one quarter of the entire lunar surface. Digital
    post-processing of this single exposure gave both gigantic objects more
    prominence. Capturing the terminator of this quarter moon in close
    alignment with nearly vertical mountain ridge required careful timing
    because the Earth rotates once a day.

    Tomorrow's picture: sky wide
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Ryan Smallcomb; Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 23 01:13:34 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 23
    A very deep image of the night sky shows many stars and nebulas. Many
    bright nebulas appear to be connected by faint orange filaments. Please
    see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Deep Nebulas: From Seagull to California
    Image Credit & Copyright: Alistair Symon

    Explanation: How well do you know the night sky? OK, but how well can
    you identify famous sky objects in a very deep image? Either way, here
    is a test: see if you can find some well-known night-sky icons in a
    deep image filled with faint nebulosity. This image contains the
    Pleiades star cluster, Barnard's Loop, Horsehead Nebula, Orion Nebula,
    Rosette Nebula, Cone Nebula, Rigel, Jellyfish Nebula, Monkey Head
    Nebula, Flaming Star Nebula, Tadpole Nebula, Aldebaran, Simeis 147,
    Seagull Nebula and the California Nebula. To find their real locations,
    here is an annotated image version. The reason this task might be
    difficult is similar to the reason it is initially hard to identify
    familiar constellations in a very dark sky: the tapestry of our night
    sky has an extremely deep hidden complexity. The featured composite
    reveals some of this complexity in a mosaic of 28 images taken over 800
    hours from dark skies over Arizona, USA.

    Tomorrow's picture: you are here
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jan 24 00:09:14 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 24
    The Moon and the Earth are pictured before a black background. The Moon
    appears brown and slightly larger due to its closer proximity to the
    Artemis 1 camera. The Earth is seen as a cloudy blue orb above the
    Moon. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Earth and Moon from Beyond
    Image Credit: NASA, Artemis I; Processing: Andy Saunders

    Explanation: What do the Earth and Moon look like from beyond the Moon?
    Although frequently photographed together, the familiar duo was
    captured with this unusual perspective in late 2022 by the robotic
    Orion spacecraft of NASA's Artemis I mission as it looped around
    Earth's most massive satellite and looked back toward its home world.
    Since our Earth is about four times the diameter of the Moon, the
    satelliteCÇÖs seemingly large size was caused by the capsule being closer
    to the smaller body. Artemis II, the next launch in NASACÇÖs Artemis
    series, is currently scheduled to take people around the Moon in 2025,
    while Artemis III is planned to return humans to lunar surface in late
    2026. Last week, JAXA's robotic SLIM spacecraft, launched from Japan,
    landed on the Moon and released two hopping rovers.

    Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: sky map
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Jan 25 00:36:26 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 25

    Jyv+ñskyl+ñ in the Sky
    Image Credit & Copyright: Harri Kiiskinen

    Explanation: You might not immediately recognize this street map of a
    neighborhood in Jyv+ñskyl+ñ, Finland, planet Earth. But that's probably
    because the map was projected into the night sky and captured with an
    allsky camera on January 16. The temperature recorded on that northern
    winter night was around minus 20 degrees Celsius. As ice crystals
    formed in the atmosphere overhead, street lights spilling illumination
    into the sky above produced visible light pillars, their ethereal
    appearance due to specular reflections from the fluttering crystals'
    flat surfaces. Of course, the projected light pillars trace a map of
    the brightly lit local streets, though reversed right to left in the
    upward looking camera's view. This light pillar street map was seen to
    hover for hours in the Jyv+ñskyl+ñ night.

    Tomorrow's picture: star with planet
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Jan 26 00:37:50 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 26

    Epsilon Tauri: Star with Planet
    Image Credit & Copyright: Reg Pratt

    Explanation: Epsilon Tauri lies 146 light-years away. A K-type red
    giant star, epsilon Tau is cooler than the Sun, but with about 13 times
    the solar radius it has nearly 100 times the solar luminosity. A member
    of the Hyades open star cluster the giant star is known by the proper
    name Ain, and along with brighter giant star Aldebaran, forms the eyes
    of Taurus the Bull. Surrounded by dusty, dark clouds in Taurus, epsilon
    Tau is also known to have a planet. Discovered by radial velocity
    measurements in 2006, Epsilon Tauri b is a gas giant planet larger than
    Jupiter with an orbital period of 1.6 years. And though the exoplanet
    can't be seen directly, on a dark night its parent star epsilon Tauri
    is easily visible to the unaided eye.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Jan 27 00:26:12 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 27

    Full Observatory Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Yuri Beletsky (Carnegie Las Campanas
    Observatory, TWAN)

    Explanation: A popular name for January's full moon in the northern
    hemisphere is the Full Wolf Moon. As the new year's first full moon, it
    rises over Las Campanas Observatory in this dramatic
    Earth-and-moonscape. Peering from the foreground like astronomical eyes
    are the observatory's twin 6.5 meter diameter Magellan telescopes. The
    snapshot was captured with telephoto lens across rugged terrain in the
    Chilean Atacama Desert, taken at a distance of about 9 miles from the
    observatory and about 240,000 miles from the lunar surface. Of course
    the first full moon of the lunar new year, known to some as the Full
    Snow Moon, will rise on February 24.

    Tomorrow's picture: Pluto in color
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Jan 28 00:10:48 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 28
    The minor planet Pluto is shown up close, as seen by the passing New
    Horizons spacecraft, and in true color. Pluto is a complex mix of beige
    regions and some dark brown regions. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    Pluto in True Color
    Image Credit: NASA, JHU APL, SwRI; Processing: Alex Parker

    Explanation: What color is Pluto, really? It took some effort to figure
    out. Even given all of the images sent back to Earth when the robotic
    New Horizons spacecraft sped past Pluto in 2015, processing these
    multi-spectral frames to approximate what the human eye would see was
    challenging. The result featured here, released three years after the
    raw data was acquired by New Horizons, is the highest resolution true
    color image of Pluto ever taken. Visible in the image is the
    light-colored, heart-shaped, Tombaugh Regio, with the unexpectedly
    smooth Sputnik Planitia, made of frozen nitrogen, filling its western
    lobe. New Horizons found the dwarf planet to have a surprisingly
    complex surface composed of many regions having perceptibly different
    hues. In total, though, Pluto is mostly brown, with much of its muted
    color originating from small amounts of surface methane energized by
    ultraviolet light from the Sun.

    Tomorrow's picture: stars versus dust
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Jan 29 00:42:02 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 29
    The famous Pleiades star cluster is shown surrounded by dust. Dust near
    the bright stars reflects blue light, but dust further away appears
    more red. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    The Pleiades: Seven Dusty Sisters
    Image Credit & Copyright: Craig Stocks

    Explanation: The well-known Pleiades star cluster is slowly destroying
    part of a passing cloud of gas and dust. The Pleiades is the brightest
    open cluster of stars on Earth's sky and can be seen from almost any
    northerly location with the unaided eye. Over the past 100,000 years, a
    field of gas and dust is moving by chance right through the Pleiades
    star cluster and is causing a strong reaction between the stars and
    dust. The passing cloud might be part of the Radcliffe wave, a newly
    discovered structure of gas and dust connecting several regions of star
    formation in the nearby part of our Milky Way galaxy. Pressure from the
    stars' light significantly repels the dust in the surrounding blue
    reflection nebula, with smaller dust particles being repelled more
    strongly. A short-term result is that parts of the dust cloud have
    become filamentary and stratified. The featured deep image incorporates
    nearly 9 hours of exposure and was captured from Utah Desert Remote
    Observatory in Utah, USA, last year.

    Tomorrow's picture: to the hyades
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Jan 30 00:34:36 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 30
    The lunar surface is shown with a box-like gold-colored machine in the
    middle. A close inspection of the machine reveals that its thrusters
    are at the top, so it is on its side. The background sky is dark. Two
    horizontal lines are an artifact of the digital imaging and not part of
    the lunar landscape. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    SLIM Lands on the Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: JAXA, Takara Tomy, Sony Co., Doshisha U.

    Explanation: New landers are on the Moon. Nearly two weeks ago, Japan's
    Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) released two rovers as it
    descended, before its main lander touched down itself. The larger of
    the two rovers can hop like a frog, while the smaller rover is about
    the size of a baseball and can move after pulling itself apart like a
    transformer. The main lander, nicknamed Moon Sniper, is seen in the
    featured image taken by the smaller rover. Inspection of the image
    shows that Moon Sniper's thrusters are facing up, meaning that the
    lander is upside down from its descent configuration and on its side
    from its intended landing configuration. One result is that Moon
    Sniper's solar panels are not in the expected orientation, so that
    powering the lander had to be curtailed and adapted. SLIM's lander has
    already succeeded as a technology demonstration, its main mission, but
    was not designed to withstand the lunar night -- which starts tomorrow.

    Tomorrow's picture: orion rising
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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Jan 31 00:32:12 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 January 31
    A snowy landscape is pictured with a big hill in the center. Above the
    hill is a starfield with the stars and nebulae of the constellation
    Orion appearing, with the red glow of the nebulas in great contrast to
    the dark sky and bright snow. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Camera Orion Rising
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marcin +Ülipko

    Explanation: What does Orion rising look like to a camera? During this
    time of the year, the famous constellation is visible to the southeast
    just after sunset. From most Earthly locations, Orion's familiar star
    pattern, highlighted by the three-stars-in-a-row belt stars, rises
    sideways. An entire section of the night sky that includes Orion was
    photographed rising above +Ünie+'ka, a mountain on the border between
    Poland and the Czech Republic. The long duration exposure sequence
    brings up many faint features including the Orion and Flame Nebulas,
    both encompassed by the curving Barnard's Loop. The featured wide-angle
    camera composite also captured night sky icons including the blue
    Pleiades star cluster at the image top and the red Rosette Nebula to
    the left of Orion. Famous stars in the frame include Sirius,
    Betelgeuse, Rigel and Aldebaran. Orion will appear successively higher
    in the sky at sunset during the coming months.

    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Feb 1 00:08:22 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 1

    NGC 1365: Majestic Island Universe
    Image Credit & Copyright: Processing - Jean-Baptiste Auroux, Data -
    Mike Selby

    Explanation: Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 is truly a majestic island
    universe some 200,000 light-years across. Located a mere 60 million
    light-years away toward the faint but heated constellation Fornax, NGC
    1365 is a dominant member of the well-studied Fornax Cluster of
    galaxies
    . This sharp color image shows the intense, reddish star forming
    regions near the ends of the galaxy's central bar and along its spiral
    arms. Seen in fine detail, obscuring dust lanes cut across the galaxy's
    bright core. At the core lies a supermassive black hole. Astronomers
    think NGC 1365's prominent bar plays a crucial role in the galaxy's
    evolution, drawing gas and dust into a star-forming maelstrom and
    ultimately feeding material into the central black hole.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Feb 2 01:41:40 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 2

    NGC 1893 and the Tadpoles of IC 410
    Image Credit & Copyright: Sander de Jong

    Explanation: This cosmic view shows off an otherwise faint emission
    nebula IC 410, captured under clear Netherlands skies with telescope
    and narrowband filters. Above and right of center you can spot two
    remarkable inhabitants of the interstellar pond of gas and dust, known
    as the tadpoles of IC 410. Partly obscured by foreground dust, the
    nebula itself surrounds NGC 1893, a young galactic cluster of stars.
    Formed in the interstellar cloud a mere 4 million years ago, the
    intensely hot, bright cluster stars energize the glowing gas. Globules
    composed of denser cooler gas and dust, the tadpoles are around 10
    light-years long and are likely sites of ongoing star formation.
    Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation their heads are outlined by
    bright ridges of ionized gas while their tails trail away from the
    cluster's central young stars. IC 410 and embedded NGC 1893 lie some
    10,000 light-years away, toward the nebula-rich constellation Auriga.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Feb 3 00:17:18 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 3

    Apollo 14: A View from Antares
    Image Credit: Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14, NASA; Mosaic - Eric M. Jones

    Explanation: Apollo 14's Lunar Module Antares landed on the Moon on
    February 5, 1971. Toward the end of the stay astronaut Ed Mitchell
    snapped a series of photos of the lunar surface while looking out a
    window, assembled into this detailed mosaic by Apollo Lunar Surface
    Journal editor Eric Jones. The view looks across the Fra Mauro
    highlands to the northwest of the landing site after the Apollo 14
    astronauts had completed their second and final walk on the Moon.
    Prominent in the foreground is their Modular Equipment Transporter, a
    two-wheeled, rickshaw-like device used to carry tools and samples. Near
    the horizon at top center is a 1.5 meter wide boulder dubbed Turtle
    rock. In the shallow crater below Turtle rock is the long white handle
    of a sampling instrument, thrown there javelin-style by Mitchell.
    Mitchell's fellow moonwalker and first American in space, Alan Shepard,
    also used a makeshift six iron to hit two golf balls. One of Shepard's
    golf balls is just visible as a white spot below Mitchell's javelin.

    Tomorrow's picture: cone in the unicorn
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Feb 4 01:31:52 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 4
    A starfield is shown that has only a few bright stars. Vertically
    through the center is a large reddish brown nebula that has a few stars
    embedded. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    The Cone Nebula from Hubble
    Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, NASA, ESA - Processing & Licence:
    Judy Schmidt

    Explanation: Stars are forming in the gigantic dust pillar called the
    Cone Nebula. Cones, pillars, and majestic flowing shapes abound in
    stellar nurseries where natal clouds of gas and dust are buffeted by
    energetic winds from newborn stars. The Cone Nebula, a well-known
    example, lies within the bright galactic star-forming region NGC 2264.
    The Cone was captured in unprecedented detail in this close-up
    composite of several observations from the Earth-orbiting Hubble Space
    Telescope. While the Cone Nebula, about 2,500 light-years away in
    Monoceros, is around 7 light-years long, the region pictured here
    surrounding the cone's blunted head is a mere 2.5 light-years across.
    In our neck of the galaxy that distance is just over half way from our
    Sun to its nearest stellar neighbors in the Alpha Centauri star system.
    The massive star NGC 2264 IRS, seen by Hubble's infrared camera in
    1997, is the likely source of the wind sculpting the Cone Nebula and
    lies off the top of the image. The Cone Nebula's reddish veil is
    produced by dust and glowing hydrogen gas.

    Tomorrow's picture: carina's crazy core
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Feb 5 01:07:42 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 5
    A star field strewn with filaments of dust and gas is shown: the center
    of the Carina Nebula. Shown in colors emitted by specific elements, the
    frame shows blue gas around the edges and orange and red colored gas in
    the center. Dark dust laces the busy frame. Please see the explanation
    for more detailed information.

    In the Core of the Carina Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Carlos Taylor

    Explanation: What's happening in the core of the Carina Nebula? Stars
    are forming, dying, and leaving an impressive tapestry of dark dusty
    filaments. The entire Carina Nebula, cataloged as NGC 3372, spans over
    300 light years and lies about 8,500 light-years away in the
    constellation of Carina. The nebula is composed predominantly of
    hydrogen gas, which emits the pervasive red and orange glows seen
    mostly in the center of this highly detailed featured image. The blue
    glow around the edges is created primarily by a trace amount of glowing
    oxygen. Young and massive stars located in the nebula's center expel
    dust when they explode in supernovas. Eta Carinae, the most energetic
    star in the nebula's center, was one of the brightest stars in the sky
    in the 1830s, but then faded dramatically.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: hubble / webb
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Feb 6 00:25:36 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 6
    Spiral galaxy NGC 1566 is shown with an image from Hubble primarily in
    visible light on the upper left, and an image from Webb in primarily
    infrared light on the lower right. A rollover image shows the same
    galaxy with the Webb and Hubble parts reversed. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    NGC 1566: A Spiral Galaxy from Webb and Hubble
    Image Credit & Copyright: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Lee (STScI), T.
    Williams (Oxford), R. Chandar (UToledo), D. Calzetti (UMass), PHANGS
    Team

    Explanation: What's different about this galaxy? Very little, which
    makes the Spanish Dancer galaxy, NGC 1566, one of the most typical and
    photogenic spirals on the sky. There is something different about this
    galaxy image, though, because it is a diagonal combination of two
    images: one by the Hubble Space Telescope on the upper left, and the
    other by the James Webb Space Telescope on the lower right. The Hubble
    image was taken in ultraviolet light and highlights the locations of
    bright blue stars and dark dust along the galaxy's impressive spiral
    arms. In contrast, the Webb image was taken in infrared light and
    highlights where the same dust emits more light than it absorbed. In
    the rollover image, the other two sides of these images are revealed.
    Blinking between the two images shows which stars are particularly hot
    because they glow brighter in ultraviolet light, and the difference
    between seemingly empty space and infrared-glowing dust.

    Image Crunching Opportunity: Take NASA's Astrophoto Challenge
    Tomorrow's picture: heart tails
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Feb 7 05:49:36 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 7
    Two galaxies are seen colliding the image center. Together, they look
    like a classic heart icon but with long tails. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    The Heart Shaped Antennae Galaxies
    Image Credit & Copyright: Kent E. Biggs

    Explanation: Are these two galaxies really attracted to each other?
    Yes, gravitationally, and the result appears as an enormous iconic
    heart -- at least for now. Pictured is the pair of galaxies cataloged
    as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039,known as the Antennae Galaxies. Because they
    are only 60 million light years away, close by intergalactic standards,
    the pair is one of the best studied interacting galaxies on the night
    sky. Their strong attraction began about a billion years ago when they
    passed unusually close to each other. As the two galaxies interact,
    their stars rarely collide, but new stars are formed when their
    interstellar gases crash together. Some new stars have already formed,
    for example, in the long antennae seen extending out from the sides of
    the dancing duo. By the time the galaxy merger is complete, likely over
    a billion years from now, billions of new stars may have formed.

    Open Science: Browse 3,300+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Feb 8 01:19:02 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 8

    Globular Star Cluster 47 Tuc
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marco Lorenzi, Angus Lau, Tommy Tse

    Explanation: Globular star cluster 47 Tucanae is a jewel of the
    southern sky. Also known as NGC 104, it roams the halo of our Milky Way
    Galaxy along with some 200 other globular star clusters. The second
    brightest globular cluster (after Omega Centauri) as seen from planet
    Earth, 47 Tuc lies about 13,000 light-years away. It can be spotted
    with the naked-eye close on the sky to the Small Magellanic Cloud in
    the constellation of the Toucan. The dense cluster is made up of
    hundreds of thousands of stars in a volume only about 120 light-years
    across. Red giant stars on the outskirts of the cluster are easy to
    pick out as yellowish stars in this sharp telescopic portrait. Tightly
    packed globular cluster 47 Tuc is also home to a star with the closest
    known orbit around a black hole.

    Tomorrow's picture: when roses aren't red
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Feb 9 00:25:18 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 9

    When Roses Aren't Red
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tommy Lease (Denver Astronomical Society)

    Explanation: Not all roses are red of course, but they can still be
    very pretty. Likewise, the beautiful Rosette Nebula and other star
    forming regions are often shown in astronomical images with a
    predominately red hue, in part because the dominant emission in the
    nebula is from hydrogen atoms. Hydrogen's strongest optical emission
    line, known as H-alpha, is in the red region of the spectrum. But the
    beauty of an emission nebula need not be appreciated in red light
    alone. Other atoms in the nebula are also excited by energetic
    starlight and produce narrow emission lines as well. In this close-up
    view of the Rosette Nebula, narrowband images are mapped into broadband
    colors to show emission from Sulfur atoms in red, Hydrogen in green,
    and Oxygen in blue. In fact, the scheme of mapping these narrow atomic
    emission lines (SHO) into the broader colors (RGB) is adopted in many
    Hubble images of emission nebulae. This image spans about 50
    light-years across the center of the Rosette Nebula. The nebula lies
    some 3,000 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros.

    Tomorrow's picture: ingenuity
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Feb 10 02:37:20 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 10

    The Shadow of Ingenuity's Damaged Rotor Blade
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Ingenuity

    Explanation: On January 18, 2024, during its 72nd flight in the thin
    Martian atmosphere, autonomous Mars Helicopter Ingenuity rose to an
    altitude of 12 meters (40 feet) and hovered for 4.5 seconds above the
    Red Planet. Ingenuity's 72nd landing was a rough one though. During
    descent it lost contact with the Perseverance rover about 1 meter above
    the Martian surface. Ingenuity was able to transmit this image after
    contact was re-established, showing the shadow of one of its rotor
    blades likely damaged during landing. And so, after wildly exceeding
    expectations during over 1,000 days of exploring Mars, the
    history-making Ingenuity has ended its flight operations. Nicknamed
    Ginny, Mars Helicopter Ingenuity became the first aircraft to achieve
    powered, controlled flight on another planet on April 19, 2021. Before
    launch, a small piece of material from the lower-left wing of the
    Wright Brothers Flyer 1, the first aircraft to achieve powered,
    controlled flight on planet Earth, was fixed to the underside of
    Ingenuity's solar panel.

    Tomorrow's picture: the shadow of a rocket plume
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Feb 11 01:07:32 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 11
    The long plume of a launching rocket is seen on the left side of the
    image. The upper part of the plume is bright, while the lower part is
    smokey brown. The bright part of the plume is illuminated by the Sun
    and casts a long and dark shadow corridor across the image. The shadow
    appears to end on a Full Moon. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Rocket Plume Shadow Points to the Moon
    Image Credit: Pat McCracken, NASA

    Explanation: Why would the shadow of a rocket's launch plume point
    toward the Moon? In early 2001 during a launch of the space shuttle
    Atlantis, the Sun, Earth, Moon, and rocket were all properly aligned
    for this photogenic coincidence. First, for the space shuttle's plume
    to cast a long shadow, the time of day must be either near sunrise or
    sunset. Only then will the shadow be its longest and extend all the way
    to the horizon. Finally, during a Full Moon, the Sun and Moon are on
    opposite sides of the sky. Just after sunset, for example, the Sun is
    slightly below the horizon, and, in the other direction, the Moon is
    slightly above the horizon. Therefore, as Atlantis blasted off, just
    after sunset, its shadow projected away from the Sun toward the
    opposite horizon, where the Full Moon happened to be.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: space orbs
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Feb 12 00:25:52 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 12
    The image shows a dark field filled with stars and a diffuse red nebula
    running across horizontally. In the field are two circular objects that
    are bright, light colored. The lower object is larger and encircled in
    a blue glow. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    HFG1 & Abell 6: Planetary Nebulae
    Image Credit & Copyright: Julien Cadena & Mickael Coulon; Text: Natalia
    Lewandowska (SUNY Oswego)

    Explanation: Planetary nebulae like Heckathorn-Fesen-Gull 1 (HFG1) and
    Abell 6 in the constellation Cassiopeia are remnants from the last
    phase of a medium sized star like our Sun. In spite of their shapes,
    planetary nebulae have nothing in common with actual planets. Located
    in the bottom left part of the featured photo, HFG1 was created by the
    binary star system V664 Cas, which consists of a white dwarf star and a
    red giant star. Both stars orbit their center of mass over about half
    an Earth day. Traveling with the entire nebula at a speed about 300
    times faster than the fastest train on Earth, V664 Cas generates a
    bluish arc shaped shock wave. The wave interacts most strongly with the
    surrounding interstellar medium in the areas where the arc is
    brightest. After roughly 10,000 years, planetary nebulae become
    invisible due to a lack of ultraviolet light being emitted by the stars
    that create them. Displaying beautiful shapes and structures, planetary
    nebulae are highly desired objects for astrophotographers.

    Tomorrow's picture: a wolf moon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Feb 13 00:49:42 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 13
    A bright full moon is seen in the center of the image. Angular clouds
    are seen around the edges which make the moon look like it is either in
    the mouth of the wolf, or the eye of a wolf. Please see the explanation
    for more detailed information.

    A January Wolf Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Antoni Zegarski

    Explanation: Did you see the full moon last month? During every month,
    on average, a full moon occurs in the skies over planet Earth. This is
    because the Moon takes a month to complete another orbit around our
    home planet, goes through all of its phases, and once again has its
    entire Earth-facing half lit by reflected sunlight. Many indigenous
    cultures give each full moon a name, and this past full moon's names
    include the Ice Moon, the Stay at Home Moon, and the Quiet Moon.
    Occurring in January on the modern western calendar, several cultures
    have also named the most recent full moon the Wolf Moon, in honor of
    the famous howling animal. Featured here above the Italian Alps
    mountains, this past Wolf Moon was captured in combined long and short
    exposure images. The image is striking because, to some, the
    surrounding clouds appear as a wolf's mouth ready to swallow the Wolf
    Moon, while others see the Moon as a wolf's eye.

    Tomorrow's picture: a field of roses
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Feb 15 01:08:10 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 15

    NGC 253: Dusty Island Universe
    Image Credit & Copyright: Steve Crouch

    Explanation: Shiny NGC 253 is one of the brightest spiral galaxies
    visible, and also one of the dustiest. Some call it the Silver Coin
    Galaxy for its appearance in small telescopes, or just the Sculptor
    Galaxy for its location within the boundaries of the southern
    constellation Sculptor. Discovered in 1783 by mathematician and
    astronomer Caroline Herschel, the dusty island universe lies a mere 10
    million light-years away. About 70 thousand light-years across, NGC 253
    is the largest member of the Sculptor Group of Galaxies, the nearest to
    our own Local Group of Galaxies. In addition to its spiral dust lanes,
    tendrils of dust seem to be rising from its galactic disk laced with
    young star clusters and star forming regions in this colorful galaxy
    portrait. The high dust content accompanies frantic star formation,
    earning NGC 253 the designation of a starburst galaxy. NGC 253 is also
    known to be a strong source of high-energy x-rays and gamma rays,
    likely due to massive black holes near the galaxy's center.

    Tomorrow's picture: volcano world
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Feb 16 00:12:32 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 16

    Structure in the Tail of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett`

    Explanation: Heading for its next perihelion passage on April 21, Comet
    12P/Pons-Brooks is growing brighter. The greenish coma of this periodic
    Halley-type comet has become relatively easy to observe in small
    telescopes. But the bluish ion tail now streaming from the active
    comet's coma and buffeted by the solar wind, is faint and difficult to
    follow. Still, in this image stacked exposures made on the night of
    February 11 reveal the fainter tail's detailed structures. The frame
    spans over two degrees across a background of faint stars and
    background galaxies toward the northern constellation Lacerta. Of
    course Comet 12P's April 21 perihelion passage will be only two weeks
    after the April 8 total solar eclipse, putting the comet in planet
    Earth's sky along with a totally eclipsed Sun.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Feb 17 00:17:38 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 17

    Meteor over the Bay of Naples
    Image Credit & Copyright: Wang Letian (Eyes at Night)

    Explanation: A cosmic dust grain plowing through the upper atmosphere
    much faster than a falling leaf created this brilliant meteor streak.
    In a serendipitous moment, the sublime night sky view was captured from
    the resort island of Capri, in the Bay of Naples, on the evening of
    February 8. Looking across the bay, the camera faces northeast toward
    the lights of Naples and surrounding cities. Pointing toward the
    horizon, the meteor streak by chance ends above the silhouette of Mount
    Vesuvius. One of planet Earth's most famous volcanos, an eruption of
    Mount Vesuvius destroyed the city of Pompeii in 79 AD.

    Tomorrow's picture: nearly perfect
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Feb 19 06:03:08 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 19

    Looking Sideways from the Parker Solar Probe
    Video Credit: NASA, JHUAPL, Naval Research Lab, Parker Solar Probe;
    Processing: Avi Solomon; h/t: Richard Petarius III;
    Music: Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, Second Movement; Music Credit:
    Wikimedia Commons

    Explanation: What's happening near the Sun? To help find out, NASA
    launched the robotic Parker Solar Probe (PSP) to investigate regions
    closer to the Sun than ever before. The PSP's looping orbit brings it
    nearer to the Sun each time around -- every few months. The featured
    time-lapse video shows the view looking sideways from behind PSP's Sun
    shield during its 16th approach to the Sun last year -- from well
    within the orbit of Mercury. The PSP's Wide Field Imager for Solar
    Probe (WISPR) cameras took the images over eleven days, but they are
    digitally compressed here into about one minute video. The waving of
    the solar corona is visible, as is a coronal mass ejection, with stars,
    planets, and even the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy streaming by
    in the background as the PSP orbits the Sun. PSP has found the solar
    neighborhood to be surprisingly complex and to include switchbacks --
    times when the Sun's magnetic field briefly reverses itself.

    Tomorrow's picture: galactic pearls
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Feb 20 00:37:50 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 20
    A distorted galaxy is shown with a string of stars trailing off on the
    left. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    AM1054: Stars Form as Galaxies Collide
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI; Processing: J. English (U. Manitoba);
    Science: M. Rodruck (Penn State U. & Randolph-Macon C.) et al.;
    Text: Jayanne English (U. Manitoba).

    Explanation: When galaxies collide, how many stars are born? For
    AM1054-325, featured here in a recently released image by the Hubble
    Space Telescope, the answer is millions. Instead of stars being
    destroyed as galaxy AM1054-325 and a nearby galaxy circle each other,
    their gravity and motion has ignited stellar creation. Star formation
    occurs rapidly in the gaseous debris stretching from AM1054-325CÇÖs
    yellowish body due to the other galaxyCÇÖs gravitational pull. Hydrogen
    gas surrounding newborn stars glows pink. Bright infant stars shine
    blue and cluster together in compact nurseries of thousands to millions
    of stars. AM1054-325 possesses over 100 of these intense-blue, dot-like
    star clusters, some appearing like a string of pearls. Analyzing
    ultraviolet light helped determine that most of these stars are less
    than 10 million years old: stellar babies. Many of these nurseries may
    grow up to be globular star clusters, while the bundle of young stars
    at the bottom tip may even detach and form a small galaxy.

    Tomorrow's picture: bigger bird
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Feb 21 00:03:00 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 21
    A red nebula in a dark starry sky is seen above a rocky peak. The
    nebula appears similar to a flying bird. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    Seagull Nebula over Pinnacles' Peak
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dheera Venkatraman

    Explanation: The bird is bigger than the peak. Nicknamed for its avian
    shape, the Seagull Nebula is an emission nebula on the night sky that
    is vast, spanning an angle over five times the diameter of the full
    moon and over 200 light years. The head of the nebula is catalogued as
    IC 2177, and the star cluster under its right wing is catalogued as NGC
    2343. Consisting of mostly red-glowing hydrogen gas, the Seagull Nebula
    incorporates some dust lanes and is forming stars. The peak over which
    this Seagull seems to soar occurs at Pinnacles National Park in
    California, USA. The featured image is a composite of long exposure
    images of the background sky and short exposure images of the
    foreground, all taken consecutively with the same camera and from the
    same location.

    Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Feb 22 00:11:28 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 22

    A View Toward M106
    Image Credit & Copyright: Kyunghoon Lim

    Explanation: Big, bright, beautiful spiral, Messier 106 dominates this
    cosmic vista. The nearly two degree wide telescopic field of view looks
    toward the well-trained constellation Canes Venatici, near the handle
    of the Big Dipper. Also known as NGC 4258, M106 is about 80,000
    light-years across and 23.5 million light-years away, the largest
    member of the Canes II galaxy group. For a far far away galaxy, the
    distance to M106 is well-known in part because it can be directly
    measured by tracking this galaxy's remarkable maser, or microwave laser
    emission. Very rare but naturally occurring, the maser emission is
    produced by water molecules in molecular clouds orbiting its active
    galactic nucleus. Another prominent spiral galaxy on the scene, viewed
    nearly edge-on, is NGC 4217 below and right of M106. The distance to
    NGC 4217 is much less well-known, estimated to be about 60 million
    light-years, but the bright spiky stars are in the foreground, well
    inside our own Milky Way galaxy.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Feb 23 03:17:40 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 23

    The Pencil Nebula Supernova Shock Wave
    Image Credit & Copyright: Helge Buesing

    Explanation: This supernova shock wave plows through interstellar space
    at over 500,000 kilometers per hour. Centered and moving upward in the
    sharply detailed color composite its thin, bright, braided filaments
    are actually long ripples in a cosmic sheet of glowing gas seen almost
    edge-on. Discovered in the 1840s by Sir John Herschel, the
    narrow-looking nebula is sometimes known as Herschel's Ray. Cataloged
    as NGC 2736, its pointed appearance suggests its modern popular name,
    the Pencil Nebula. The Pencil Nebula is about 800 light-years away.
    Nearly 5 light-years long it represents only a small part of the Vela
    supernova remnant though. The enormous Vela remnant itself is around
    100 light-years in diameter, the expanding debris cloud of a star that
    was seen to explode about 11,000 years ago. Initially, the section of
    the shock wave seen as the Pencil nebula was moving at millions of
    kilometers per hour but has slowed considerably, sweeping up
    surrounding interstellar material.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Feb 24 00:06:30 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 24

    To the Moon
    Image Credit: Intuitive Machines

    Explanation: Intuitive Machines' robotic lander Odysseus has
    accomplished the first U.S. landing on the Moon since the Apollo 17
    mission in 1972. Launched on a SpaceX rocket on February 15, the phone
    booth sized lander reached lunar orbit on the 21st and touched down on
    the lunar surface at 6:23 pm ET on February 22nd. Its landing region is
    about 300 kilometers north of the Moon's south pole, near a crater
    designated Malapert A. The lander is presently collecting solar power
    and transmitting data back to the Intuitive Machines' mission control
    center in Houston. The mission marks the first commercial uncrewed
    landing on the Moon. Prior to landing, OdysseusCÇÖ camera captured this
    extreme wide angle image (landing legs visible at right) as it flew
    over Schomberger crater some 200 kilometers from its landing site.
    Odysseus was still about 10 kilometers above the lunar surface.

    Tomorrow's picture: Phoenix over Iceland
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Feb 25 00:32:42 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 25
    A green aurora fills a star filled sky. A mountain and a lake are in
    the foreground. The aurora may resemble, to some, a flying or rising
    Phoenix. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    A Phoenix Aurora over Iceland
    Image Credit & Copyright: Hallgrimur P. Helgason; Rollover Annotation:
    Judy Schmidt

    Explanation: All of the other aurora watchers had gone home. By 3:30 am
    in Iceland, on a quiet September night, much of that night's auroras
    had died down. Suddenly, unexpectedly, a new burst of particles
    streamed down from space, lighting up the Earth's atmosphere once
    again. This time, surprisingly, pareidoliacally, the night lit up with
    an amazing shape reminiscent of a giant phoenix. With camera equipment
    at the ready, two quick sky images were taken, followed immediately by
    a third of the land. The mountain in the background is Helgafell, while
    the small foreground river is called Kald+í, both located about 30
    kilometers north of Iceland's capital Reykjav+¡k. Seasoned skywatchers
    will note that just above the mountain, toward the left, is the
    constellation of Orion, while the Pleiades star cluster is also visible
    just above the frame center. The 2016 aurora, which lasted only a
    minute and was soon gone forever -- would possibly be dismissed as a
    fanciful fable -- were it not captured in the featured,
    digitally-composed, image mosaic.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Feb 26 00:48:46 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 26

    Martian Moon Eclipses Martian Moon
    Video Credit: ESA, DLR, FU Berlin, Mars Express; Processing & CC BY 2.0
    License: Andrea Luck

    Explanation: What if there were two moons in the sky -- and they
    eclipsed each other? This happens on Mars. The featured video shows a
    version of this unusual eclipse from space. Pictured are the two moons
    of Mars: the larger Phobos, which orbits closer to the red planet, and
    the smaller Deimos, which orbits further out. The sequence was captured
    last year by the ESACÇÖs Mars Express, a robotic spacecraft that itself
    orbits Mars. A similar eclipse is visible from the Martian surface,
    although very rarely. From the surface, though, the closer moon Phobos
    would appear to pass in front of farther moon Deimos. Most oddly, both
    moons orbit Mars so close that they appear to move backwards when
    compared to Earth's Moon from Earth, both rising in west and setting in
    the east. Phobos, the closer moon, orbits so close and so fast that it
    passes nearly overhead about three times a day.

    Tomorrow's picture: spaghetti star
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Feb 27 00:19:58 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 27
    A large filamentary nebula is shown dominated by red glow but with bits
    of blue on the lower left. The nebula is shown in a dense starfield
    surrounded by other faint red-glowing nebulae. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Supernova Remnant Simeis 147
    Image Credit & Copyright: St+¬phane Vetter (Nuits sacr+¬es)

    Explanation: It's easy to get lost following the intricate, looping,
    and twisting filaments of supernova remnant Simeis 147. Also cataloged
    as Sharpless 2-240, the filamentary nebula goes by the popular nickname
    the Spaghetti Nebula. Seen toward the boundary of the constellations of
    the Bull (Taurus) and the Charioteer (Auriga), the impressive gas
    structure covers nearly 3 degrees on the sky, equivalent to 6 full
    moons. That's about 150 light-years at the stellar debris cloud's
    estimated distance of 3,000 light-years. This composite image includes
    data taken through narrow-band filters isolating emission from hydrogen
    (red) and oxygen (blue) glowing gas. The supernova remnant has an
    estimated age of about 40,000 years, meaning light from this massive
    stellar explosion first reached the Earth when woolly mammoths roamed
    free. Besides the expanding remnant, this cosmic catastrophe left
    behind a pulsar: a spinning neutron star that is the remnant of the
    original star's core.

    Tomorrow's picture: how night falls
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Feb 28 10:10:00 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 28
    A rocky shoreline is shown with land on the right and water on the
    left. Above is a sky that shows unusually pixelated and colored
    vertical bands. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Shades of Night
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dario Giannobile

    Explanation: How does the sky turn dark at night? In stages, and with
    different characteristic colors rising from the horizon. The featured
    image shows, left to right, increasingly late twilight times after
    sunset in 20 different vertical bands. The picture was taken last month
    in Syracuse, Sicily, Italy, in the direction opposite the Sun. On the
    far left is the pre-sunset upper sky. Toward the right, prominent bands
    include the Belt of Venus, the Blue Band, the Horizon Band, and the Red
    Band. As the dark shadow of the Earth rises, the colors in these bands
    are caused by direct sunlight reflecting from air and aerosols in the
    Earth's atmosphere, multiple reflections sometimes involving a reddened
    sunset, and refraction. In practice, these bands can be diffuse and
    hard to discern, and their colors can depend on colors near the setting
    Sun. Finally, the Sun completely sets and the sky becomes dark. Don't
    despair -- the whole thing will happen in reverse when the Sun rises
    again in the morning.

    Tomorrow's picture: extra February
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Feb 29 00:30:44 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 February 29

    Julius Caesar and Leap Days
    Image Credit & License: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc., Wikimedia

    Explanation: In 46 BC Julius Caesar reformed the calendar system. Based
    on advice by astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria, the Julian calendar
    included one leap day every four years to account for the fact that an
    Earth year is slightly more than 365 days long. In modern terms, the
    time it takes for the planet to orbit the Sun once is 365.24219 mean
    solar days. So if calendar years contained exactly 365 days they would
    drift from the Earth's year by about 1 day every 4 years and eventually
    July (named for Julius Caesar himself) would occur during the northern
    hemisphere winter. By adopting a leap year with an extra day every four
    years, the Julian calendar year would drift much less. In 1582 Pope
    Gregory XIII provided the further fine-tuning that leap days should not
    occur in years ending in 00, unless divisible by 400. This Gregorian
    Calendar system is the one in wide use today. Of course, tidal friction
    in the Earth-Moon system slows Earth's rotation and gradually lengthens
    the day by about 1.4 milliseconds per century. That means that leap
    days like today will not be necessary, about 4 million years from now.
    This Roman silver coin, a denarius, depicts Julius Caesar (left) and
    Venus, Roman goddess of love.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Mar 1 01:25:16 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 1

    Odysseus and The Dish
    Image Credit & Copyright: John Sarkissian (ATNF Parkes Radio
    Observatory)

    Explanation: Murriyang, the CSIROCÇÖs Parkes radio telescope points
    toward a nearly Full Moon in this image from New South Wales,
    Australia, planet Earth. Bathed in moonlight, the 64 meter dish is
    receiving weak radio signals from Odysseus, following the robotic
    lander's February 22 touch down some 300 kilometers north of the Moon's
    south pole. The landing of Odysseus represents the first U.S. landing
    on the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Odysseus' tilted
    orientation on the lunar surface prevents its high-gain antenna from
    pointing toward Earth. But the sensitivity of the large, steerable
    Parkes dish significantly improved the reception of data from the
    experiments delivered to the lunar surface by the robotic moon lander.
    Of course the Parkes Radio Telescope dish became famous for its
    superior lunar television reception during the Apollo 11 mission in
    1969, allowing denizens of planet Earth to watch the first moonwalk.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Mar 3 00:52:36 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 3

    A Total Solar Eclipse Close-Up in Real Time
    Video Credit & Copyright: Jun Ho Oh (KAIST, HuboLab);
    Music: Flowing Air by Mattia Vlad Morleo

    Explanation: How would you feel if the Sun disappeared? Many eclipse
    watchers across the USA surprised themselves in 2017 with the awe that
    they felt and the exclamations that they made as the Sun momentarily
    disappeared behind the Moon. Perhaps expecting just a brief moment of
    dusk, the spectacle of unusually rapid darkness, breathtakingly bright
    glowing beads around the Moon's edge, shockingly pink solar
    prominences, and a strangely detailed corona stretching across the sky
    caught many a curmudgeon by surprise. Many of these attributes were
    captured in the featured real-time, three-minute video of 2017's total
    solar eclipse. The video frames were acquired in Warm Springs, Oregon
    with equipment specifically designed by Jun Ho Oh to track a close-up
    of the Sun's periphery during eclipse. As the video ends, the Sun is
    seen being reborn on the other side of the Moon from where it departed.
    Next month, on April 8th, a new total solar eclipse will be visible in
    a thin band across North America.

    Tomorrow's picture: strange horizon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Mar 5 01:19:32 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 5
    A complex jumble of colorful gas and dark dust dominate a bright field
    of stars. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    NGC 2170: Angel Nebula Abstract Art
    Image Credit & Copyright: David Moulton

    Explanation: Is this a painting or a photograph? In this celestial
    abstract art composed with a cosmic brush, dusty nebula NGC 2170, also
    known as the Angel Nebula, shines just above the image center.
    Reflecting the light of nearby hot stars, NGC 2170 is joined by other
    bluish reflection nebulae, a red emission region, many dark absorption
    nebulae, and a backdrop of colorful stars. Like the common household
    items that abstract painters often choose for their subjects, the
    clouds of gas, dust, and hot stars featured here are also commonly
    found in a setting like this one -- a massive, star-forming molecular
    cloud in the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros). The giant
    molecular cloud, Mon R2, is impressively close, estimated to be only
    2,400 light-years or so away. At that distance, this canvas would be
    over 60 light-years across.

    Tomorrow's picture: star plane
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Mar 6 01:08:36 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 6
    A starfield is shown with an unusual horizontal line segment running
    throug the middle. The segment is an edge-on galaxy and many brown dust
    filaments are visible. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    M102: Edge-on Disk Galaxy
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing: Ehsan Ebahimian

    Explanation: What kind of celestial object is this? A relatively normal
    galaxy -- but seen from its edge. Many disk galaxies are actually just
    as thin as NGC 5866, the Spindle galaxy, pictured here, but are not
    seen edge-on from our vantage point. A perhaps more familiar galaxy
    seen edge-on is our own Milky Way galaxy. Also cataloged as M102, the
    Spindle galaxy has numerous and complex dust lanes appearing dark and
    red, while many of the bright stars in the disk give it a more blue
    underlying hue. The blue disk of young stars can be seen in this Hubble
    image extending past the dust in the extremely thin galactic plane.
    There is evidence that the Spindle galaxy has cannibalized smaller
    galaxies over the past billion years or so, including multiple streams
    of faint stars, dark dust that extends away from the main galactic
    plane, and a surrounding group of galaxies (not shown). In general,
    many disk galaxies become thin because the gas that forms them collides
    with itself as it rotates about the gravitational center. The Spindle
    galaxy lies about 50 million light years distant toward the
    constellation of the Dragon (Draco).

    Tomorrow's picture: not a distant galactic nebula
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Mar 7 01:00:36 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 7

    The Crew-8 Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Seeley

    Explanation: Not the James Webb Space Telescope's latest view of a
    distant galactic nebula, this cloud of gas and dust dazzled spacecoast
    skygazers on March 3. The telephoto snapshot was taken minutes after
    the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket on the SpaceX Crew-8 mission, to the
    International Space Station. It captures plumes and exhaust from the
    separated first and second stage, a drifting Rorschach pattern in dark
    evening skies. The bright spot near bottom center within the stunning
    terrestrial nebulosity is the second stage engine firing to carry 4
    humans to space in the Crew Dragon spacecraft Endeavour. In sharp
    silhouette just above it is the Falcon 9 first stage booster orienting
    itself for return to a landing zone at Cape Canaveral, planet Earth.
    This reuseable first stage booster was making its first flight. But the
    Crew Dragon Endeavour capsule has flown humans to low Earth orbit and
    back again 4 times before. Endeavour, as a name for a spacecraft, has
    also seen reuse, christening retired Space Shuttle Endeavour and the
    Apollo 15 command module.

    Tomorrow's picture: distant galactic nebula
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Mar 8 00:29:18 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 8

    The Tarantula Zone
    Image Credit & Copyright: Processing - Robert Gendler
    Data - Hubble Tarantula Treasury, European Southern Observatory, James
    Webb Space Telescope, Amateur Sources

    Explanation: The Tarantula Nebula, also known as 30 Doradus, is more
    than a thousand light-years in diameter, a giant star forming region
    within nearby satellite galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud. About 180
    thousand light-years away, it's the largest, most violent star forming
    region known in the whole Local Group of galaxies. The cosmic arachnid
    sprawls across this magnificent view, an assembly of image data from
    large space- and ground-based telescopes. Within the Tarantula (NGC
    2070), intense radiation, stellar winds, and supernova shocks from the
    central young cluster of massive stars cataloged as R136 energize the
    nebular glow and shape the spidery filaments. Around the Tarantula are
    other star forming regions with young star clusters, filaments, and
    blown-out bubble-shaped clouds. In fact, the frame includes the site of
    the closest supernova in modern times, SN 1987A, at lower right. The
    rich field of view spans about 2 degrees or 4 full moons in the
    southern constellation Dorado. But were the Tarantula Nebula closer,
    say 1,500 light-years distant like the Milky Way's own star forming
    Orion Nebula, it would take up half the sky.

    Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Mar 9 00:17:30 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 9

    Comet Pons-Brooks in Northern Spring
    Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Hor+ílek / Institute of Physics in Opava

    Explanation: As spring approaches for northern skygazers Comet
    12P/Pons-Brooks is growing brighter. Currently visible with small
    telescopes and binoculars the Halley-type comet could reach naked eye
    visibility in the coming weeks. Seen despite a foggy atmosphere, the
    comet's green coma and long tail hover near the horizon, in this
    well-composed deep night skyscape from Revuca, Slovakia recorded on
    March 5. In the sky above the Halley-type comet, the Andromeda (right)
    and Triangulum galaxies flank bright star Mirach, beta star of the
    constellation Andromeda. The two spiral galaxies are members of our
    local galaxy group and over 2.5 million light-years distant. Comet
    Pons-Brooks is a periodic visitor to the inner Solar System and less
    than 14 light-minutes away. Reaching its perihelion on April 21, this
    comet should be visible in the sky during the April 8 total solar
    eclipse.

    Tomorrow's picture: at the End of the World
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Mar 10 00:12:18 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 10
    A field of snow leads up to a dark circle. Light rays eminate from this
    circle. In front, standing on the snow field is a person and to the
    left is a folding chair and a bag. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    A Total Eclipse at the End of the World
    Image Credit & Copyright: Fred Bruenjes (moonglow.net)

    Explanation: Would you go to the end of the world to see a total
    eclipse of the Sun? If you did, would you be surprised to find someone
    else there already? In 2003, the Sun, the Moon, Antarctica, and two
    photographers all lined up in Antarctica during an unusual total solar
    eclipse. Even given the extreme location, a group of enthusiastic
    eclipse chasers ventured near the bottom of the world to experience the
    surreal momentary disappearance of the Sun behind the Moon. One of the
    treasures collected was the featured picture -- a composite of four
    separate images digitally combined to realistically simulate how the
    adaptive human eye saw the eclipse. As the image was taken, both the
    Moon and the Sun peeked together over an Antarctic ridge. In the sudden
    darkness, the magnificent corona of the Sun became visible around the
    Moon. Quite by accident, another photographer was caught in one of the
    images checking his video camera. Visible to his left are an equipment
    bag and a collapsible chair. A more easily visible solar eclipse will
    occur in just under four weeks and be visible from a long, thin swath
    of North America.

    Tomorrow's picture: Full Plankton Moon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Mar 11 00:37:50 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 11
    Several images of a full moon setting are superposed. The moon images
    are nearly white near the top, but turn orange and then are covered by
    low clouds near the horizon. Unusually, the setting moon images line up
    almost vertically. In the foreground is a beach with waves illuminated
    by blue-glowing plankton. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    A Full Plankton Moon
    Credit & Copyright: Petr Hor+ílek / Institute of Physics in Opava

    Explanation: What glows in the night? This night featured a combination
    of usual and unusual glows. Perhaps the most usual glow was from the
    Moon, a potentially familiar object. The full Moon's nearly vertical
    descent results from the observer being near Earth's equator. As the
    Moon sets, air and aerosols in Earth's atmosphere preferentially
    scatter out blue light, making the Sun-reflecting satellite appear
    reddish when near the horizon. Perhaps the most unusual glow was from
    the bioluminescent plankton, likely less familiar objects. These
    microscopic creatures glow blue, it is thought, primarily to surprise
    and deter predators. In this case, the glow was caused primarily by
    plankton-containing waves crashing onto the beach. The image was taken
    on Soneva Fushi Island, Maldives just over one year ago.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: horizon spiral
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Mar 12 00:58:56 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 12
    A field of snow is shown, lined with trees along the back. Above the
    horizon is an unusual white spiral cloud. Stars dot the background, and
    faint green and red aurora are also visible. Please see the explanation
    for more detailed information.

    A Galaxy-Shaped Rocket Exhaust Spiral
    Credit & Copyright: Seung Hye Yang

    Explanation: What's that over the horizon? What may look like a
    strangely nearby galaxy is actually a normal rocket's exhaust plume --
    but unusually backlit. Although the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was launched
    from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA, its burned propellant was visible
    over a much wider area, with the featured photograph being taken from
    Akureyri, Iceland. The huge spaceship was lifted off a week ago, and
    the resulting spectacle was captured soon afterward with a single
    10-second smartphone exposure, before it quickly dissipated. Like
    noctilucent clouds, the plume's brightness is caused by the Twilight
    Effect, where an object is high enough to be illuminated by the
    twilight Sun, even when the observer on the ground experiences the
    darkness of night. The spiral shape is likely caused by high winds
    pushing the expelled gas into the shape of a corkscrew, which, when
    seen along the trajectory, looks like a spiral. Stars and faint green
    and red aurora appear in the background of this extraordinary image.

    Tomorrow's picture: bird in red and blue
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Mar 13 00:38:04 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 13
    A starfield features a large nebula, mostly red, partly blue, which
    seems to have the shape of a bird. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    The Seagull Nebula
    Credit & Copyright: Gianni Lacroce

    Explanation: A broad expanse of glowing gas and dust presents a
    bird-like visage to astronomers from planet Earth, suggesting its
    popular moniker: the Seagull Nebula. This portrait of the cosmic bird
    covers a 1.6-degree wide swath across the plane of the Milky Way, near
    the direction of Sirius, the alpha star of the constellation of the Big
    Dog (Canis Major). Of course, the region includes objects with other
    catalog designations: notably NGC 2327, a compact, dusty emission and
    reflection nebula with an embedded massive star that forms the bird's
    head. Dominated by the reddish glow of atomic hydrogen, the complex of
    gas and dust clouds with bright young stars spans over 100 light-years
    at an estimated 3,800 light-year distance.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: open space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Mar 15 00:39:36 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 15

    Portrait of NGC 1055
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dave Doctor

    Explanation: Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 1055 is a dominant member
    of a small galaxy group a mere 60 million light-years away toward the
    aquatically intimidating constellation Cetus. Seen edge-on, the island
    universe spans over 100,000 light-years, a little larger than our own
    Milky Way galaxy. The colorful, spiky stars decorating this cosmic
    portrait of NGC 1055 are in the foreground, well within the Milky Way.
    But the telltale pinkish star forming regions are scattered through
    winding dust lanes along the distant galaxy's thin disk. With a
    smattering of even more distant background galaxies, the deep image
    also reveals a boxy halo that extends far above and below the central
    bulge and disk of NGC 1055. The halo itself is laced with faint, narrow
    structures, and could represent the mixed and spread out debris from a
    satellite galaxy disrupted by the larger spiral some 10 billion years
    ago.

    Tomorrow's picture: an extremely large telescope
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Mar 16 00:46:40 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 16

    ELT and the Milky Way
    Image Credit & License: European Southern Observatory - Courtesy: Jens
    Scheidtmann

    Explanation: The southern winter Milky Way sprawls across this night
    skyscape. Looking due south, the webcam view was recorded near local
    midnight on March 11 in dry, dark skies over the central Chilean
    Atacama desert. Seen below the graceful arc of diffuse starlight are
    satellite galaxies of the mighty Milky Way, also known as the Large and
    Small Magellanic clouds. In the foreground is the site of the European
    Southern Observatory's 40-metre-class Extremely Large Telescope (ELT).
    Under construction at the 3000 metre summit of Cerro Armazones, the ELT
    is on track to become planet Earth's biggest Eye on the Sky.

    Tomorrow's picture: when galaxies collide
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Mar 17 01:22:04 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 17
    A blue spiral galaxy appears to be colliding -- and possibly moving
    through -- a dusty brown galaxy. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    NGC 7714: Starburst after Galaxy Collision
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive;
    Processing & Copyright: Rudy Pohl

    Explanation: Is this galaxy jumping through a giant ring of stars?
    Probably not. Although the precise dynamics behind the featured image
    is yet unclear, what is clear is that the pictured galaxy, NGC 7714,
    has been stretched and distorted by a recent collision with a
    neighboring galaxy. This smaller neighbor, NGC 7715, situated off to
    the left of the frame, is thought to have charged right through NGC
    7714. Observations indicate that the golden ring pictured is composed
    of millions of older Sun-like stars that are likely co-moving with the
    interior bluer stars. In contrast, the bright center of NGC 7714
    appears to be undergoing a burst of new star formation. The featured
    image was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. NGC 7714 is located
    about 130 million light years away toward the constellation of the Two
    Fish (Pisces). The interactions between these galaxies likely started
    about 150 million years ago and should continue for several hundred
    million years more, after which a single central galaxy may result.

    Tomorrow's picture: spiraling comet
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Mar 18 00:26:14 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 18
    A comet is pictured with a really long and wavy ion tail. The front of
    the comet -- its coma -- appears to be a spiral. The coma is green, the
    tail is faint blue, and part of the swirl is red. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Comet Pons-Brooks' Swirling Coma
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jan Erik Vallestad

    Explanation: A bright comet will be visible during next month's total
    solar eclipse. This very unusual coincidence occurs because Comet
    12P/Pons-Brooks's return to the inner Solar System places it by chance
    only 25 degrees away from the Sun during Earth's April 8 total solar
    eclipse. Currently the comet is just on the edge of visibility to the
    unaided eye, best visible with binoculars in the early evening sky
    toward the constellation of the Fish (Pisces). Comet Pons-Brooks,
    though, is putting on quite a show for deep camera images even now. The
    featured image is a composite of three very specific colors, showing
    the comet's ever-changing ion tail in light blue, its outer coma in
    green, and highlights some red-glowing gas around the coma in a spiral.
    The spiral is thought to be caused by gas being expelled by the slowly
    rotating nucleus of the giant iceberg comet. Although it is always
    difficult to predict the future brightness of comets, Comet Pons-Brook
    has been particularly prone to outbursts, making it even more difficult
    to predict how bright it will actually be as the Moon moves in front of
    the Sun on April 8.

    Total Eclipse Info: 2024 Total Solar Eclipse from NASA
    Tomorrow's picture: sunset road
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Mar 20 00:17:28 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 20
    Two large galaxies are pictured. On the left is a distorted spiral
    galaxy, while on the right is a relatively featureless yellow disk
    galaxy. Together, these galaxies may look, to some, like a pair of
    eyes. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    The Eyes in Markarian's Galaxy Chain
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby

    Explanation: Across the heart of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster lies a string
    of galaxies known as Markarian's Chain. Prominent in Markarian's Chain
    are these two interacting galaxies, NGC 4438 (left) and NGC 4435 - also
    known as The Eyes. About 50 million light-years away, the two galaxies
    appear to be about 100,000 light-years apart in this sharp close-up,
    but have likely approached to within an estimated 16,000 light-years of
    each other in their cosmic past. Gravitational tides from the close
    encounter have ripped away at their stars, gas, and dust. The more
    massive NGC 4438 managed to hold on to much of the material torn out in
    the collision, while material from the smaller NGC 4435 was more easily
    lost. The remarkably deep image of this crowded region of the universe
    also includes many more distant background galaxies.

    Tomorrow's picture: three galaxies
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Mar 21 04:33:08 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 21

    The Leo Trio
    Image Credit & Copyright: Steve Cannistra

    Explanation: This popular group leaps into the early evening sky around
    the March equinox and the northern hemisphere spring. Famous as the Leo
    Triplet, the three magnificent galaxies found in the prominent
    constellation Leo gather here in one astronomical field of view. Crowd
    pleasers when imaged with even modest telescopes, they can be
    introduced individually as NGC 3628 (left), M66 (bottom right), and M65
    (top). All three are large spiral galaxies but tend to look dissimilar,
    because their galactic disks are tilted at different angles to our line
    of sight. NGC 3628, also known as the Hamburger Galaxy, is temptingly
    seen edge-on, with obscuring dust lanes cutting across its puffy
    galactic plane. The disks of M66 and M65 are both inclined enough to
    show off their spiral structure. Gravitational interactions between
    galaxies in the group have left telltale signs, including the tidal
    tails and warped, inflated disk of NGC 3628 and the drawn out spiral
    arms of M66. This gorgeous view of the region spans over 1 degree (two
    full moons) on the sky in a frame that covers over half a million
    light-years at the trio's estimated distance of 30 million light-years.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Mar 22 01:34:20 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 22

    Phobos: Moon over Mars
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Zolt Levay (STScI) - Acknowledgment: J.Bell
    (ASU) and M.Wolff (SSI)

    Explanation: A tiny moon with a scary name, Phobos emerges from behind
    the Red Planet in this timelapse sequence from the Earth-orbiting
    Hubble Space Telescope. Over 22 minutes the 13 separate exposures were
    captured near the 2016 closest approach of Mars to planet Earth.
    Martians have to look to the west to watch Phobos rise, though. The
    small moon is closer to its parent planet than any other moon in the
    Solar System, about 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometers) above the Martian
    surface. It completes one orbit in just 7 hours and 39 minutes. That's
    faster than a Mars rotation, which corresponds to about 24 hours and 40
    minutes. So on Mars, Phobos can be seen to rise above the western
    horizon 3 times a day. Still, Phobos is doomed.

    Tomorrow's picture: Ares 3 Landing Site
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sat Mar 23 07:09:44 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 23

    Ares 3 Landing Site: The Martian Revisited
    HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA

    Explanation: This close-up from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's
    HiRISE camera shows weathered craters and windblown deposits in
    southern Acidalia Planitia. A striking shade of blue in standard HiRISE
    image colors, to the human eye the area would probably look grey or a
    little reddish. But human eyes have not gazed across this terrain,
    unless you count the eyes of NASA astronauts in the scifi novel The
    Martian by Andy Weir. The novel chronicles the adventures of Mark
    Watney, an astronaut stranded at the fictional Mars mission Ares 3
    landing site corresponding to the coordinates of this cropped HiRISE
    frame. For scale Watney's 6-meter-diameter habitat at the site would be
    about 1/10th the diameter of the large crater. Of course, the Ares 3
    landing coordinates are only about 800 kilometers north of the (real
    life) Carl Sagan Memorial Station, the 1997 Pathfinder landing site.

    Tomorrow's picture: looking back
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sun Mar 24 01:59:46 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 24
    Part of the the Earth is pictured with blue seas and white clouds. On
    the upper left is a deep space dark background. On the Earth a large
    dark spot is apparent. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Looking Back at an Eclipsed Earth
    Image Credit: Mir 27 Crew; Copyright: CNES

    Explanation: Here is what the Earth looks like during a solar eclipse.
    The shadow of the Moon can be seen darkening part of Earth. This shadow
    moved across the Earth at nearly 2000 kilometers per hour. Only
    observers near the center of the dark circle see a total solar eclipse
    - others see a partial eclipse where only part of the Sun appears
    blocked by the Moon. This spectacular picture of the 1999 August 11
    solar eclipse was one of the last ever taken from the Mir space
    station. The two bright spots that appear on the upper left are thought
    to be Jupiter and Saturn. Mir was deorbited in a controlled re-entry in
    2001. A new solar eclipse will occur over North America in about two
    weeks.

    Tomorrow's picture: open see
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Mon Mar 25 00:18:58 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 25

    Sonified: The Jellyfish Nebula Supernova Remnant
    Image Credit: X-ray (blue): Chandra (NASA) & ROSAT (ESA); Optical
    (red): DSS (NSF); Radio (green): VLA (NRAO, NSF); Sonification: NASA,
    CXC, SAO, K. Arcand; SYSTEM Sounds: M. Russo, A. Santaguida)

    Explanation: What does a supernova remnant sound like? Although sound
    is a compression wave in matter and does not carry into empty space,
    interpretive sound can help listeners appreciate and understand a
    visual image of a supernova remnant in a new way. Recently, the
    Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443) has been sonified quite creatively. In the
    featured sound-enhanced video, when an imaginary line passes over a
    star, the sound of a drop falling into water is played, a sound
    particularly relevant to the nebula's aquatic namesake. Additionally,
    when the descending line crosses gas that glows red, a low tone is
    played, while green sounds a middle tone, and blue produces a tone with
    a relatively high pitch. Light from the supernova that created the
    Jellyfish Nebula left approximately 35,000 years ago, when humanity was
    in the stone age. The nebula will slowly disperse over the next million
    years, although the explosion also created a dense neutron star which
    will remain indefinitely.

    Tomorrow's picture: comet tails
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tue Mar 26 00:04:36 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 26
    A large comet is shown with its head near the right and a light blue
    flowing ion tail flowing across into the rest of the image. Please see
    the explanation for more detailed information.

    Comet Pons-Brooks' Ion Tail
    Image Credit & License: James Peirce

    Explanation: Comet Pons-Brooks has quite a tail to tell. First
    discovered in 1385, this erupting dirty snowball loops back into our
    inner Solar System every 71 years and, this time, is starting to put on
    a show for deep camera exposures. In the featured picture, the light
    blue stream is the ion tail which consists of charged molecules pushed
    away from the comet's nucleus by the solar wind. The ion tail, shaped
    by the Sun's wind and the comet's core's rotation, always points away
    from the Sun. Comet 12P/PonsCÇôBrooks is now visible with binoculars in
    the early evening sky toward the northwest, moving perceptibly from
    night to night. The frequently flaring comet is expected to continue to
    brighten, on the average, and may even become visible with the unaided
    eye -- during the day -- to those in the path of totality of the coming
    solar eclipse on April 8.

    Tomorrow's picture: thousands of galaxies
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wed Mar 27 00:50:02 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 27
    A picture filled with fuzzy yellow spots is presented. All of the
    yellow spots are galaxies, and most of the galaxies are members of the
    Coma Cluster of Galaxies. The two bright blue dots are foreground stars
    in our own Milky Way Galaxy. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    The Coma Cluster of Galaxies
    Image Credit & Copyright: Joe Hua

    Explanation: Almost every object in the featured photograph is a
    galaxy. The Coma Cluster of Galaxies pictured here is one of the
    densest clusters known - it contains thousands of galaxies. Each of
    these galaxies houses billions of stars - just as our own Milky Way
    Galaxy does. Although nearby when compared to most other clusters,
    light from the Coma Cluster still takes hundreds of millions of years
    to reach us. In fact, the Coma Cluster is so big it takes light
    millions of years just to go from one side to the other. Most galaxies
    in Coma and other clusters are ellipticals, while most galaxies outside
    of clusters are spirals. The nature of Coma's X-ray emission is still
    being investigated.

    Tomorrow's picture: millions of stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thu Mar 28 00:10:44 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 28

    Millions of Stars in Omega Centauri
    Image Credit & Copyright: Massimo Di Fusco and Mirco Turra

    Explanation: Globular star cluster Omega Centauri, also known as NGC
    5139, is 15,000 light-years away. The cluster is packed with about 10
    million stars much older than the Sun within a volume about 150
    light-years in diameter. It's the largest and brightest of 200 or so
    known globular clusters that roam the halo of our Milky Way galaxy.
    Though most star clusters consist of stars with the same age and
    composition, the enigmatic Omega Cen exhibits the presence of different
    stellar populations with a spread of ages and chemical abundances. In
    fact, Omega Cen may be the remnant core of a small galaxy merging with
    the Milky Way. With a yellowish hue, Omega Centauri's red giant stars
    are easy to pick out in this sharp, color telescopic view.

    Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Fri Mar 29 03:54:02 2024
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
    fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
    written by a professional astronomer.

    2024 March 29

    Galileo's Europa
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SETI Institute, Cynthia Phillips,
    Marty Valenti

    Explanation: Looping through the Jovian system in the late 1990s, the
    Galileo spacecraft recorded stunning views of Europa and uncovered
    evidence that the moon's icy surface likely hides a deep, global ocean.
    Galileo's Europa image data has been remastered here, with improved
    calibrations to produce a color image approximating what the human eye
    might see. Europa's long curving fractures hint at the subsurface
    liquid water. The tidal flexing the large moon experiences in its
    elliptical orbit around Jupiter supplies the energy to keep the ocean
    liquid. But more tantalizing is the possibility that even in the
    absence of sunlight that process could also supply the energy to
    support life, making Europa one of the best places to look for life
    beyond Earth. The Juno spacecraft currently in Jovian orbit has also
    made repeated flybys of the water world, returning images along with
    data exploring Europa's habitability. This October will see the launch
    of the NASA's Europa Clipper on a voyage of exploration. The spacecraft
    will make nearly 50 flybys, approaching to within 25 kilometers of
    Europa's icy surface.

    Tomorrow's picture: Ptolemy's astronomy
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
    NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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