• Daily APOD Report

    From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, November 25, 2021 00:11:11
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 25

    At the Shadow's Edge
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jean-Francois Gout

    Explanation: Shaped like a cone tapering into space, the Earth's dark
    central shadow or umbra has a circular cross-section. It's wider than
    the Moon at the distance of the Moon's orbit though. But during the
    lunar eclipse of November 18/19, part of the Moon remained just outside
    the umbral shadow. The successive pictures in this composite of 5
    images from that almost total lunar eclipse were taken over a period of
    about 1.5 hours. The series is aligned to trace part of the
    cross-section's circular arc, with the central image at maximum
    eclipse. It shows a bright, thin sliver of the lunar disk still beyond
    the shadow's curved edge. Of course, even within the shadow the Moon's
    surface is not completely dark, reflecting the reddish hues of filtered
    sunlight scattered into the shadow by Earth's atmosphere.

    Notable APOD Submissions: Lunar Eclipse of 2021 November 19
    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 Friday, November 26, 2021 00:29:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Saturday, November 27, 2021 00:06:35
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 27

    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: Churyumov-Gerasimenko
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    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 Sunday, November 28, 2021 00:15:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, November 29, 2021 00:33:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, November 30, 2021 00:11:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 30

    In Motion: Uranus and Moons
    Video Credit: David Campbell (U. Hertfordshire), Bayfordbury
    Observatory

    Explanation: What's that moving across the sky? A planet just a bit too
    faint to see with the unaided eye: Uranus. The gas giant out past
    Saturn was tracked earlier this month near opposition -- when it was
    closest to Earth and at its brightest. The featured video captured by
    the Bayfordbury Observatory in Hertfordshire, UK is a four-hour
    time-lapse showing Uranus with its four largest moons in tow: Titania,
    Oberon, Umbriel and Ariel. Uranus' apparent motion past background
    stars is really dominated by Earth's own orbital motion around our Sun.
    The cross seen centered on Uranus is called a diffraction spike and is
    caused by light diffracting around the four arms that hold one of the
    telescope's mirrors in place. The rotation of the diffraction spikes is
    not caused by the rotation of Uranus but, essentially, by the rotation
    of the Earth. During the next few months Uranus itself will be visible
    with binoculars, but, as always, to see its moons will require a
    telescope.

    Tomorrow's picture: the blood moon band
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    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 Wednesday, December 01, 2021 00:46:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, December 02, 2021 00:36:05
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 2

    NGC 6822: Barnard's Galaxy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dietmar Hager, Eric Benson

    Explanation: Grand spiral galaxies often seem to get all the glory,
    flaunting their young, bright, blue star clusters in beautiful,
    symmetric spiral arms. But small galaxies form stars too, like nearby
    NGC 6822, also known as Barnard's Galaxy. Beyond the rich starfields in
    the constellation Sagittarius, NGC 6822 is a mere 1.5 million
    light-years away, a member of our Local Group of galaxies. A dwarf
    irregular galaxy similar to the Small Magellanic Cloud, NGC 6822 is
    about 7,000 light-years across. Brighter foreground stars in our Milky
    Way have a spiky appearance. Behind them, Barnard's Galaxy is seen to
    be filled with young blue stars and mottled with the telltale pinkish
    hydrogen glow of star forming regions in this deep color composite
    image.

    Tomorrow's picture: Queequeg's 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, December 03, 2021 00:23:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Saturday, December 04, 2021 02:17:29
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Sunday, December 05, 2021 00:07:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 5
    The featured image shows the total solar eclipse of 2021 November 4
    from an airplane flying over Antarctica. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    Total Solar Eclipse Below the Bottom of the World
    Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horßlek (ESO Photo Ambassador, Inst. of
    Physics in Opava)

    Explanation: Yesterday there was a total solar eclipse visible only at
    the end of the Earth. To capture the unusual phenomenon, airplanes took
    flight below the clouded seascape of Southern Ocean. The featured image
    shows one relatively spectacular capture where the bright spot is the
    outer corona of the Sun and the eclipsing Moon is seen as the dark spot
    in the center. A wing and engine of the airplane are visible across the
    left and bottom of the image, while another airplane observing the
    eclipse is visible on the far left. The dark area of the sky
    surrounding the eclipsed Sun is called a shadow cone. It is dark
    because you are looking down a long corridor of air shadowed by the
    Moon. A careful inspection of the eclipsed Sun will reveal the planet
    Mercury just to the right. The next total solar eclipse shadow will
    cross parts of Australia and Indonesia in April of 2023, while the one
    after that will cross North America in April of 2024.

    Notable Eclipse Submissions to APOD: Total Solar Eclipse of 2021
    December
    Tomorrow's picture: high-tech silhouette
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    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 Monday, December 06, 2021 00:08:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, December 07, 2021 00:33:15
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, December 08, 2021 00:32:43
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Thursday, December 09, 2021 00:20:59
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    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 Friday, December 10, 2021 00:27:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 10

    Eclipse on a Polar Day
    Image Credit & Copyright: Stephanie Ziyi Ye

    Explanation: During polar day, in Arctic and Antarctic summer, the Sun
    stays above the horizon for periods of 24 hours or more. Recorded on
    December 4, this fisheye timelapse image tracks the Sun in multiple
    frames as it completes a circle in the summer sky above Union Glacier,
    Antarctica. Of course on that date, Union Glacier's sky did grow dark
    even though the Sun was above the horizon. Captured during the brief
    period of totality, an eclipsed Sun is at bottom center of the
    composite view. Near the edge of the total eclipse path across planet
    Earth, the Moon's shadow darkens the sky above.

    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 Saturday, December 11, 2021 03:21:09
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, December 12, 2021 00:20:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    & 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 Monday, December 13, 2021 00:51:01
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Grundarfj÷r≡ur. 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 Tuesday, December 14, 2021 00:12:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 14

    HH 666: Carina Dust Pillar with Jet
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Copyright: Mehmet Hakan
    ╓zsaraτ

    Explanation: To some, it may look like a beehive. In reality, the
    featured image from the Hubble Space Telescope captures a cosmic pillar
    of dust, over two-light years long, inside of which is Herbig-Haro 666
    -- a young star emitting powerful jets. The structure lies within one
    of our galaxy's largest star forming regions, the Carina Nebula,
    shining in southern skies at a distance of about 7,500 light-years. The
    pillar's layered outline are shaped by the winds and radiation of
    Carina's young, hot, massive stars, some of which are still forming
    inside the nebula. A dust-penetrating view in infrared light better
    shows the two, narrow, energetic jets blasting outward from a still
    hidden infant star.

    Open Science: Browse 2,600+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: triangle surprise
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    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 Wednesday, December 15, 2021 00:18:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 15

    Comet Leonard from Space
    Image Credit & Copyright: Zhuoxiao Wang, Yangwang-1 Space Telescope,
    Origin.Space

    Explanation: What does Comet Leonard look like from space? Today's
    featured image from Origin.Space's Yangwang-1 space telescope shows not
    only the currently bright comet -- but several other space delights as
    well. Taken in optical and ultraviolet light, C/2021 A1 (Leonard) is
    visible with an extended tail near the image center as it appeared five
    days ago. The Earth is visible on the lower right, while layers of the
    Earth's atmosphere glow diagonally from the lower left to the upper
    right. The trails of two satellites can be seen in front of a myriad of
    distant stars that dot the background on the upper left. The faint
    bands of light running diagonally from the lower right to the upper
    left are auroras. Finally, the image also caught a meteor streaking
    just below the airglow. To see Comet Leonard yourself from the Earth's
    surface during the next few days, look toward the western horizon just
    after sunset or just before sunrise.

    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 Thursday, December 16, 2021 14:06:07
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Friday, December 17, 2021 01:04:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, December 18, 2021 11:41:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 18

    Stephan's Quintet
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive;
    Processing & Copyright: Bernard Miller

    Explanation: The first identified compact galaxy group, Stephan's
    Quintet is featured in this eye-catching image constructed with data
    drawn from the extensive Hubble Legacy Archive. About 300 million
    light-years away, only four of these five galaxies are actually locked
    in a cosmic dance of repeated close encounters. The odd man out is easy
    to spot, though. The interacting galaxies, NGC 7319, 7318A, 7318B, and
    7317 have an overall yellowish cast. They also tend to have distorted
    loops and tails, grown under the influence of disruptive gravitational
    tides. But the predominantly bluish galaxy, NGC 7320, is closer, just
    40 million light-years distant, and isn't part of the interacting
    group. Stephan's Quintet lies within the boundaries of the high flying
    constellation Pegasus. At the estimated distance of the quartet of
    interacting galaxies, this field of view spans about 500,000
    light-years. But moving just beyond this field, up and to the right,
    astronomers can identify another galaxy, NGC 7320C, that is also 300
    million light-years distant. Including it would bring the interacting
    quartet back up to quintet status.

    Tomorrow's picture: five in a 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.



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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, December 19, 2021 00:22:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Monday, December 20, 2021 00:40:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 20

    The Comet and the Fireball
    Image Credit & Copyright: Cory Poole

    Explanation: This picture was supposed to feature a comet.
    Specifically, a series of images of the brightest comet of 2021 were
    being captured: Comet Leonard. But the universe had other plans. Within
    a fraction of a second, a meteor so bright it could be called a
    fireball streaked through just below the comet. And the meteor's flash
    was even more green than the comet's coma. The cause of the meteor's
    green was likely magnesium evaporating from the meteor's pebble-sized
    core, while the cause of the comet's green was likely diatomic carbon
    recently ejected from the comet's city-sized nucleus. The images were
    taken 10 days ago over the Sacramento River and Mt. Lassen in
    California, USA. The fireball was on the leading edge of this year's
    Geminid Meteor Shower -- which peaked a few days later. Comet Leonard
    is now fading after reaching naked-eye visibility last week -- but now
    is moving into southern skies.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: a solar milky way
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    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 Tuesday, December 21, 2021 04:06:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 21

    Solstice Sun and Milky Way
    Composite Image Credit & Copyright: Stefan Seip (TWAN)

    Explanation: Welcome to December's solstice, first day of winter in the
    north and summer for the southern hemisphere. Astronomical markers of
    the seasons, solstice and equinox dates are based on the Sun's place in
    its annual journey along the ecliptic, through planet Earth's sky. At
    this solstice, the Sun reaches its maximum southern declination of
    -23.5 degrees today at 15:59 UTC, while its right ascension coordinate
    on the celestial sphere is 18 hours. That puts the Sun in the
    constellation Sagittarius in a direction near the center of our Milky
    Way galaxy. In fact, if you could see today's Solstice Sun against
    faint background stars and nebulae (that's really hard to do,
    especially in the daytime ...) your view might look something like this
    composited panorama. To make it, images of our fair galaxy were taken
    under dark Namibian night skies, then stitched together in a panoramic
    view. From a snapshot made on 2015 December 21, the Sun was digitally
    overlayed as a brilliant star at today's northern winter solstice
    position, close to the center of the Milky Way.

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

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    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 Wednesday, December 22, 2021 00:05:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, December 23, 2021 00:03:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 23

    Three Planets and a Comet
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tunc Tezel (TWAN)

    Explanation: Are you still looking for that perfect holiday gift for an
    astronomer? If your night sky is dark and horizon clear enough, the
    Solar System may have done your shopping for you. Send them outside
    after sunset to see three planets and a comet. In this snapshot of the
    December solstice evening sky from the village of Kirazli, Turkey the
    brightest celestial beacon is Venus, close to the southwestern horizon
    at the right. Look left and up to find Saturn shining between clouds.
    Follow that line farther left and up to bright Jupiter, the Solar
    System's ruling gas giant. This year's surprise visitor to the inner
    Solar System, Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1), is near the horizon too. The
    comet is fainter but forms a nearly equilateral triangle with planets
    Venus and Saturn in this view. After a dramatic brightening in recent
    days the comet is just visible to the unaided eye, though a nice pair
    of binoculars is always a good idea.

    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 Saturday, December 25, 2021 00:17:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, December 26, 2021 00:26:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 26

    James Webb Space Telescope over Earth
    Image Credit: Arianespace, ESA, NASA, CSA, CNES

    Explanation: There's a big new telescope in space. This one, the James
    Webb Space Telescope (JWST), not only has a mirror over five times
    larger than Hubble's in area, but can see better in infrared light. The
    featured picture shows JWST high above the Earth just after being
    released by the upper stage of an Ariane V rocket, launched yesterday
    from French Guiana. Over the next month, JWST will move out near the
    Sun-Earth L2 point where it will co-orbit the Sun with the Earth.
    During this time and for the next five months, JWST will unravel its
    segmented mirror and an array of sophisticated scientific instruments
    -- and test them. If all goes well, JWST will start examining galaxies
    across the universe and planets orbiting stars across our Milky Way
    Galaxy in the summer of 2022.

    APOD Gallery: Webb Space Telescope Launch
    Tomorrow's picture: comet webb
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    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 Monday, December 27, 2021 00:20:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Tuesday, December 28, 2021 00:43:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, December 29, 2021 00:12:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 29

    Giant Storms and High Clouds on Jupiter
    Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Processing & License: Kevin
    M. Gill

    Explanation: What and where are these large ovals? They are rotating
    storm clouds on Jupiter imaged last month by NASA's Juno spacecraft. In
    general, higher clouds are lighter in color, and the lightest clouds
    visible are the relatively small clouds that dot the lower oval. At 50
    kilometers across, however, even these light clouds are not small. They
    are so high up that they cast shadows on the swirling oval below. The
    featured image has been processed to enhance color and contrast. Large
    ovals are usually regions of high pressure that span over 1000
    kilometers and can last for years. The largest oval on Jupiter is the
    Great Red Spot (not pictured), which has lasted for at least hundreds
    of years. Studying cloud dynamics on Jupiter with Juno images enables a
    better understanding of dangerous typhoons and hurricanes on Earth.

    Follow APOD in English on: Facebook, Instagram, Podcast, Reddit, or
    Twitter
    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 Thursday, December 30, 2021 00:08:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 30

    The Further Tail of Comet Leonard
    Image Credit & Copyright: Daniele Gasparri

    Explanation: Comet Leonard, brightest comet of 2021, is at the lower
    left of these two panels captured on December 29 in dark Atacama desert
    skies. Heading for its perihelion on January 3 Comet Leonard's visible
    tail has grown. Stacked exposures with a wide angle lens (also
    displayed in a reversed B/W scheme for contrast), trace the complicated
    ion tail for an amazing 60 degrees, with bright Jupiter shining near
    the horizon at lower right. Material vaporizing from Comet Leonard's
    nucleus, a mass of dust, rock, and ices about 1 kilometer across, has
    produced the long tail of ionized gas fluorescing in the sunlight.
    Likely flares on the comet's nucleus and buffeting by magnetic fields
    and the solar wind in recent weeks have resulted in the tail's
    irregular pinched and twisted appearance. Still days from its closest
    approach to the Sun, Comet Leonard's activity should continue. The
    comet is south of the Solar System's ecliptic plane as it sweeps
    through the southern constellation Microscopium.

    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 Friday, December 31, 2021 00:03:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 31

    JWST on the Road to L2
    Image Credit & Copyright: Malcolm Park (North York Astronomical
    Association)

    Explanation: This timelapse gif tracks the James Webb Space Telescope
    as it streaks across the stars of Orion on its journey to a destination
    beyond the Moon. Recorded on December 28, 12 consecutive exposures each
    10 minutes long were aligned and combined with a subsequent color image
    of the background stars to create the animation. About 2.5 days after
    its December 25 launch, JWST cruised past the altitude of the Moon's
    orbit as it climbed up the gravity ridge from Earth to reach a halo
    orbit around L2, an Earth-Sun Lagrange point. Lagrange points are
    convenient locations in space where the combined gravitational
    attraction of one massive body (Earth) orbiting another massive body
    (Sun) is in balance with the centripetal force needed to move along
    with them. So much smaller masses, like spacecraft, will tend to stay
    there. One of 5 Lagrange points, L2 is about 1.5 million kilometers
    from Earth directly along the Earth-Sun line. JWST will arrive at L2 on
    January 23, 29 days after launch. While relaxing in Earth's surface
    gravity you can follow the James Webb Space Telescope's progress and
    complicated deployment online.

    Tomorrow's picture: 2021 in Moonstripes
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    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 Saturday, January 01, 2022 00:10:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    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 Sunday, January 02, 2022 00:08:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Monday, January 03, 2022 00:11:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 3

    Comet Leonard's Long Tail
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jan Hattenbach

    Explanation: You couldn't see Comet Leonard's extremely long tail with
    a telescope -- it was just too long. You also couldn't see it with
    binoculars -- still too long. Or with your eyes -- it was too dim. Or
    from a city -- the sky was too bright. But from a dark location with a
    low horizon -- your camera could. And still might -- if the comet
    survives today's closest encounter with the Sun, which occurs between
    the orbits of Mercury and Venus. The featured picture was created from
    two deep and wide-angle camera images taken from La Palma in the Canary
    Islands of Spain late last month. Afterwards, if it survives, what is
    left of Comet Leonard's nucleus will head out of our Solar System,
    never to return.

    Tomorrow's picture: moons beyond 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
    & 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 Tuesday, January 04, 2022 00:11:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Wednesday, January 05, 2022 00:11:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 5

    A Year of Sunrises
    Image Credit & Copyright: Luca Vanzella

    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 2021
    as seen from the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The camera in the
    image is always facing due east, with north toward the left and south
    toward the right. As shown in an accompanying video, the top image was
    taken in 2020 December, while the bottom image was captured in 2021
    December, making 13 images in total. 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. 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 season the coldest
    of the year.

    Status Updates: Deploying the James Webb Space Telescope
    Tomorrow's picture: evening to morning
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    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 Thursday, January 06, 2022 00:17:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 6

    The Last Days of Venus as the Evening Star
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tamas Ladanyi (TWAN)

    Explanation: That's not a young crescent Moon posing behind cathedral
    towers after sunset. It's Venus in a crescent phase. About 40 million
    kilometers away and about 2 percent illuminated by sunlight, it was
    captured with camera and telephoto lens in this series of exposures as
    it set in western skies on January 1 from Veszprem, Hungary. The bright
    celestial beacon was languishing in the evening twilight, its days as
    the Evening Star coming to a close as 2022 began. But it was also
    growing larger in apparent size and becoming an ever thinner crescent
    in telescopic views. Heading toward a (non-judgemental) inferior
    conjunction, the inner planet will be positioned between Earth and Sun
    on January 9 and generally lost from view in the solar glare. A
    crescent Venus will soon reappear though. Rising in the east by
    mid-month just before the Sun as the brilliant Morning Star.

    Status Updates: Deploying the James Webb Space Telescope
    Tomorrow's picture: What the penguin saw.
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    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 Friday, January 07, 2022 00:07:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Saturday, January 08, 2022 00:25:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 8

    Quadrantids of the North
    Image Credit & Copyright: Cheng Luo

    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, at the boundaries of the modern
    constellations Bootes and Draco. In fact north star Polaris is just
    below center in this frame and the Big Dipper asterism (known to some
    as the Plough) is above it, with the meteor shower radiant to the
    right. Pointing back toward the radiant, Quadrantid meteors streak
    through the night in the panoramic skyscape, a composite of images
    taken in the hours around the shower's peak on January 4, 2022. Arrayed
    in the foreground are radio telescopes of the Chinese Spectral
    Radioheliograph, Mingantu Observing Station, Inner Mongolia, China. A
    likely source of the dust stream that produces Quadrantid meteors was
    identified in 2003 as an asteroid.

    Status Updates: Deploying the James Webb Space Telescope
    Tomorrow's picture: shrinking red spot
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    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 Sunday, January 09, 2022 00:12:06
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Monday, January 10, 2022 00:03:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 10

    Comet Leonard's Tail Wag
    Image Credit: NASA, NRL, STEREO-A; Processing: B. Gallagher

    Explanation: Why does Comet Leonard's tail wag? The featured time-lapse
    video shows the ion tail of Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard) as it changed
    over ten days early last month. The video was taken by NASA's Solar
    Terrestrial Relations Observatory-Ahead (STEREO-A) spacecraft that
    co-orbits the Sun at roughly the same distance as the Earth. Each image
    in this 29-degree field was subtracted from following image to create
    frames that highlight differences. The video clearly shows Comet
    Leonard's long ion tail extending, wagging, and otherwise being blown
    around by the solar wind -- a stream of fast-moving ions that stream
    out from the Sun. Since the video was taken, Comet Leonard continued
    plunging toward the Sun, reached its closest approach to the Sun
    between the orbits of Mercury and Venus, survived this closest approach
    without breaking apart, and is now fading as heads out of our Solar
    System.

    Tuesday over Zoom: APOD editor to present the Best APOD Space Images of
    2021
    Tomorrow's picture: around 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)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, January 11, 2022 00:22:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 11

    Orion's Belt Region in Gas and Dust
    Image Credit & Copyright: Matt Harbison (Space4Everybody), Marathon
    Remote Imaging Observatory

    Explanation: You may have seen Orion's belt before -- but not like
    this. The three bright stars across this image are, from left to right,
    Mintaka, Alnilam, and Alnitak: the iconic belt stars of Orion. The rest
    of the stars in the frame have been digitally removed to highlight the
    surrounding clouds of glowing gas and dark dust. Some of these clouds
    have intriguing shapes, including the Horsehead and Flame Nebulas, both
    near Alnitak on the lower right. This deep image, taken last month from
    the Marathon Skypark and Observatory in Marathon, Texas, USA, spans
    about 5 degrees, required about 20 hours of exposure, and was processed
    to reveal the gas and dust that we would really see if we were much
    closer. The famous Orion Nebula is off to the upper right of this
    colorful field. The entire region lies only about 1,500 light-years
    distant and so is one of the closest and best studied star formation
    nurseries known.

    Tonight: APOD Editor to Present the Best Space Images of 2021
    Tomorrow's picture: comet close-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.
    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, January 12, 2022 00:06:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 12

    Comet Leonard Closeup from Australia
    Image Credit & Copyright: Blake Estes (itelescope.net)

    Explanation: What does Comet Leonard look like up close? Although we
    can't go there, imaging the comet's coma and inner tails through a
    small telescope gives us a good idea. As the name implies, the ion tail
    is made of ionized gas -- gas energized by ultraviolet light from the
    Sun and pushed outward by the solar wind. The solar wind is quite
    structured and sculpted by the Sun's complex and ever changing magnetic
    field. The effect of the variable solar wind combined with different
    gas jets venting from the comet's nucleus accounts for the tail's
    complex structure. Following the wind, structure in Comet Leonard's
    tail can be seen to move outward from the Sun even alter its wavy
    appearance over time. The blue color of the ion tail is dominated by
    recombining carbon monoxide molecules, while the green color of the
    coma surrounding the head of the comet is created mostly by a slight
    amount of recombining diatomic carbon molecules. Diatomic carbon is
    destroyed by sunlight in about 50 hours -- which is why its green glow
    does not make it far into the ion tail. The featured imagae was taken
    on January 2 from Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. Comet
    Leonard, presently best viewed from Earth's Southern Hemisphere, has
    rounded the Sun and is now headed out of the Solar System.

    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-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, January 13, 2022 00:04:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 13

    Supernova Remnant Simeis 147
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jason Dain

    Explanation: It's easy to get lost following the intricate, looping,
    twisting 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.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, January 15, 2022 00:28:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, January 16, 2022 00:13:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Monday, January 17, 2022 01:07:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Tuesday, January 18, 2022 00:08:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Wednesday, January 19, 2022 00:15:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Thursday, January 20, 2022 00:26:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Friday, January 21, 2022 00:14:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Saturday, January 22, 2022 00:15:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, January 23, 2022 00:11:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, January 24, 2022 00:08:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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+¼ 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
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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 Tuesday, January 25, 2022 01:04:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Wednesday, January 26, 2022 03:28:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Thursday, January 27, 2022 00:07:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Friday, January 28, 2022 00:08:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, January 29, 2022 00:39:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, January 30, 2022 00:09:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Monday, January 31, 2022 00:13:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Thursday, February 03, 2022 02:59:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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+ønovas P+¼rez

    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 Friday, February 04, 2022 00:09:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Saturday, February 05, 2022 00:04:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Sunday, February 06, 2022 03:31:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Monday, February 07, 2022 00:20:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Tuesday, February 08, 2022 08:26:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 C╟÷ creating bright auroras. On
    the right, the night glows with ground lights reflected by millions of
    tiny ice crystals falling from the sky C╟÷ 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 Wednesday, February 09, 2022 01:05:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Thursday, February 10, 2022 00:37:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, February 11, 2022 00:23:38
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, February 13, 2022 06:28:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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+øn (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 Monday, February 14, 2022 00:18:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Tuesday, February 15, 2022 01:09:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Wednesday, February 16, 2022 00:32:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Thursday, February 17, 2022 00:20:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, February 18, 2022 01:40:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Saturday, February 19, 2022 00:05:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, February 20, 2022 00:23:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Monday, February 21, 2022 00:07:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, February 22, 2022 00:37:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, February 23, 2022 00:21:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, February 24, 2022 00:33:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, February 25, 2022 01:09:06
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 PlanetC╟╓s 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
    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, February 26, 2022 00:54:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Sunday, February 27, 2022 00:24:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Monday, February 28, 2022 00:26:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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+¼ran 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 Tuesday, March 01, 2022 00:16:06
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Wednesday, March 02, 2022 00:25:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Thursday, March 03, 2022 00:12:06
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Friday, March 04, 2022 00:36:38
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Sunday, March 06, 2022 11:24:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Monday, March 07, 2022 00:43:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, March 08, 2022 00:12:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    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 Wednesday, March 09, 2022 00:27:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 9

    A Flower-Shaped Rock on Mars
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS

    Explanation: It is one of the more unusual rocks yet found on Mars.
    Smaller than a penny, the rock has several appendages that make it
    look, to some, like a flower. Although it would be a major discovery if
    the rock was truly a fossilized ancient Martian flower, there are less
    spectacular -- and currently preferred -- explanations for its unusual
    structure. One theory that has emerged is that the rock is a type of
    concretion created by minerals deposited by water in cracks or
    divisions in existing rock. These concretions can be compacted
    together, can be harder and denser than surrounding rock, and can
    remain even after the surrounding rock erodes away. The flower
    structure may also be caused by crystal clusters. The small rock, named
    Blackthorn Salt, has similarities to previously imaged Martian pebbles.
    The featured image was taken by the Curiosity rover on Mars in late
    February. Scientists will continue to study data and images taken of
    this -- and similar -- surprising Martian rocks.

    Review: Last Year in Space Pictures
    Tomorrow's picture: the toucan's star cluster
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Thursday, March 10, 2022 00:25:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, March 11, 2022 00:19:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 11

    When Rainbows Smile
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marcella Giulia Pace

    Explanation: Want to see a rainbow smile? Look near the zenith
    (straight up) when the sun is low in the sky and you might. This
    example of an ice halo known as a circumzenithal arc was captured above
    a palm tree top from Ragusa, Sicily on February 24. The vividly
    colorful arcs are often called smiling rainbows because of their upside
    down curvature and colors. For circumzenithal arcs the zenith is at the
    center and red is on the outside, compared to rainbows whose arcs bend
    toward the horizon after a downpour. True rainbows are formed by water
    droplets refracting the sunlight to produce a spectrum of colors,
    though. Circumzenithal arcs are the product of refraction and
    reflection in flat hexagonal ice crystals, like the ice crystals that
    create sundogs, formed in high thin clouds.

    Tomorrow's picture: winging it
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, March 12, 2022 00:10:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 12

    Point Reyes Milky Way
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Zafra

    Explanation: Northern winter constellations and a long arc of the Milky
    Way are setting in this night skyscape looking toward the Pacific Ocean
    from Point Reyes on planet Earth's California coast. Sirius, alpha star
    of Canis Major, is prominent below the starry arc toward the left.
    Orion's yellowish Betelgeuse, Aldebaran in Taurus, and the blue tinted
    Pleiades star cluster also find themselves between Milky Way and
    northwestern horizon near the center of the scene. The nebulae visible
    in the series of exposures used to construct this panoramic view were
    captured in early March, but are just too faint to be seen with the
    unaided eye. On that northern night their expansive glow includes the
    reddish semi-circle of Barnard's Loop in Orion and NGC 1499 above and
    right of the Pleiades, also known as the California Nebula.

    Tomorrow's picture: colorful airglow
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, March 13, 2022 00:27:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 13

    Colorful Airglow Bands Surround Milky Way
    Image Credit & Copyright: Xiaohan Wang

    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. Red airglow likely originates from OH molecules about
    87-kilometers high, excited by ultraviolet light from the Sun, while
    orange and green airglow is likely caused by sodium and oxygen atoms
    slightly higher up. While driving near Keluke Lake in Qinghai Provence
    in China a few years ago, the photographer originally noticed mainly
    the impressive central band of the Milky Way Galaxy. Stopping to
    photograph it, surprisingly, the resulting sensitive camera image
    showed airglow bands to be quite prominent and span the entire sky. The
    featured image has been digitally enhanced to make the colors more
    vibrant.

    Tomorrow's picture: star hatchery
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, March 14, 2022 00:57:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 14

    Star Formation in the Eagle Nebula
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Copyright: Ignacio Diaz
    Bobillo & Diego Gravinese

    Explanation: Where do stars form? One place, star forming regions known
    as "EGGs", are being uncovered at the end of this giant pillar of gas
    and dust in the Eagle Nebula (M16). Short for evaporating gaseous
    globules, EGGs are dense regions of mostly molecular hydrogen gas that
    fragment and gravitationally collapse to form stars. Light from the
    hottest and brightest of these new stars heats the end of the pillar
    and causes further evaporation of gas and dust -- revealing yet more
    EGGs and more young stars. This featured picture was created from
    exposures spanning over 30 hours with the Earth-orbiting Hubble Space
    Telescope in 2014, and digitally processed with modern software by
    experienced volunteers in Argentina. Newborn stars will gradually
    destroy their birth pillars over the next 100,000 years or so -- if a
    supernova doesn't destroy them first.

    Tomorrow's picture: road to knowhere
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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 Tuesday, March 15, 2022 00:13:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 15

    A Road to the Stars
    Image Credit: ESO, Petr Hor+ølek (ESO Photo Ambassador, Inst. of Physics
    in Opava)

    Explanation: Pictured -- a very scenic road to the stars. The road
    approaches La Silla Observatory in Chile, with the ESO's 3.6-meter
    telescope just up ahead. To the left are some futuristic-looking
    support structures for the planned BlackGEM telescopes, an array of
    optical telescopes that will help locate optical counterparts to
    gravitational waves detections by LIGO and other detectors. But there
    is much more. Red airglow illuminates the night sky on the right, while
    the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy slants across the image
    center. Jupiter can be seen just above the band near the image center,
    while Saturn is visible just above the 3.6-meter telescope dome. The
    two largest satellite galaxies of our Milky Way Galaxy, the LMC and
    SMC, are seen on the far right. The featured image panorama was built
    up from multiple 15-second exposures that were captured on 2019 June
    30. Two days later, La Silla experienced a rare total eclipse of the
    Sun.

    Tomorrow's picture: the universe, illustrated
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Wednesday, March 16, 2022 03:38:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Thursday, March 17, 2022 00:13:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 17

    Centaurus A
    Image Credit & Copyright: David Alemazkour

    Explanation: A mere 11 million light-years away, Centaurus A is the
    closest active galaxy to planet Earth. Spanning over 60,000
    light-years, the peculiar elliptical galaxy also known as NGC 5128, is
    featured in this sharp telescopic view. Centaurus A is apparently the
    result of a collision of two otherwise normal galaxies resulting in a
    fantastic jumble of star clusters and imposing dark dust lanes. Near
    the galaxy's center, leftover 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 enormous
    radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray energy radiated by Centaurus A.

    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 Friday, March 18, 2022 00:41:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 18

    A Filament in Monoceros
    Image Credit & Copyright: Giorgio Ferrari

    Explanation: Bluish reflection nebulae seem to fill this dusty expanse.
    The sharp telescopic frame spans over 1 degree on the sky toward the
    faint but fanciful constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn. Seen within
    the Monoceros R1 cloud complex some 2,500 light-years away, bluish IC
    447 is on the left, joined by a long dark filament of dust to IC 446 at
    lower right. Embedded in IC 447 are young, massive blue stars much
    hotter than the Sun, whose light is reflected by the cosmic cloud of
    star stuff. Observations reveal that IC 446 also contains a young
    stellar object, a massive star still in an early stage of evolution.
    The dark filament of dust and molecular gas joining the two
    star-forming regions is over 15 light-years long.

    Tomorrow's picture: 2MASS J17554042+6551277
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, March 19, 2022 00:26:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 19

    2MASS J17554042+6551277
    Image Credit : NASA, STScI, JWST

    Explanation: 2MASS J17554042+6551277 doesn't exactly roll off the
    tongue but that's the name, a coordinate-based catalog designation, of
    the star centered in this sharp field of view. Fans of the distant
    universe should get used to its spiky appearance though. The
    diffraction pattern is created by the 18 hexagonal mirror segments of
    the James Webb Space Telescope. After unfolding, the segments have now
    been adjusted to achieve a diffraction limited alignment at infrared
    wavelengths while operating in concert as a single 6.5 meter diameter
    primary mirror. The resulting image taken by Webb's NIRcam demonstrates
    their precise alignment is the best physics will allow. 2MASS
    J17554042+6551277 is about 2,000 light-years away and well within our
    own galaxy. But the galaxies scattered across the background of the
    Webb telescope alignment evaluation image are likely billions of
    light-years distant, far beyond the Milky Way.

    Tomorrow's picture: day = 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 Sunday, March 20, 2022 00:49:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, March 21, 2022 00:17:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Tuesday, March 22, 2022 00:05:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 +√stersund. 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.

    Open Science: Browse 2,700+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    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 Wednesday, March 23, 2022 01:54:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 23

    The Bubble Nebula from Hubble
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Copyright: Mehmet Hakan
    +√zsara+║

    Explanation: Massive stars can blow bubbles. The featured image shows
    perhaps the most famous of all star-bubbles, NGC 7635, also known
    simply as The Bubble Nebula. Although it looks delicate, the
    7-light-year diameter bubble offers evidence of violent processes at
    work. Above and left of the Bubble's center is a hot, O-type star,
    several hundred thousand times more luminous and some 45-times more
    massive than the Sun. A fierce stellar wind and intense radiation from
    that star has blasted out the structure of glowing gas against denser
    material in a surrounding molecular cloud. The intriguing Bubble Nebula
    and associated cloud complex lie a mere 7,100 light-years away toward
    the boastful constellation Cassiopeia. This sharp, tantalizing view of
    the cosmic bubble is a reprocessed composite of previously acquired
    Hubble Space Telescope image data.

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    (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 Thursday, March 24, 2022 00:23:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Friday, March 25, 2022 00:19:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 25

    The Medusa Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Damien Cannane

    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 left of the bright crescent region. The Medusa
    Nebula is estimated to be over 4 light-years across.

    Tomorrow's picture: behind pluto
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, March 26, 2022 00:22:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 26

    Pluto at Night
    Image Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins Univ./APL, Southwest Research
    Institute

    Explanation: The night side of Pluto spans this shadowy scene. In the
    stunning spacebased perspective the Sun is 4.9 billion kilometers
    (almost 4.5 light-hours) behind the dim and distant world. It was
    captured by far flung New Horizons in July of 2015 when the spacecraft
    was at a range of some 21,000 kilometers from Pluto, about 19 minutes
    after its closest approach. A denizen of the Kuiper Belt in dramatic
    silhouette, the image also reveals Pluto's tenuous, surprisingly
    complex layers of hazy atmosphere. Near the top of the frame the
    crescent twilight landscape includes southern areas of nitrogen ice
    plains now formally known as Sputnik Planitia and rugged mountains of
    water-ice in the Norgay Montes.

    Tomorrow's picture: titanic flash
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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 Sunday, March 27, 2022 00:40:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 27

    Titan Seas Reflect Sunlight
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, U. Arizona, U. Idaho

    Explanation: Why would the surface of Titan light up with a blinding
    flash? The reason: a sunglint from liquid seas. Saturn's moon Titan has
    numerous smooth lakes of methane that, when the angle is right, reflect
    sunlight as if they were mirrors. Pictured here in false-color, the
    robotic Cassini spacecraft that orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017 imaged
    the cloud-covered Titan in 2014 in different bands of cloud-piercing
    infrared light. This specular reflection was so bright it saturated one
    of Cassini's infrared cameras. Although the sunglint was annoying -- it
    was also useful. The reflecting regions confirm that northern Titan
    houses a wide and complex array of seas with a geometry that indicates
    periods of significant evaporation. During its numerous passes of our
    Solar System's most mysterious moon, Cassini has revealed Titan to be a
    world with active weather -- including times when it rains a liquefied
    version of natural gas.

    Tomorrow's picture: stars of the south
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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 Monday, March 28, 2022 00:41:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 28

    Gems of a Maldivean Night
    Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Hor+ølek (ESO Photo Ambassador, Inst. of
    Physics in Opava)

    Explanation: The southernmost part of the Milky Way contains not only
    the stars of the Southern Cross, but the closest star system to our Sun
    -- Alpha Centauri. The Southern Cross itself is topped by the bright,
    yellowish star Gamma Crucis. A line from Gamma Crucis through the blue
    star at the bottom of the cross, Acrux, points toward the south
    celestial pole, located just above the small island in the featured
    picture -- taken in early March. That island is Madivaru of the
    Maldives in the Indian Ocean. Against faint Milky Way starlight, the
    dark Coal Sack Nebula lies just left of the cross, while farther left
    along the Milky Way are the bright stars Alpha Centauri (left) and Beta
    Centauri (Hadar). Alpha Centauri A, a Sun-like star anchoring a
    three-star system with exoplanets, is a mere 4.3 light-years distant.
    Seen from Alpha Centauri, our own Sun would be a bright yellowish star
    in the otherwise recognizable constellation Cassiopeia.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: planet 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 Tuesday, March 29, 2022 00:12:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 29

    Venus and Mars: Passing in the Night
    Image Credit & Copyright: Carlos Kiko Fairbairn

    Explanation: When two planets pass on the night sky, they can usually
    be seen near each other for a week or more. In the case of this
    planetary conjunction, Venus and Mars passed within 4 degrees of each
    other earlier this month. The featured image was taken a few days
    prior, when Venus was slowing rising in the pre-dawn sky, night by
    night, while Mars was slowly setting. The image, a four-part mosaic,
    was captured in Brazil from the small town Teres+|polis. Besides Venus
    and Mars, the morning sky now also includes the more distant planet
    Saturn. Of course, these conjunctions are only angular -- Venus, Mars,
    and Saturn continue to orbit the Sun in very different parts of our
    Solar System. Next week, the angle between Saturn and Mars will drop to
    below a quarter of a degree.

    Tomorrow's picture: rings unknown
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Wednesday, March 30, 2022 00:15:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 30

    Animation: Odd Radio Circles
    Credits: Illustration: Sam Moorfield; Data: CSIRO, HST (HUDF), ESA,
    NASA;
    Image: J. English (U. Manitoba), EMU, MeerKAT, DES (CTIO); Text:
    Jayanne English

    Explanation: What do you call a cosmic puzzle that no one expected to
    see? In this case, Odd Radio Circles, aka ORCs. ORC-1 typifies the
    enigmatic five objects, only visible at radio frequencies, that were
    serendipitously discovered in 2019 using the new Australian SKA
    Pathfinder radio array. The final image in the featured video uses 2021
    data from the South African MeerKAT array to reveal more detail. The
    radio data, assigned turquoise colors, are combined with a Dark Energy
    Survey optical/IR map. The animated artistC╟╓s illustration explores just
    one idea about the ORCsC╟╓ origins. If two supermassive black holes merge
    in the center of a galaxy, the associated shockwaves could generate
    rings of radio radiation. These grow to fill the video frame. The video
    zooms out so the expansion the ORC can be tracked until it is about a
    million light-years across. Fortunately, the up-coming Square Kilometer
    Array can help test this and other promising scenarios.

    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 Thursday, March 31, 2022 00:44:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Friday, April 01, 2022 00:29:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 1

    Leaning Tower, Active Sun
    Image Credit & Copyright: Antonio Tartarini

    Explanation: The natural filter of a hazy atmosphere offered this
    recognizable architecture and sunset view on March 27. Dark against the
    solar disk, large sunspots in solar active regions 2975 and 2976 are
    wedged between the Duomo of Pisa and its famous Leaning Tower. Only one
    day later, Sun-staring spacecraft watched active region 2975 unleash a
    frenzy of solar flares along with two coronal mass ejections. The
    largest impacted the magnetosphere on March 31 triggering a geomagnetic
    storm and aurorae in high-latitude night skies. On March 30, active
    region 2975 erupted again with a powerful X-class solar flare that
    caused a temporary radio blackout on 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 Saturday, April 02, 2022 00:22:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 2

    Nova Scotia Northern Lights
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jason Dain

    Explanation: This almost otherworldly display of northern lights was
    captured in clear skies during the early hours of March 31 from 44
    degrees north latitude, planet Earth. In a five second exposure the
    scene looks north from Martinique Beach Provincial Park in Nova Scotia,
    Canada. Stars of the W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia shine well above
    the horizon, through the red tint of the higher altitude auroral glow.
    Auroral activity was anticipated by skywatchers alerted to the
    possibility of stormy space weather by Sun-staring spacecraft. The
    predicted geomagnetic storm was sparked as a coronal mass ejection,
    launched from prolific solar active region 2975, impacted our fair
    planet's magnetosphere.

    Tomorrow's picture: Why are we moving so fast?
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Sunday, April 03, 2022 00:58:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Monday, April 04, 2022 00:25:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, April 05, 2022 17:19:38
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 5

    Seven Sisters versus California
    Image Credit & Copyright: Neven Krcmarek

    Explanation: On the upper right, dressed in blue, is the Pleiades. Also
    known as the Seven Sisters and M45, the Pleiades is one of the
    brightest and most easily visible open clusters on the sky. The
    Pleiades contains over 3,000 stars, is about 400 light years away, and
    only 13 light years across. Surrounding the stars is a spectacular blue
    reflection nebula made of fine dust. A common legend is that one of the
    brighter stars faded since the cluster was named. On the lower left,
    shining in red, is the California Nebula. Named for its shape, the
    California Nebula is much dimmer and hence harder to see than the
    Pleiades. Also known as NGC 1499, this mass of red glowing hydrogen gas
    is about 1,500 light years away. Although about 25 full moons could fit
    between them, the featured wide angle, deep field image composite has
    captured them both. A careful inspection of the deep image will also
    reveal the star forming region IC 348 and the molecular cloud LBN 777
    (the Baby Eagle Nebula).

    Tomorrow's picture: far 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 to All on Wednesday, April 06, 2022 00:10:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 6

    Earendel: A Star in the Early Universe
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, B. Welch (JHU), D. Coe (STScI); Processing: A.
    Pagan (STScI)

    Explanation: Is Earendel the farthest star yet discovered? This
    scientific possibility started when the Hubble Space Telescope observed
    a huge cluster of galaxies. The gravitational lens effect of this
    cluster was seen to magnify and distort a galaxy far in the background.
    This distorted background galaxy -- so far away it has a redshift of
    6.2 -- appears in the featured image as a long red string, while beads
    on that string are likely to be star clusters. The galaxy cluster
    lens creates a line of maximum magnification line where superposed
    background objects may appear magnified many thousands of times. On the
    intersection between the galaxy line and the maximum magnification line
    is one "bead" which shows evidence of originating from a single bright
    star in the early universe -- now named Earendel. Future investigations
    may include more imaging by Hubble to see how Earendel's brightness
    varies, and, quite possibly, by the new James Webb Space Telescope when
    it becomes operational later this year. Earendel's great distance
    exceeds that of any known stable star -- although the star that
    exploded creating GRB 090423 had a redshift of 8.2.

    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 Thursday, April 07, 2022 00:13:38
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Friday, April 08, 2022 00:32:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, April 09, 2022 01:49:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 9

    Mars-Saturn Conjunction
    Image Credit & Copyright: Damian Peach

    Explanation: Fainter stars in the zodiacal constellation Capricornus
    are scattered near the plane of the ecliptic in this field of view. The
    two brightest ones at center aren't stars at all though, but the
    planets Mars and Saturn. Taken on the morning of April 4, the
    telescopic snapshot captured their tantalizing close conjunction in a
    predawn sky, the pair of planets separated by only about 1/3 of a
    degree. That's easily less than the apparent width of a Full Moon. Can
    you tell which planet is which? If you guessed Mars is the redder one ,
    you'd be right. Above Mars, slightly fainter Saturn still shines with a
    paler yellowish tinge in reflected sunlight. Even at the low
    magnification, Saturn's largest and brightest moon Titan can be spotted
    hugging the planet very closely on the left.

    Tomorrow's picture: in the shadows
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Sunday, April 10, 2022 06:06:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 10

    Shadows at the Moon's South Pole
    Image Credit: NASA, Arizona State U., Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

    Explanation: Was this image of the Moon's surface taken with a
    microscope? No -- it's a multi-temporal illumination map made with a
    wide-angle camera. To create it, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
    spacecraft collected 1,700 images over a period of 6 lunar days (6
    Earth months), repeatedly covering an area centered on the Moon's south
    pole from different angles. The resulting images were stacked to
    produce the featured map -- representing the percentage of time each
    spot on the surface was illuminated by the Sun. Remaining convincingly
    in shadow, the floor of the 19-kilometer diameter Shackleton crater is
    seen near the map's center. The lunar south pole itself is at about 9
    o'clock on the crater's rim. Crater floors near the lunar south and
    north poles can remain in permanent shadow, while mountain tops can
    remain in nearly continuous sunlight. Useful for future outposts, the
    shadowed crater floors could offer reservoirs of water-ice, while the
    sunlit mountain tops offer good locations to collect solar power.

    Tomorrow's picture: ISS Sunspot
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Monday, April 11, 2022 07:24:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 11

    A Space Station Crosses a Busy Sun
    Image Credit & Copyright: Wang Letian (Eyes at Night)

    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
    several times a year 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 earlier this month from
    Beijing, China with perfect timing. This image series was later
    combined with separate images taken at nearly the same time but
    highlighting the texture and activity on the busy Sun. The solar
    activity included numerous gaseous prominences seen around the edge,
    highlighted in red, filaments seen against the Sun's face, and a dark
    sunspot.

    Tomorrow's picture: cosmic seahorse
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Tuesday, April 12, 2022 00:09:38
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 12

    N11: Star Clouds of the LMC
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA; Processing: Josh Lake

    Explanation: Massive stars, abrasive winds, mountains of dust, and
    energetic light sculpt one of the largest and most picturesque regions
    of star formation in the Local Group of Galaxies. Known as N11, the
    region is visible on the upper right of many images of its home galaxy,
    the Milky Way neighbor known as the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The
    featured image was taken for scientific purposes by the Hubble Space
    Telescope and reprocessed for artistry. Although the section imaged
    above is known as NGC 1763, the entire N11 emission nebula is second in
    LMC size only to the Tarantula Nebula. Compact globules of dark dust
    housing emerging young stars are also visible around the image. A
    recent study of variable stars in the LMC with Hubble has helped to
    recalibrate the distance scale of the observable universe, but resulted
    in a slightly different scale than found using the pervasive cosmic
    microwave background.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 2,700+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: sky 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 Wednesday, April 13, 2022 02:23:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 13

    Milky Way over Devils Tower
    Image Credit & Copyright: MaryBeth Kiczenski

    Explanation: What created Devils Tower? The origin of this
    extraordinary rock monolith in Wyoming, USA is still debated, with a
    leading hypothesis holding that it is a hardened lava plume that never
    reached the surface to become a volcano. In this theory, the lighter
    rock that once surrounded the dense volcanic neck has now eroded away,
    leaving the dramatic tower. Known by Native Americans by names
    including Bear's Lodge and Great Gray Horn, the dense rock includes the
    longest hexagonal columns known, some over 180-meters tall. High above,
    the central band of the Milky Way galaxy arches across the sky. Many
    notable sky objects are visible, including dark strands of the Pipe
    Nebula and the reddish Lagoon Nebula to the tower's right. Green grass
    and trees line the foreground, while clouds appear near the horizon to
    the tower's left. Unlike many other international landmarks,
    mountaineers are permitted to climb Devils Tower.

    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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, April 14, 2022 00:15:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
    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 Friday, April 15, 2022 00:27:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, April 16, 2022 00:15:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 16

    Orion Pines
    Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Casado (Starry Earth, TWAN)

    Explanation: Taken with a camera fixed to a tripod, many short
    exposures were aligned with the stars to unveil this beautiful, dark
    night sky. Captured near the rural village of Albany`a at the
    northeastern corner of Spain, the three stars of Orion's belt stretch
    across top center in the starry frame. Alnitak, the easternmost (left)
    of the belt stars is seen next to the more diffuse glow of the Flame
    Nebula and the dark notch of the famous Horsehead. Easily visible to
    the naked-eye The Great Nebula of Orion is below the belt stars. A mere
    1,500 light-years distant, it is the closest large stellar nursery to
    our fair planet. Best seen in photographs, the broad and faint arc of
    Barnard's Loop seems to embrace Orion's brighter stars and nebulae
    though. In the northern spring the familiar northern winter
    constellation is setting. Near the western horizon toward lower right
    Orion's apparently bright blue supergiant Rigel just touches the
    branches of a pine tree.

    Tomorrow's picture: Endeavour in Orbit
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Sunday, April 17, 2022 05:09:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 17

    Shuttle Over Earth
    Image Credit: NASA, Expedition 22 Crew

    Explanation: What's that approaching? Astronauts on board the
    International Space Station in 2010 first saw it far in the distance.
    Soon it enlarged to become a dark silhouette. As it came even closer,
    the silhouette appeared to be a spaceship. Finally, the object revealed
    itself to be the Space Shuttle Endeavour, and it soon docked as
    expected with the Earth-orbiting space station. Pictured here,
    Endeavour was imaged near Earth's horizon as it approached, where
    several layers of the Earth's atmosphere were visible. Directly behind
    the shuttle is the mesosphere, which appears blue. The atmospheric
    layer that appears white is the stratosphere, while the orange layer is
    Earth's Troposphere. Together, these thin layers of air -- collectively
    spanning less than 2 percent of Earth's radius -- sustain us all in
    many ways, including providing oxygen to breath and a barrier to
    dangerous radiations from space.

    Coming up Friday: Earth Day 2022
    Tomorrow's picture: steppe 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, April 18, 2022 02:59:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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+¼rtola, 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)
    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 Tuesday, April 19, 2022 01:04:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 19

    Stars and Globules in the Running Chicken Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Stefan Steve Bemmerl

    Explanation: The eggs from this gigantic chicken may form into stars.
    The featured emission nebula, shown in scientifically assigned colors,
    is cataloged as IC 2944 but known as the Running Chicken Nebula for the
    shape of its greater appearance. Seen toward the bottom of the image
    are small, dark molecular clouds rich in obscuring cosmic dust. Called
    Thackeray's Globules for their discoverer, these "eggs" are potential
    sites for the gravitational condensation of new stars, although their
    fates are uncertain as they are also being rapidly eroded away by the
    intense radiation from nearby young stars. Together with patchy glowing
    gas and complex regions of reflecting dust, these massive and energetic
    stars form the open cluster Collinder 249. This gorgeous skyscape spans
    about 60 light-years at the nebula's estimated 6,500 light-year
    distance.

    Tomorrow's picture: shipping clouds
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Wednesday, April 20, 2022 00:16:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 20

    Planet Line over New York Bridge
    Image Credit & Copyright: Stan Honda

    Explanation: There's an interesting sky to see if you wake up before
    the Sun. Lined up on toward the eastern horizon are four planets in a
    row. The planets are so bright they can even be seen from the bright
    sky inside a city. In fact, the featured image was taken from New York
    City, USA, with the foreground highlighted by the RFK (Triborough)
    Bridge. Pictured, the planets are, left to right, Jupiter, Venus, Mars,
    and Saturn. The planets all appear in a row because they all orbit the
    Sun in the same plane. This plane, called the ecliptic plane, was
    created in the early days of our Solar System and includes all planets,
    including Earth. The morning planet parade will continue throughout
    April and May, and will even be joined by Mercury in June.

    APOD volunteer programming opportunity: Discord
    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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, April 21, 2022 02:58:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 21

    Apollo 16 Moon Panorama
    Image Credit: Apollo 16, NASA; Panorama Assembly: Mike Constantine

    Explanation: Fifty years ago, April 20, 1972, Apollo 16's lunar module
    Orion touched down on the Moon's near side in the south-central
    Descartes Highlands. While astronaut Ken Mattingly orbited overhead in
    Casper the friendly command and service module the Orion brought John
    Young and Charles Duke to the lunar surface. The pair would spend
    nearly three days on the Moon. Constructed from images (AS16-117-18814
    to AS16-117-18820) taken near the end of their third and final surface
    excursion this panoramic view puts the lunar module in the distance
    toward the left. Their electric lunar roving vehicle in the foreground,
    Duke is operating the camera while Young aims the high gain
    communications antenna skyward, toward planet Earth.

    Celebrate: Earth Day
    Tomorrow's picture: our fair 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.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, April 22, 2022 00:35:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
    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 Saturday, April 23, 2022 00:20:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Sunday, April 24, 2022 00:09:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, April 25, 2022 00:16:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, April 26, 2022 00:10:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, April 27, 2022 00:18:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 27

    Moon Shadow on Jupiter
    Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Processing & License: Thomas
    Thomopoulos

    Explanation: What is that large dark spot on Jupiter? It's the shadow
    of Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon. When Jupiter's moons cross between
    the Jovian giant and the Sun, they created shadows just like when the
    Earth's moon crosses between the Earth and the Sun. Also like on Earth,
    if you were in a dark shadow on Jupiter, you would see a moon
    completely eclipse the Sun. Unlike on Earth, moon shadows occur most
    days on Jupiter -- what's more unusual is that a spacecraft was close
    enough to record one with a high-resolution image. That spacecraft,
    Juno, was passing so close to Jupiter in late February that nearby
    clouds and the dark eclipse shadow appear relatively large. Juno has
    made many discoveries about our Solar System's largest planet,
    including, recently, rapidly expanding circular auroras.

    Explore Your 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 Thursday, April 28, 2022 00:26:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 28

    Lyrid of the Lake
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN)

    Explanation: In the early hours of April 24 this bright Lyrid meteor
    flashed along the central Milky Way. For a moment, it cast a bright
    reflection across Lake Nian, Yunnan province, China. The annual Lyrid
    meteor shower, one of the oldest known, is active in late April, as our
    fair planet plows through dust left along the orbit of long-period
    comet Thatcher. The trail of the bright fireball points back toward the
    shower's radiant in the constellation Lyra high in the northern
    springtime sky and off the top of the frame. Just rising in that starry
    sky, light from a third quarter moon also cast a glow on the peaceful
    waters of the lake.

    Tomorrow's picture: a springtime appetizer
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Friday, April 29, 2022 00:28:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 29

    Portrait of NGC 3628
    Image Credit & Copyright: Wilhelm Michael Kasakow, Olaf Guillaume

    Explanation: Sharp telescopic views of NGC 3628 show a puffy galactic
    disk divided by dark dust lanes. Of course, this portrait of the
    magnificent, edge-on spiral galaxy puts some astronomers in mind of its
    popular moniker, the Hamburger Galaxy. It also reveals a small galaxy
    nearby (below), likely a satellite of NGC 3628, and a very faint but
    extensive tidal tail. The drawn out tail stretches for about 300,000
    light-years, even beyond the upper left edge of the frame. NGC 3628
    shares its neighborhood in the local universe with two other large
    spirals M65 and M66 in a grouping otherwise known as the Leo Triplet.
    Gravitational interactions with its cosmic neighbors are likely
    responsible for creating the tidal tail, as well as the extended flare
    and warp of this spiral's disk. The tantalizing island universe itself
    is about 100,000 light-years across and 35 million light-years away in
    the northern springtime constellation Leo.

    Tomorrow's picture: diffraction attraction
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Saturday, April 30, 2022 00:13:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 30

    M44: The Beehive Cluster
    Image Credit & Copyright: Drew Evans

    Explanation: A mere 600 light-years away, M44 is one of the closest
    star clusters to our solar system. Also known as the Praesepe or the
    Beehive cluster its stars are young though, about 600 million years old
    compared to our Sun's 4.5 billion years. Based on similar ages and
    motion through space, M44 and the even closer Hyades star cluster in
    Taurus are thought to have been born together in the same large
    molecular cloud. An open cluster spanning some 15 light-years, M44
    holds 1,000 stars or so and covers about 3 full moons (1.5 degrees) on
    the sky in the constellation Cancer. Visible to the unaided eye, M44
    has been recognized since antiquity. Described as a faint cloud or
    celestial mist long before being included as the 44th entry in Charles
    Messier's 18th century catalog, the cluster was not resolved into its
    individual stars until telescopes were available. A popular target for
    modern, binocular-equipped sky gazers, the cluster's few yellowish
    tinted, cool, red giants are scattered through the field of its
    brighter hot blue main sequence stars in this telescopic group
    snapshot. Dramatic diffraction spikes highlighting the brighter cluster
    members were created with string crossed in front of the telescope's
    objective lens.

    Tomorrow's picture: black hole shadow
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Sunday, May 01, 2022 00:28:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 1

    First Horizon-Scale Image of a Black Hole
    Image Credit: Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration

    Explanation: What does a black hole look like? To find out, radio
    telescopes from around the Earth coordinated observations of black
    holes with the largest known event horizons on the sky. Alone, black
    holes are just black, but these monster attractors are known to be
    surrounded by glowing gas. This first image resolves the area around
    the black hole at the center of galaxy M87 on a scale below that
    expected for its event horizon. Pictured, the dark central region is
    not the event horizon, but rather the black hole's shadow -- the
    central region of emitting gas darkened by the central black hole's
    gravity. The size and shape of the shadow is determined by bright gas
    near the event horizon, by strong gravitational lensing deflections,
    and by the black hole's spin. In resolving this black hole's shadow,
    the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) bolstered evidence that Einstein's
    gravity works even in extreme regions, and gave clear evidence that M87
    has a central spinning black hole of about 6 billion solar masses.
    Since releasing this featured image in 2019, the EHT has expanded to
    include more telescopes, observe more black holes, track polarized
    light,and is working to observe the immediately vicinity of the black
    hole in the center of our Milky Way Galaxy.

    This week is: Black Hole Week
    New EHT Results to be Announced: Next Thursday
    Tomorrow's picture: martian 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, May 02, 2022 01:58:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 2

    Partial Solar Eclipse over Argentina
    Image Credit & Copyright: Aixa Andrada

    Explanation: What's happened to the Sun? Two days ago, parts of South
    America were treated to a partial solar eclipse -- where the Moon
    blocked out part of the Sun. The featured image shows an image of the
    partially eclipsed Sun through clouds as it was setting over Patagonia,
    Argentina. In the tilted image, Earth is toward the right. During the
    eclipse, the Moon moved partly between Earth and the Sun. Although a
    visually impressive sight, the slight dimming of surroundings during
    this partial eclipse was less noticeable than dimming created by a
    thick cloud. In about two weeks, all of South America and part of North
    America will experience a total lunar eclipse -- where the Earth moves
    completely between the Moon and the Sun. In about two years, a total
    solar eclipse will cross North America.

    Tomorrow's picture: planet tail
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Tuesday, May 03, 2022 00:11:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 3

    Mercury's Sodium Tail
    Image Credit & Copyright: Sebastian Voltmer

    Explanation: That's no comet. Below the Pleiades star cluster is
    actually a planet: Mercury. Long exposures of our Solar System's
    innermost planet may reveal something unexpected: a tail. Mercury's
    thin atmosphere contains small amounts of sodium that glow when excited
    by light from the Sun. Sunlight also liberates these molecules from
    Mercury's surface and pushes them away. The yellow glow from sodium, in
    particular, is relatively bright. Pictured, Mercury and its sodium tail
    are visible in a deep image taken last week from La Palma, Spain
    through a filter that primarily transmits yellow light emitted by
    sodium. First predicted in the 1980s, Mercury's tail was first
    discovered in 2001. Many tail details were revealed in multiple
    observations by NASA's robotic MESSENGER spacecraft that orbited
    Mercury between 2011 and 2015. Tails, of course, are usually associated
    with comets.

    Tomorrow's picture: planet pyramid parade
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Wednesday, May 04, 2022 00:14:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 4

    Planets Over Egyptian Pyramid
    Image Credit & Copyright: Osama Fatehi

    Explanation: The early morning planet parade continues. Visible the
    world over, the planets Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn have been
    lining up in the pre-dawn sky since mid-April. In the featured image
    taken last month, these planets were captured over the Step Pyramid of
    Djoser, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Located in the Saqqara necropolis
    of Egypt, the pyramid was constructed in the 27th century BC and is one
    of the oldest pyramids known. The two-image composite includes a
    foreground image taken during evening blue hour, and a background image
    captured from the same location the following morning. The morning
    planet line-up is slowly changing. At the end of last month, planets
    Jupiter and Venus switched places, while at the end of this month,
    Jupiter and Mars will switch after passing within one-degree of each
    other. Of course, this picturesque planetary angular alignment is a
    coincidence, as all of these worlds continue to orbit the Sun as they
    have for billions of years, well before even the ancient Pyramid of
    Djoser was built.

    Notable Submissions to APOD: Morning Planet Parade 2022
    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 Thursday, May 05, 2022 01:29:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 5

    NGC 3521: Galaxy in a Bubble
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby

    Explanation: Gorgeous spiral galaxy NGC 3521 is a mere 35 million
    light-years away, toward the northern springtime constellation Leo.
    Relatively bright in planet Earth's sky, NGC 3521 is easily visible in
    small telescopes but often overlooked by amateur imagers in favor of
    other Leo spiral galaxies, like M66 and M65. It's hard to overlook in
    this colorful cosmic portrait though. Spanning some 50,000 light-years
    the galaxy sports characteristic patchy, irregular spiral arms laced
    with dust, pink star forming regions, and clusters of young, blue
    stars. This deep image also finds NGC 3521 embedded in fainter,
    gigantic, bubble-like shells. The shells are likely tidal debris,
    streams of stars torn from satellite galaxies that have undergone
    mergers with NGC 3521 in the distant past.

    Tomorrow's picture: southern tadpoles
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Friday, May 06, 2022 00:11:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Saturday, May 07, 2022 11:00:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 7

    Firefall by Moonlight
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tara Mostofi

    Explanation: On certain dates in February, an elusive firefall can be
    spotted at sunset in Yosemite National Park, when water flows, the
    weather cooperates and the direction to the setting Sun is just right.
    Often photographed from vantage points below, at the right moment the
    park's seasonal Horsetail Fall is isolated in the shadows of the steep
    walls of El Capitan. Then, still illuminated with rays of reddened
    sunlight the waterfall briefly takes on a dramatic, fiery appearance.
    But a Horsetail firefall can be photographed by moonlight too. Even
    more elusive by moonlight, the firefall effect can also be seen when a
    bright Moon sets at the right direction along the western horizon. And
    skies were clear enough for this well-planned imaging of an ephemeral
    Horsetail firefall, lit by a bright gibbous Moon setting in the early
    morning hours of April 15.

    Tomorrow's picture: the inner 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 Sunday, May 08, 2022 00:20:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 8

    Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: The Inner Rings
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Space Telescope

    Explanation: Most galaxies don't have any rings -- why does this galaxy
    have two? To begin, the bright band near NGC 1512's center is a nuclear
    ring, a ring that surrounds the galaxy center and glows brightly with
    recently formed stars. Most stars and accompanying gas and dust,
    however, orbit the galactic center in a ring much further out -- here
    seen near the image edge. This ring is called, counter-intuitively, the
    inner ring. If you look closely, you will see this the inner ring
    connects ends of a diffuse central bar that runs horizontally across
    the galaxy. These ring structures are thought to be caused by NGC
    1512's own asymmetries in a drawn-out process called secular evolution.
    The gravity of these galaxy asymmetries, including the bar of stars,
    cause gas and dust to fall from the inner ring to the nuclear ring,
    enhancing this ring's rate of star formation. Some spiral galaxies also
    have a third ring -- an outer ring that circles the galaxy even further
    out.

    Tomorrow's picture: martian 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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    & 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 Monday, May 09, 2022 00:29:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, May 10, 2022 00:14:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 10

    NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Stefan Steve Bemmerl & Team Wolfatorium
    (Hakos/Namibia)

    Explanation: Nebulas are perhaps as famous for being identified with
    familiar shapes as perhaps cats are for getting into trouble. Still, no
    known cat could have created the vast Cat's Paw Nebula visible toward
    the constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius. At 5,500 light years
    distant, Cat's Paw is an emission nebula with a red color that
    originates from an abundance of ionized hydrogen atoms. Alternatively
    known as the Bear Claw Nebula and cataloged as NGC 6334, stars nearly
    ten times the mass of our Sun have been born there in only the past few
    million years. Pictured here is a deep field image of the Cat's Paw
    Nebula in light emitted by hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur.

    Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: more 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, May 11, 2022 00:15:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 11

    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: 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 Thursday, May 12, 2022 00:13:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 12

    Young Stars of NGC 346
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA - acknowledgement: Antonella Nota (ESA/STScI)
    et al.,

    Explanation: The massive stars of NGC 346 are short lived, but very
    energetic. The star cluster is embedded in the largest star forming
    region in the Small Magellanic Cloud, some 210,000 light-years distant.
    Their winds and radiation sweep out an interstellar cavern in the gas
    and dust cloud about 200 light-years across, triggering star formation
    and sculpting the region's dense inner edge. Cataloged as N66, 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. In this false-color Hubble Space Telescope image, visible and
    near-infrared light are seen as blue and green, while light from atomic
    hydrogen emission is red.

    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 Friday, May 13, 2022 01:06:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 13

    The Milky Way's Black Hole
    Image Credit: X-ray - NASA/CXC/SAO, IR - NASA/HST/STScI; Inset: Radio -
    Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration

    Explanation: There's a black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Stars
    are observed to orbit a very massive and compact object there known as
    Sgr A* (say "sadge-ay-star"). But this just released radio image
    (inset) from planet Earth's Event Horizon Telescope is the first direct
    evidence of the Milky Way's central black hole. As predicted by
    Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, the four million solar mass
    black hole's strong gravity is bending light and creating a shadow-like
    dark central region surrounded by a bright ring-like structure.
    Supporting observations made by space-based telescopes and ground-based
    observatories provide a wider view of the galactic center's dynamic
    environment and an important context for the Event Horizon Telescope's
    black hole image. The main panel image shows the X-ray data from
    Chandra and infrared data from Hubble. While the main panel is about
    7-light years across, the Event Horizon Telescope inset image itself
    spans a mere 10 light-minutes at the center of our galaxy, some 27,000
    light-years away.

    Tomorrow's picture: ice halos by moonlight
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Saturday, May 14, 2022 00:25:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 14

    Ice Halos by Moonlight
    Image Credit & Copyright: Alan Dyer, Amazingsky.com, TWAN

    Explanation: An almost full moon on April 15 brought these luminous
    apparitions to a northern spring night over Alberta Canada. On that
    night, bright moonlight refracted and reflected by hexagonal ice
    crystals in high clouds created a complex of halos and arcs more
    commonly seen by sunlight in daytime skies. While the colors of the
    arcs and moondogs or paraselenae were just visible to the unaided eye,
    a blend of exposures ranging from 30 seconds to 1/20 second was used to
    render this moonlit wide-angle skyscape. The Big Dipper at the top of
    the frame sits just above a smiling and rainbow-hued circumzenithal
    arc. With Arcturus left and Regulus toward the right the Moon is
    centered in its often spotted 22 degree halo. May 15 will also see the
    bright light of a Full Moon shining in Earth's night skies. Tomorrow's
    Full Moon will be dimmed for a while though, as it slides through
    Earth's shadow in a total lunar eclipse.

    Watch: May 15-16 Total Lunar Eclipse
    Tomorrow's picture: colors of 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 Sunday, May 15, 2022 00:14:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 15

    Colors of the Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marcella Giulia Pace

    Explanation: What color is the Moon? It depends on the night. Outside
    of the Earth's atmosphere, the dark Moon, which shines by reflected
    sunlight, appears a magnificently brown-tinged gray. Viewed from inside
    the Earth's atmosphere, though, the moon can appear quite different.
    The featured image highlights a collection of apparent colors of the
    full moon documented by one astrophotographer over 10 years from
    different locations across Italy. A red or yellow colored moon usually
    indicates a moon seen near the horizon. There, some of the blue light
    has been scattered away by a long path through the Earth's atmosphere,
    sometimes laden with fine dust. A blue-colored moon is more rare and
    can indicate a moon seen through an atmosphere carrying larger dust
    particles. What created the purple moon is unclear -- it may be a
    combination of several effects. The last image captures the total lunar
    eclipse of 2018 July -- where the moon, in Earth's shadow, appeared a
    faint red -- due to light refracted through air around the Earth. Today
    there is not only another full moon but a total lunar eclipse visible
    to observers in North and South America -- an occurrence that may lead
    to some unexpected lunar colorings.

    Tomorrow's picture: alien castle rocks
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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 Monday, May 16, 2022 00:26:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 16

    Milky Way over French Alp Hoodoos
    Image Credit & Copyright: Benjamin Barakat

    Explanation: Real castles aren't this old. And the background galaxy is
    even older. Looking a bit like an alien castle, the pictured rock
    spires are called hoodoos and are likely millions of years old. Rare,
    but found around the world, hoodoos form when dense rocks slow the
    erosion of softer rock underneath. The pictured hoodoos survive in the
    French Alps and are named Demoiselles Coiff+¼es -- which translates to
    English as "Ladies with Hairdos". The background galaxy is part of the
    central disk of our own Milky Way galaxy and contains stars that are
    typically billions of years old. The photogenic Cygnus sky region --
    rich in dusty dark clouds and red glowing nebulas -- appears just above
    and behind the hoodoos. The featured image was taken in two stages: the
    foreground was captured during the evening blue hour, while the
    background was acquired from the same location later that night.

    Tomorrow's picture: shells of 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 Tuesday, May 17, 2022 00:20:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 17

    NGC 1316: After Galaxies Collide
    Image Credit & Copyright: Capture: Greg Turgeon; Processing: Kiko
    Fairbairn

    Explanation: Astronomers turn detectives when trying to figure out the
    cause of startling sights like NGC 1316. Investigations indicate that
    NGC 1316 is an enormous elliptical galaxy that started, about 100
    million years ago, to devour a smaller spiral galaxy neighbor, NGC
    1317, just on the upper right. Supporting evidence includes the dark
    dust lanes characteristic of a spiral galaxy, and faint swirls and
    shells of stars and gas visible in this wide and deep image. One thing
    that >remains unexplained is the unusually small globular star
    clusters, seen as faint dots on the image. Most elliptical galaxies
    have more and brighter globular clusters than NGC 1316. Yet the
    observed globulars are too old to have been created by the recent
    spiral collision. One hypothesis is that these globulars survive from
    an even earlier galaxy that was subsumed into NGC 1316. Another
    surprising attribute of NGC 1316, also known as Fornax A, is its giant
    lobes of gas that glow brightly in radio waves.

    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 Wednesday, May 18, 2022 00:17:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 18

    A Jewel on the Flower Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tomas Slovinsky

    Explanation: Cloudy skies plagued some sky watchers on Sunday as May's
    Full Flower Moon slipped through Earth's shadow in a total lunar
    eclipse. In skies above Chile's Atacama desert this telephoto snapshot
    still captured an awesome spectacle though. Seen through thin high
    cirrus clouds just before totality began, a last sliver of sunlit
    crescent glistens like a hazy jewel atop the mostly shadowed lunar
    disk. This full moon was near perigee, the closest point in its
    elliptical orbit. It passed near the center of Earth's dark umbral
    shadow during the 90 minute long total eclipse phase. Faintly suffused
    with sunlight scattered by the atmosphere, the umbral shadow itself
    gave the eclipsed moon a reddened appearance and the very dramatic
    popular moniker of a Blood Moon.

    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 Thursday, May 19, 2022 00:12:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Friday, May 20, 2022 00:34:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 20

    A View from Earth's Shadow
    Image Credit & Copyright: Maxime Oudoux

    Explanation: This serene sand and skyscape finds the Dune of Pilat on
    the coast of France still in Earth's shadow during the early morning
    hours of May 16. Extending into space, the planet's dark umbral shadow
    covered the Moon on that date. From that location the total phase of a
    lunar eclipse had begun before moonset. Still in sunlight though, the
    International Space Station crossed from the western horizon and
    Earth's largest artificial moon traced the bright flat arc through the
    sky over 400 km above. Simply constructed, the well-planned panoramic
    scene was captured over a 5 minutes in a series of consecutive images.

    Tomorrow's picture: Abell 7
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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 Saturday, May 21, 2022 00:22:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 21

    Planetary Nebula Abell 7
    Image Credit & Copyright: Donald Waid, Ron Dilulio

    Explanation: Very faint planetary nebula Abell 7 is some 1,800
    light-years distant, just south of Orion in planet Earth's skies in the
    constellation Lepus, The Hare. Surrounded by Milky Way stars and near
    the line-of-sight to distant background galaxies, its generally simple
    spherical shape, about 8 light-years in diameter, is outlined in this
    deep telescopic image. Within its confines are beautiful, more complex
    details enhanced by the use of narrowband filters. Emission from
    hydrogen is shown in reddish hues with oxygen emission mapped to green
    and blue colors, giving Abell 7 a natural appearance that would
    otherwise be much too faint to be appreciated by eye. A planetary
    nebula represents a very brief final phase in stellar evolution that
    our own Sun will experience 5 billion years hence, as the nebula's
    central, once sun-like star shrugs off its outer layers. Abell 7 itself
    is estimated to be 20,000 years old. Its central star is seen here as a
    fading white dwarf some 10 billion years old.

    Tomorrow's picture: Tsunami on the Sun
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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 Sunday, May 22, 2022 00:15:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 22

    A Large Tsunami Shock Wave on the Sun
    Image Credit: NSO/AURA/NSF and USAF Research Laboratory

    Explanation: Tsunamis this large don't happen on Earth. During 2006, a
    large solar flare from an Earth-sized sunspot produced a tsunami-type
    shock wave that was spectacular even for the Sun. Pictured here, the
    tsunami wave was captured moving out from active region AR 10930 by the
    Optical Solar Patrol Network (OSPAN) telescope in New Mexico, USA. The
    resulting shock wave, known technically as a Moreton wave, compressed
    and heated up gasses including hydrogen in the photosphere of the Sun,
    causing a momentarily brighter glow. The featured image was taken in a
    very specific red color emitted exclusively by hydrogen gas. The
    rampaging tsunami took out some active filaments on the Sun, although
    many re-established themselves later. The solar tsunami spread at
    nearly one million kilometers per hour, and circled the entire Sun in a
    matter of minutes.

    Tomorrow's picture: andromeda now and again
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Monday, May 23, 2022 02:06:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 23

    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 soon be. Of course, the big, beautiful
    Andromeda Galaxy, M31, is a spiral galaxy -- and a mere 2.5 million
    light-years away. Both space-based and ground-based observatories have
    been here combined to produce this intriguing composite image of
    Andromeda, at wavelengths both inside and outside normally visible
    light. The visible light shows where M31's stars are now -- as
    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 -- as 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 -- the raw
    material for future star formation. These new stars will likely form
    over the next hundred million years, surely well before Andromeda
    merges with our Milky Way Galaxy in about 5 billion years.

    Tomorrow's picture: visiting 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 Tuesday, May 24, 2022 00:19:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 24

    A Deep Sky Behind an Eclipsed Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Andrei Ionut Dascalu

    Explanation: The plan was to capture a picturesque part of the sky that
    was hosting an unusual guest. The result included a bonus C╟÷ an
    additional and unexpected guest. The beautiful background features part
    of the central band of our Milky Way galaxy on the far left, and the
    colorful clouds of Rho Ophiuchi in the image center. The unusual guest,
    a dimmed and reddened Moon on the right, was expected because the image
    was taken during last weekC╟╓s total lunar eclipse. The timing had to be
    right because the Moon C╟÷ both before and after eclipse C╟÷ would be so
    bright it would overwhelm the background. The unexpected guest was the
    bright meteor across the image center. The fleeting meteor streak was
    captured on only one of the 10 consecutively-captured deep-field images
    from La Palma in the Spanish Canary Islands, while the eclipsed Moon
    image was taken immediately afterwards with the same camera and from
    the same location. The next total lunar eclipse C╟÷ also quite expected C╟÷
    will occur in early November.

    Notable Submissions to APOD: Total Lunar Eclipse of 2022 May
    Tomorrow's picture: lagoon twisters from hubble
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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 Wednesday, May 25, 2022 03:40:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 25

    The Lively Center of the Lagoon Nebula
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Copyright: Mehmet Hakan
    +√zsara+║

    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 10
    light years, combines images taken in six 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).

    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 Thursday, May 26, 2022 00:22:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 26

    NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge
    Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Sherick

    Explanation: 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 galaxy's boxy, bulging central core cut by
    obscuring dust lanes that lace NGC 4565's thin galactic plane. NGC 4565
    itself 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: 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 Friday, May 27, 2022 00:15:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 27

    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: 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 Saturday, May 28, 2022 00:11:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 28

    RCW 86: Historical Supernova Remnant
    Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh

    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 for months and is thought to be the earliest recorded
    supernova. This deep image shows emission nebula RCW 86, understood to
    be the remnant of that stellar explosion. The narrowband data trace gas
    ionized by the still expanding shock wave. Space-based images indicate
    an abundance of the element iron and lack of a neutron star or pulsar
    in 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 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 a 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: a galaxy cluster forms
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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 Monday, May 30, 2022 00:19:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 30

    Red Crepuscular Rays from an Eclipse
    Image Credit & Copyright: Fefo Bouvier

    Explanation: What's happening behind that island? Things both expected
    and unexpected. Expected, perhaps, the pictured rays of light -- called
    crepuscular rays -- originate from the Sun. Unexpected, though, the Sun
    was being partially eclipsed by the Moon at the time -- late last
    month. Expected, perhaps, the Sun's rays are quite bright as they shine
    through gaps in below-horizon clouds. Unexpected, though, the
    crepuscular rays are quite red, likely the result an abundance of
    aerosols in Earth's atmosphere scattering away much of the blue light.
    Expected, with hope, a memorable scene featuring both the Moon and the
    Sun, superposed. Unfortunately, from this location -- in Uruguay
    looking toward Argentina -- clouds obscured the eclipse -- which wasn't
    completely unexpected. However, after packing up to go home, the beauty
    of bright red crepuscular rays emerged -- quite unexpectedly. Oh -- and
    that island on the horizon -- it's really two islands.

    Tomorrow's picture: yellow liquid sun
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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 Tuesday, May 31, 2022 03:55:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 31

    Rocket Transits Rippling Sun
    Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Cain

    Explanation: The launch of a rocket at sunrise can result in unusual
    but intriguing images that feature both the rocket and the Sun. Such
    was the case last month when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from
    NASA's Kennedy Space Center carrying 53 more Starlink satellites into
    low Earth orbit. In the featured launch picture, the rocket's exhaust
    plume glows beyond its projection onto the distant Sun, the rocket
    itself appears oddly jagged, and the Sun's lower edge shows peculiar
    drip-like ripples. The physical cause of all of these effects is
    pockets of relatively hot or rarefied air deflecting sunlight less
    strongly than pockets relatively cool or compressed air: refraction.
    Unaware of the Earthly show, active sunspot region 3014 -- on the upper
    left -- slowly crosses the Sun.

    Tomorrow's picture: big dragons
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Wednesday, June 01, 2022 00:34:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, June 02, 2022 00:21:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 2

    Lunar Occultation of Venus
    Image Credit & Copyright: Quentin Gineys

    Explanation: On May 27 Venus rose as the morning star, near the waning
    crescent Moon in a predawn sky already full of planets. It was close on
    the sky to the Moon's crescent and a conjunction of the second an third
    brightest celestial beacons were enjoyed by skygazers around the world.
    But seen from locations along a track through southeast Asia and the
    Indian Ocean the Moon actually passed in front of Venus in a lunar
    occultation. In this animated gif the 75 percent illuminated disk of
    Venus approaches and just begins to disappear behind the sunlit
    southwestern lunar limb. The telescopic frames used to construct it
    were captured from Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean around 4:50am
    local time, with the Moon and Venus very close to the eastern horizon.
    At the time Venus was over 180 million kilometers from Reunion Island,
    compared to a lunar distance of a mere 400 thousand kilometers or so.
    About 50 minutes later Venus emerged from behind the Moon.

    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 Friday, June 03, 2022 00:09:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 3

    A 10,000 Kilometer Galactic Bridge
    Image Credit & Copyright: Maxime Oudoux, Jean-Francois GELY

    Explanation: With this creative astro-collaboration you can follow the
    plane of our Milky Way Galaxy as it bridges northern and southern
    hemisphere skies. To construct the expansive composite nightscape,
    skies over Observatorio El Sauce in Chile (top) were imaged on the same
    date but 6 hours later than the skies over the Saint-Veran observatory
    in the French Alps. The 6 hour time-lag allowed Earth's rotation to
    align the Milky Way above domes at the two sites. All exposures were
    made with similar cameras and lenses mounted on simple tripods. A faint
    greenish airglow is visible in the dark Chilean sky that also features
    the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds near the observatory dome. In the
    French Alps light pollution is apparent, but the distant Andromeda
    Galaxy can still be spotted near the horizon in the northern night. On
    planet Earth the two observatories are separated by about 10,000
    kilometers.

    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 Saturday, June 04, 2022 00:11:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 4

    Tau Herculids from Space
    Image Credit & Copyright: Zhuoxiao Wang, Yangwang-1 Space Telescope,
    Origin.Space

    Explanation: On May 31 tens of parallel meteor streaks were recorded in
    this 8 degree wide field of view of planet Earth's limb from space. The
    image is one of a series of 5 minute long observations by the orbiting
    Yangwang-1 space telescope. It was captured at 03:43 UT, near the peak
    of the Tau Herculid meteor shower. As predicted, the meteor shower was
    an active one this year, caused as Earth swept through a relatively
    dense stream of debris from disintegrating Comet
    73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, but was lacking bright meteors. Nearly all
    of the Tau Herculid meteors in the Yangwang-1 image are too faint to be
    detected by groundbased instruments. But on that date patient
    earthbound skywatchers under clear skies still enjoyed a memorable
    showing of the Tau Herculids.

    Tomorrow's picture: gravity's dance
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Sunday, June 05, 2022 00:26:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, June 06, 2022 00:54:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 6

    Milky Way Galaxy Doomed: Collision with Andromeda Pending
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Z. Levay and R. van der Marel (STScI); T.
    Hallas; and A. Mellinger

    Explanation: Will our Milky Way Galaxy collide one day with its larger
    neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy? Most likely, yes. Careful plotting of
    slight displacements of M31's stars relative to background galaxies on
    recent Hubble Space Telescope images indicate that the center of M31
    could be on a direct collision course with the center of our home
    galaxy. Still, the errors in sideways velocity appear sufficiently
    large to admit a good chance that the central parts of the two galaxies
    will miss, slightly, but will become close enough for their outer halos
    to become gravitationally entangled. Once that happens, the two
    galaxies will become bound, dance around, and eventually merge to
    become one large elliptical galaxy -- over the next few billion years.
    Pictured here is a combination of images depicting the sky of a world
    (Earth?) in the distant future when the outer parts of each galaxy
    begin to collide. The exact future of our Milky Way and the entire
    surrounding Local Group of Galaxies is likely to remain an active topic
    of research for years to come.

    Tomorrow's picture: altar of dragons
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Tuesday, June 07, 2022 00:30:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 7

    NGC 6188: Dragons of Ara
    Image Credit & Copyright: Shaun Robertson

    Explanation: Do dragons fight on the altar of the sky? Although it
    might appear that way, these dragons are illusions made of thin gas and
    dust. The emission nebula NGC 6188, home to the glowing clouds, is
    found about 4,000 light years away near the edge of a large molecular
    cloud unseen at visible wavelengths, in the southern constellation Ara
    (the Altar). Massive, young stars of the embedded Ara OB1 association
    were formed in that region only a few million years ago, sculpting the
    dark shapes and powering the nebular glow with stellar winds and
    intense ultraviolet radiation. The recent star formation itself was
    likely triggered by winds and supernova explosions, from previous
    generations of massive stars, that swept up and compressed the
    molecular gas. Joining NGC 6188 on this cosmic canvas, visible toward
    the lower right, is rare emission nebula NGC 6164, also created by one
    of the region's massive O-type stars. Similar in appearance to many
    planetary nebulae, NGC 6164's striking, symmetric gaseous shroud and
    faint halo surround its bright central star near the bottom edge. This
    impressively wide field of view spans over 2 degrees (four full Moons),
    corresponding to over 150 light years at the estimated distance of NGC
    6188.

    Tomorrow's picture: ocean stripes
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Wednesday, June 08, 2022 00:17:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 8

    Ship Tracks over the Pacific Ocean
    Image Credit: NASA, Terra, MODIS; Text: Raymond Shaw (MTU)

    Explanation: What are those unusual streaks? Some images of planet
    Earth show clear bright streaks that follow the paths of ships. Known
    as ship tracks, these low and narrow bands are caused by the ship's
    engine exhaust. Water vapor condenses around small bits of exhaust
    known as aerosols, which soon grow into floating water drops that
    efficiently reflect sunlight. Ship tracks were first discovered in 1965
    in Earth images taken by NASA's TIROS satellites. Multiple ship tracks
    are visible across the featured image that was captured in 2009 over
    the Pacific Ocean by the MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra satellite.
    Inspired by ship-tracks, some scientists have suggested deploying a
    network of floating buoys in the worlds' oceans that spray salt-aerosol
    containing sea-water into the air so that, with the help of the wind,
    streams of sunlight-reflecting clouds would also form. Why do this?
    These human-made clouds could reflect so much sunlight they might help
    fight global warming.

    Today is: World Oceans Day
    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 Thursday, June 09, 2022 00:11:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 9

    Cosmic Clouds in Cygnus
    Image Credit & Copyright: Wolfgang Zimmermann

    Explanation: These cosmic clouds of gas and dust drift through rich
    star fields along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward the high
    flying constellation Cygnus. They're too faint to be seen with the
    unaided eye though, even on a clear, dark night. Image data from a
    camera and telephoto lens using narrowband filters was used to
    construct this 10 degree wide field of view. The deep mosaic reveals a
    region that includes star forming dust clouds seen in silhouette
    against the characteristic glow of atomic hydrogen and oxygen gas. NGC
    6888 is the standout emission nebula near the top. Blown by winds from
    an massive Wolf-Rayet star it's about 25 light-years across and known
    as the Crescent Nebula. A faint bluish curl just below center in the
    frame is also the signature of a Wolf-Rayet star. Burning fuel at a
    prodigious rate and near the end of their stellar lives, both stars
    will ultimately go out with a bang in a spectacular supernova
    explosion. Toward the right, a massive, young O type star powers the
    glow of Sh2-101, the Tulip Nebula.

    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 Friday, June 10, 2022 00:23:06
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 10

    Arp 286: Trio in Virgo
    Image Credit & Copyright: Nicolas Rolland, Telescope.Live

    Explanation: This colorful telescopic field of view features a trio of
    interacting galaxies almost 90 million light-years away, toward the
    constellation Virgo. On the right two spiky, foreground Milky Way stars
    echo the extragalactic hues, a reminder that stars in our own galaxy
    are like those in distant island universes. With sweeping spiral arms
    and obscuring dust lanes, the dominant member of the trio, NGC 5566, is
    enormous, about 150,000 light-years across. Just above it lies smaller,
    bluish NGC 5569. Near center a third galaxy, NGC 5560, is apparently
    stretched and distorted by its interaction with massive NGC 5566. The
    trio is also included in Halton Arp's 1966 Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies
    as Arp 286. Of course, such cosmic interactions are now appreciated as
    part of the evolution of galaxies.

    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 Saturday, June 11, 2022 00:27:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, June 12, 2022 03:29:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 12

    Find the Man in the Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dani Caxete

    Explanation: Have you ever seen the Man in the Moon? This common
    question plays on the ability of humans to see pareidolia -- imagining
    familiar icons where they don't actually exist. The textured surface of
    Earth's full Moon is home to numerous identifications of iconic
    objects, not only in modern western culture but in world folklore
    throughout history. Examples, typically dependent on the Moon's
    perceived orientation, include the Woman in the Moon and the Rabbit in
    the Moon. One facial outline commonly identified as the Man in the Moon
    starts by imagining the two dark circular areas -- lunar maria -- here
    just above the Moon's center, to be the eyes. Surprisingly, there
    actually is a man in this Moon image -- a close look will reveal a real
    person -- with a telescope -- silhouetted against the Moon. This
    featured well-planned image was taken in 2016 in Cadalso de los Vidrios
    in Madrid, Spain. Do you have a favorite object that you see in the
    Moon?

    Tomorrow's picture: a whirlpool of 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 Monday, June 13, 2022 00:37:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 13

    M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy from Hubble
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Processing & Copyright: Bernard
    Miller

    Explanation: The Whirlpool Galaxy is a classic spiral galaxy. At only
    30 million light years distant and fully 60 thousand light years
    across, M51, also known as NGC 5194, is one of the brightest and most
    picturesque galaxies on the sky. The featured image is a digital
    combination of images taken in different colors by the Earth-orbiting
    Hubble Space Telescope, highlighting many sharp features. Anyone with a
    good pair of binoculars, however, can see this Whirlpool toward the
    constellation of the Hunting Dogs (Canes Venatici). M51 is a spiral
    galaxy of type Sc and is the dominant member of a whole group of
    galaxies. Astronomers speculate that M51's spiral structure is
    primarily due to its gravitational interaction with the smaller galaxy
    on the image left.

    Tomorrow's picture: pinnacle satellites
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Tuesday, June 14, 2022 00:16:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 14

    Satellites Behind Pinnacles
    Image Credit & Copyright: Joshua Rozells

    Explanation: What are all those streaks across the background?
    Satellite trails. First, the foreground features picturesque rock
    mounds known as Pinnacles. Found in the Nambung National Park in
    Western Australia, these human-sized spires are made by unknown
    processes from ancient sea shells (limestone). Perhaps more
    eye-catching, though, is the sky behind. Created by low-Earth orbit
    satellites reflecting sunlight, all of these streaks were captured in
    less than two hours and digitally combined onto the single featured
    image, with the foreground taken consecutively by the same camera and
    from the same location. Most of the streaks were made by the developing
    Starlink constellation of communication satellites, but some are not.
    In general, the streaks are indicative of an increasing number of
    satellites nearly continuously visible above the Earth after dusk and
    before dawn. Understanding and removing the effects of satellite trails
    on images from Earth's ground-based cameras and telescopes is now
    important not only for elegant astrophotography, but for humanity's
    scientific understanding of the distant universe.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 2,800+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code
    Library
    Tomorrow's picture: the galaxy cluster next door
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Wednesday, June 15, 2022 00:31:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, June 16, 2022 00:11:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 16

    Strawberry Supermoon from China
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN)

    Explanation: There are four Full Supermoons in 2022. Using the
    definition of a supermoon as a Full Moon near perigee, that is within
    at least 90% of its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit, the
    year's Full Supermoon dates are May 16, June 14, July 13, and August
    12. Full Moons near perigee really are the brightest and largest in
    planet Earth's sky. But size and brightness differences between Full
    Moons are relatively small and an actual comparison with other Full
    Moons is difficult to make by eye alone. Two exposures are blended in
    this supermoon and sky view from June 14. That Full Moon was also known
    to northern hemisphere skygazers as the Strawberry moon. The
    consecutive short and long exposures allow familiar features on the
    fully sunlit lunar nearside to be seen in the same image as a faint
    lunar corona and an atmospheric cloudscape. They were captured in skies
    over Chongqing, China.

    Tomorrow's picture: planets 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 Friday, June 17, 2022 00:12:06
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Saturday, June 18, 2022 00:40:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 18

    The Gamma Cygni Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Min Xie, Chen Wu, Yizhou Zhang, and Benchu
    Tang

    Explanation: Supergiant star Gamma Cygni is at the center of the
    Northern Cross. Near the plane of our Milky Way galaxy, that famous
    asterism flies high in northern summer night skies in the constellation
    Cygnus the Swan. Known by the proper name Sadr, Gamma Cygni also lies
    just below center in this telescopic skyscape, with colors mapped from
    both broadband and narrowband image data. The field of view spans about
    3 degrees (six Full Moons) on the sky and includes emission nebula IC
    1318 and open star cluster NGC 6910. Filling the upper part of the
    frame and shaped like two glowing cosmic wings divided by a long dark
    dust lane, IC 1318's popular name is understandably the Butterfly
    Nebula. Right of Gamma Cygni, are the young, still tightly grouped
    stars of NGC 6910. The distance to Gamma Cygni is around 560 parsecs or
    1,800 light-years. Estimates for IC 1318 and NGC 6910 range from 2,000
    to 5,000 light-years.

    Tomorrow's picture: don't crash
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Monday, June 20, 2022 00:15:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, June 21, 2022 00:17:06
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 21

    Analemma over Taipei
    Image Credit & Copyright: Meiying Lee

    Explanation: Does the Sun return to the same spot on the sky every day?
    No. A better and more visual answer to that question is an analemma, a
    composite of images taken at the same time and from the same place over
    the course of a year. The featured analemma was compiled at 4:30 pm
    many afternoons from Taiwan during 2021, with the city skyline of
    Taipei in the foreground, including tall Taipei 101. The Sun's location
    in December -- at the December solstice -- is shown on the far left,
    while its location at the June solstice is captured on the far right.
    Also shown are the positions of the Sun throughout the rest of the day
    on the solstices and equinoxes. Today is the June solstice of 2022, the
    day in Earth's northern hemisphere when the Sun spends the longest time
    in the sky. In many countries, today marks the official beginning of a
    new season, for example winter in Earth's southern hemisphere.

    Tomorrow's picture: big boom debris
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Wednesday, June 22, 2022 00:47:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 22

    Supernova Remnant: The Veil Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Craig Stocks (Utah Desert Remote
    Observatories)

    Explanation: Ten thousand years ago, before the dawn of recorded human
    history, a new light would have suddenly have appeared in the night sky
    and faded after a few weeks. Today we know this light was from a
    supernova, or exploding star, and record the expanding debris cloud as
    the Veil Nebula, a supernova remnant. Imaged with color filters
    featuring light emitted by sulfur (red), hydrogen (green), and oxygen
    (blue), this deep wide-angle view was processed to remove the stars and
    so better capture the impressive glowing filaments of the Veil. Also
    known as the Cygnus Loop, the Veil Nebula is roughly circular in shape
    and covers nearly 3 degrees on the sky toward the constellation of the
    Swan (Cygnus). Famous nebular sections include the Bat Nebula, the
    Witch's Broom Nebula, and Fleming's Triangular Wisp. The complete
    supernova remnant lies about 1,400 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
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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 Thursday, June 23, 2022 01:38:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 23

    Spiral Galaxy NGC 6744
    Image Credit & Copyright: Basudeb Chakrabarti

    Explanation: Beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 6744 is nearly 175,000
    light-years across, larger than our own Milky Way. It lies some 30
    million light-years distant in the southern constellation Pavo but
    appears as only a faint, extended object in small telescopes. We see
    the disk of the nearby island universe tilted towards our line of sight
    in this remarkably detailed galaxy portrait, a telescopic view that
    spans an area about the angular size of a full moon. In it, the giant
    galaxy's elongated yellowish core is dominated by the light from old,
    cool stars. Beyond the core, grand spiral arms are filled with young
    blue star clusters and speckled with pinkish star forming regions. An
    extended arm sweeps past smaller satellite galaxy NGC 6744A at the
    lower right. NGC 6744's galactic companion is reminiscent of the Milky
    Way's satellite galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud.

    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 Friday, June 24, 2022 00:34:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 24

    Filaprom on the Western Limb
    Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Wise

    Explanation: A solar filament is an enormous stream of incandescent
    plasma suspended above the active surface of the Sun by looping
    magnetic fields. Seen against the solar disk it looks dark only because
    it's a little cooler, and so slightly dimmer, than the solar
    photosphere. Suspended above the solar limb the same structure looks
    bright when viewed against the blackness of space and is called a solar
    prominence. A filaprom would be both of course, a stream of magnetized
    plasma that crosses in front of the solar disk and extends beyond the
    Sun's edge. In this hydrogen-alpha close-up of the Sun captured on June
    22, active region AR3038 is near the center of the frame. Active region
    AR3032 is seen at the far right, close to the Sun's western limb. As
    AR3032 is carried by rotation toward the Sun's visible edge, what was
    once a giant filament above it is now partly seen as a prominence, How
    big is AR3032's filaprom? For scale planet Earth is shown near the top
    right corner.

    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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, June 25, 2022 00:24:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 25

    Planets of the Solar System
    Image Credit & Copyright: Antonio Canaveras, Chiara Tronci, Giovanni
    Esposito, Giuseppe Conzo, Luciana Guariglia, (Gruppo Astrofili
    Palidoro)

    Explanation: Simultaneous images from four cameras were combined to
    construct this atmospheric predawn skyscape. The cooperative
    astro-panorama captures all the planets of the Solar System, just
    before sunrise on June 24. That foggy morning found innermost planet
    Mercury close to the horizon but just visible against the twilight,
    below and left of brilliant Venus. Along with the waning crescent Moon,
    the other bright naked-eye planets, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn lie near
    the ecliptic, arcing up and to the right across the wide field of view.
    Binoculars would have been required to spot the much fainter planets
    Uranus and Neptune, though they also were along the ecliptic in the
    sky. In the foreground are excavations at an ancient Roman villa near
    Marina di San Nicola, Italy, planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: echo monoceros
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Sunday, June 26, 2022 00:15:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 26

    Light Echoes from V838 Mon
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, H. E. Bond (STScI)

    Explanation: What caused this outburst of V838 Mon? For reasons
    unknown, star V838 Mon's outer surface suddenly greatly expanded with
    the result that it became one of the brighter stars in the Milky Way
    Galaxy in early 2002. Then, just as suddenly, it shrunk and faded. A
    stellar flash like this had never been seen before -- supernovas and
    novas expel matter out into space. Although the V838 Mon flash appears
    to expel material into space, what is seen in the featured image from
    the Hubble Space Telescope is actually an outwardly expanding light
    echo of the original flash. In a light echo, light from the flash is
    reflected by successively more distant surfaces in the complex array of
    ambient interstellar dust that already surrounded the star. V838 Mon
    lies about 20,000 light years away toward the constellation of the
    unicorn (Monoceros), while the light echo above spans about six light
    years in diameter.

    Tomorrow's picture: gummy mountain 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, June 27, 2022 00:23:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Tuesday, June 28, 2022 00:18:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, June 29, 2022 00:16:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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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 Thursday, June 30, 2022 00:13:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 30

    Comet C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS)
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jose J. Chambo (Cometografia)

    Explanation: Imaged on June 20 2022, comet C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) shares
    this wide telescopic field of view with open star cluster IC 4665 and
    bright star Beta Ophiuchi, near a starry edge of the Milky Way. On its
    maiden voyage to the inner Solar System from the dim and distant Oort
    cloud, this comet PanSTARRS was initially spotted over five years ago,
    in May 2017. Then it was the most distant active inbound comet ever
    found, discovered when it was some 2.4 billion kilometers from the Sun.
    That put it between the orbital distances of Uranus and Saturn. Hubble
    Space Telescope observations indicated the comet had a large nucleus
    less than 18 kilometers in diameter. Now visible in small telescopes
    C/2017 K2 will make its closest approach to planet Earth on July 14 and
    closest approach to the Sun this December. Its extended coma and
    developing tail are seen here at a distance of some 290 million
    kilometers, a mere 16 light-minutes away.

    Tomorrow's picture: solar system trails
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Friday, July 01, 2022 00:28:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 1

    The Solar System's Planet Trails
    Image Credit & Copyright: Zheng Zhi

    Explanation: Stars trail through a clear morning sky in this postcard
    from a rotating planet. The timelapse image is constructed from
    consecutive exposures made over nearly three hours with a camera fixed
    to a tripod beside the Forbidden City in Beijing, China on June 24.
    Arcing above the eastern horizon after the series of exposures began, a
    waning crescent Moon left the brightest streak and watery reflection.
    On that date the planets of the Solar System were also lined up along
    the ecliptic and left their own trails before sunrise. Saturn was first
    to rise on that morning and the ringed planet's trail starts close to
    the top right edge, almost out of the frame. Innermost planet Mercury
    rose only just before the Sun though. It left the shortest trail,
    visible against the twilight near the horizon at the far left. Uranus
    and Neptune are faint and hard to find, but mingled with the star
    trails the Solar System's planet trails are all labeled in the scene.

    Tomorrow's picture: analemmas from a can
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Saturday, July 02, 2022 03:02:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 2

    Solargraphic Analemmas
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dawid Rycabel (Pinholove)

    Explanation: For the northern hemisphere June 21 was the summer
    solstice, the Sun reaching its northernmost declination for the year.
    That would put it at the top of each of these three figure-8 curves, or
    analemmas, as it passed through the daytime sky over the village of
    Proboszczow, Poland. No sequence of digital exposures was used to
    construct the remarkable image though. Using a pinhole camera fixed to
    face south during the period June 26, 2021 to June 26, 2022, the image
    was formed directly on a single sheet of photographic paper, a
    technique known as solargraphy. The three analemmas are the result of
    briefly exposing the photo paper through the pinhole each day at 11:00,
    12:00, and 13:00 CET. Groups of dashed lines on the sides show partial
    tracks of the Sun from daily exposures made every 15 minutes. Over the
    year-long solargraphic photo opportunity clouds blocking the Sun during
    the pinhole exposures created the dark gaps.

    Tomorrow's picture: doomed moon of 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.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, July 03, 2022 00:22:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, July 04, 2022 00:32:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 4

    Strawberry Supermoon Over Devil's Saddle
    Image Credit & Copyright: Lorenzo Busilacchi

    Explanation: Near the horizon the full moon often seems to loom large,
    swollen in appearance by the famous Moon illusion. But time-lapse image
    sequences demonstrate that the Moon's angular size doesn't really
    change as it rises or sets. Its color does, though. Recording a frame
    about every 60 seconds, this image also shows how red the Sun can look
    while low on the horizon. The featured montage was taken from Cagliari,
    Sardinia, Italy, the day after June's Strawberry Moon, a full moon
    dubbed a supermoon due to its slightly larger-than-usual angular size.
    This Strawberry Supermoon is seen rising behind the Devil's Saddle, a
    mountain named for the unusual moon-sized dip seen just to the right of
    the rising moon. A shrinking line-of-sight through planet Earth's dense
    and dusty atmosphere shifted the moonlight from strawberry red through
    honey-colored and paler yellowish hues. That change seems appropriate
    for a northern June Full Moon also known as the Strawberry or Honey
    Moon. A Thunder Supermoon -- the third of four supermoons in 2022 --
    will occur later this month.

    Today's Adventure Link: Click on "Cagliari"
    Tomorrow's picture: molten 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.

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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, July 05, 2022 00:18:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Wednesday, July 06, 2022 00:16:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 6

    Milky Way Motion in 3D from Gaia
    Credit & License: ESA, Gaia, DPAC; Text: Ata Sarajedini (Florida
    Atlantic U., Astronomy Minute podcast)

    Explanation: Our sky is alive with the streams of stars. The motions of
    26 million Milky Way stars are evident in the featured map constructed
    from recent data taken by ESA's Gaia satellite. Stars colored blue are
    moving toward us, while red indicates away. Lines depict the motion of
    the stars across the sky. The large blue on the left and red areas on
    the map's right give the overall impression that stars in the Milky Way
    are rotating around the center. However, there is a region near the
    middle -- caused by our own Sun's motion relative to a rigidly-rotating
    central Galactic bar -- that seems to reverse it. Understanding details
    about the motion of stars is helping humanity to better understand the
    complex history of our Milky Way galaxy and the origin of our Sun.

    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 Thursday, July 07, 2022 00:17:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 7

    The NGC 6914 Complex
    Image Credit & Copyright: Giorgio Ferrari

    Explanation: A study in contrasts, this colorful skyscape features
    stars, dust, and glowing gas in the vicinity of NGC 6914. The
    interstellar complex of nebulae lies some 6,000 light-years away,
    toward the high-flying northern constellation Cygnus and the plane of
    our Milky Way Galaxy. Obscuring interstellar dust clouds appear in
    silhouette while reddish hydrogen emission nebulae, along with the
    dusty blue reflection nebulae, fill the cosmic canvas. Ultraviolet
    radiation from the massive, hot, young stars of the extensive Cygnus
    OB2 association ionize the region's atomic hydrogen gas, producing the
    characteristic red glow as protons and electrons recombine. Embedded
    Cygnus OB2 stars also provide the blue starlight strongly reflected by
    the dust clouds. The over 1 degree wide telescopic field of view spans
    about 100 light-years at the estimated distance of NGC 6914.

    Tomorrow's picture: star treels
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, July 08, 2022 00:14:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 8

    Roots on a Rotating Planet
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marcella Giulia Pace

    Explanation: With roots on a rotating planet, an old tree is centered
    in this sequence of 137 exposures each 20 seconds long, recorded one
    night from northern Sicily. Digital camera and fisheye lens were fixed
    to a tripod to capture the dramatic timelapse, so the stars trailed
    through the region's dark sky. Of course that makes it easy to spot the
    planet's north celestial pole. The extension of Earth's axis of
    rotation into space is toward the upper left, at the center of the
    concentric star trail arcs. The Milky Way is there too. The plane of
    our galaxy stretches across the wide field of view from north to east
    (left to right) creating a broader luminous band of diffuse starlight.

    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 Saturday, July 09, 2022 00:26:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 9

    Saturn and the ISS
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tom Glenn

    Explanation: Soaring high in skies around planet Earth, bright planet
    Saturn was a star of June's morning planet parade. But very briefly on
    June 24 it posed with a bright object in low Earth orbit, the
    International Space Station. On that date from a school parking lot in
    Temecula, California the ringed-planet and International Space Station
    were both caught in this single high-speed video frame. Though Saturn
    was shining at +0.5 stellar magnitude the space station was an even
    brighter -3 on the magnitude scale. That difference in brightness is
    faithfully represented in the video capture frame. In the challenging
    image, the orbiting ISS was at a range of 602 kilometers. Saturn was
    about 1.4 billion kilometers from the school parking lot.

    Tomorrow's picture: gaze into the cat's eye
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Sunday, July 10, 2022 00:31:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Monday, July 11, 2022 00:35:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 11

    Andromeda over the Sahara Desert
    Credit & Copyright: Jordi Coy

    Explanation: What is the oldest thing you can see? At 2.5 million light
    years distant, the answer for the unaided eye is the Andromeda galaxy,
    because its photons are 2.5 million years old when they reach you. Most
    other apparent denizens of the night sky -- stars, clusters, and
    nebulae -- appear as they were only a few hundred to a few thousand
    years ago, as they lie well within our own Milky Way Galaxy. Given its
    distance, light from Andromeda is likely also the farthest object that
    you can see. Also known as M31, the Andromeda Galaxy dominates the
    center of the featured zoomed image, taken from the Sahara Desert in
    Morocco last month. The featured image is a combination of three
    background and one foreground exposure -- all taken with the same
    camera and from the same location and on the same calendar day -- with
    the foreground image taken during the evening blue hour. M110, a
    satellite galaxy of Andromenda is visible just above and to the left of
    M31's core. 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. Recent data indicates that our
    Milky Way Galaxy will collide and combine with the similarly-sized
    Andromeda galaxy in a few billion years.

    Tomorrow's picture: noctilucent tower
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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 Tuesday, July 12, 2022 00:14:38
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 12

    Noctilucent Clouds over Paris
    Credit & Copyright: Bertrand Kulik

    Explanation: It's northern noctilucent cloud season. Composed of small
    ice crystals forming only during specific conditions in the upper
    atmosphere, noctilucent clouds may become visible at sunset during late
    summer when illuminated by sunlight from below. Noctilucent clouds are
    the highest clouds known and now established to be polar mesospheric
    clouds observed from the ground. Although observed with NASA's AIM
    satellite since 2007, much about noctilucent clouds remains unknown and
    so a topic of active research. The featured image shows expansive and
    rippled noctilucent clouds wafting over Paris, France. This year,
    several northern locations are already reporting especially vivid
    displays of noctilucent clouds.

    Tomorrow's picture: webb begins
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 02:20:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 13

    Webb's First Deep Field
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, NIRCam

    Explanation: This is the deepest, sharpest infrared image of the cosmos
    so far. The view of the early Universe toward the southern
    constellation Volans was achieved in 12.5 hours of exposure with the
    NIRCam instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope. Of course the
    stars with six visible spikes are well within our own Milky Way. That
    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: closer to home
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Thursday, July 14, 2022 00:19:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 14

    Webb's Southern Ring Nebula
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, NIRCam

    Explanation: Cataloged as NGC 3132 the Southern Ring Nebula is a
    planetary nebula, the death shroud of a dying sun-like star some 2,500
    light-years from Earth. Composed of gas and dust the stunning cosmic
    landscape is nearly half a light-year in diameter, explored in
    unprecedented detail by the James Webb Space Telescope. In this NIRCam
    image the bright star near center is a companion of the dying star. In
    mutual orbit, the star whose transformation has ejected the nebula's
    gas and dust shells over thousands of years is the fainter stellar
    partner. Evolving to become a white dwarf, the faint star appears along
    the diffraction spike extending toward the 8 o'clock position. This
    stellar pair's orbital motion has resulted the complex structures
    within the Southern Ring Nebula.

    Tomorrow's picture: Clavius and Tycho
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Friday, July 15, 2022 02:49:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 15

    Lubovna Full Moon
    Petr Horalek / Institute of Physics in Opava

    Explanation: On July 13 this well-planned telephoto view recorded a
    Full Moon rising over Lubovna Castle in eastern Slovakia. The
    photographer was about 3 kilometers from the castle walls and about
    357,000 kilometers from this Full Moon near perigee, the closest point
    in its elliptical orbit. Known to some as supermoons, full moons near
    perigee are a little brighter and larger in planet Earth's sky when
    compared to full moons that occur near the average lunar distance of
    around 384,000 kilometers. Of course any Full Moon near the horizon can
    show the effects of refraction over a long sight-line through dense
    clear atmosphere. In this image, atmospheric refraction creates the
    slight green flash framed by thin clouds near the top, with a ragged
    red rim along the bottom edge of July's perigee Full Moon.

    Tomorrow's picture: Clavius and Tycho
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Saturday, July 16, 2022 00:14:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 16

    Tycho and Clavius at Dawn
    Image Credit & Copyright: Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau

    Explanation: South is up in this dramatic telescopic view of the lunar
    terminator and the Moon's rugged southern highlands. The lunar
    landscape was captured on July 7 with the moon at its first quarter
    phase. The Sun shines at a low angle from the right as dawn comes to
    the region's young and old craters Tycho and Clavius. About 100 million
    years young, Tycho is the sharp-walled 85 kilometer diameter crater
    below and left of center. Its 2 kilometer tall central peak and far
    crater wall reflect bright sunlight, Its smooth floor lies in dark
    shadow. Debris ejected during the impact that created Tycho make it the
    stand out lunar crater when the Moon is near full though. They produce
    a highly visible radiating system of light streaks or 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 newer smaller craters
    from impacts that occurred after Clavius was formed. Reaching above the
    older crater, tops of the newer crater walls reflect this dawn's early
    light to create narrow shining arcs within a shadowed Clavius.

    Tomorrow's picture: Europa and Jupiter
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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 Sunday, July 17, 2022 01:46:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 17

    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 357 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. Forty-five years ago this August, Voyager 1 launched
    from Earth and started one of the greatest explorations of the Solar
    System ever.

    Free Download: Voyager Posters
    Tomorrow's picture: hubble webb
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Sunday, July 24, 2022 00:13:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 24

    Saturn in Infrared from Cassini
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SSI; Processing: Maksim Kakitsev

    Explanation: Many details of Saturn appear clearly in infrared light.
    Bands of clouds show great structure, including long stretching storms.
    Also quite striking in infrared is the unusual hexagonal cloud pattern
    surrounding Saturn's North Pole. Each side of the dark hexagon spans
    roughly the width of our Earth. The hexagon's existence was not
    predicted, and its origin and likely stability remains a topic of
    research. Saturn's famous rings circle the planet and cast shadows
    below the equator. The featured image was taken by the robotic Cassini
    spacecraft in 2014 in several infrared colors. In 2017 September, the
    Cassini mission was brought to a dramatic conclusion when the
    spacecraft was directed to dive into ringed giant.

    Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: find the moon
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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    NASA Science Activation
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, July 18, 2022 01:37:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 18

    Stephan's Quintet from Webb, Hubble, and Subaru
    Image Credit: Webb, Hubble, Subaru; NASA, ESA, CSA, NOAJ, STScI;
    Processing & Copyright: Robert Gendler

    Explanation: OK, but why can't you combine images from Webb and Hubble?
    You can, and today's featured image shows one impressive result.
    Although the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) has a
    larger mirror than Hubble, it specializes in infrared light and can't
    see blue -- only up to about orange. Conversely, the Hubble Space
    Telescope (Hubble) has a smaller mirror than Webb and can't see as far
    into the infrared as Webb, but can image not only blue light but even
    ultraviolet. Therefore, Webb and Hubble data can be combined to create
    images across a wider variety of colors. The featured image of four
    galaxies from Stephan's Quintet shows Webb images as red and also
    includes images taken by Japan's ground-based Subaru telescope in
    Hawaii. Because image data for Webb, Hubble, and Subaru are made freely
    available, anyone around the world can process it themselves, and even
    create intriguing and scientifically useful multi-observatory montages.

    Stephan's Quintet from just: Webb, Hubble
    Tomorrow's picture: half star cluster
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, July 19, 2022 00:44:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
    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 Wednesday, July 20, 2022 02:34:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, July 21, 2022 00:35:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 21

    Messier 10 and Comet
    Image Credit & Copyright: German Penelas Perez

    Explanation: Imaged on July 15 2022, comet C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) had a
    Messier moment, sharing this wide telescopic field of view with
    globular star cluster Messier 10. Of course M10 was cataloged by 18th
    century comet hunter Charles Messier as the 10th object on his list of
    things that were definitely not comets. While M10 is about 14 thousand
    light-years distant, this comet PanSTARRS was about 15 light-seconds
    from our fair planet following its its July 14 closest approach. Its
    greenish coma and dust tail entertaining 21st century comet watchers,
    C/2017 K2 is expected to remain a fine telescopic comet in northern
    summer skies. On a maiden voyage from our Solar System's remote Oort
    Cloud this comet PanSTARRS was discovered in May 2017 when it was
    beyond the orbit of Saturn. At the time that made it the most distant
    active inbound comet known. Its closest approach the Sun will be within
    1.8 astronomical units on December 19, beyond the orbital distance of
    Mars.

    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 Friday, July 22, 2022 00:41:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 22

    Spiral Galaxy M74: A Sharper View
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Processing Copyright: Robert Eder

    Explanation: Beautiful spiral galaxy Messier 74 (also known as NGC 628)
    lies some 32 million light-years away toward the constellation Pisces.
    An island universe of about 100 billion stars with two prominent spiral
    arms, M74 has long been admired by astronomers as a perfect example of
    a grand-design spiral galaxy. M74's central region is brought into a
    stunning, sharp focus in this recently processed image using publicly
    available data from the James Webb Space Telescope. The colorized
    combination of image data sets is from two of Webb's instruments NIRcam
    and MIRI, operating at near- and mid-infrared wavelengths. It reveals
    cooler stars and dusty structures in the grand-design spiral galaxy
    only hinted at in previous space-based views.

    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 Saturday, July 23, 2022 00:32:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 23

    Apollo 11 Landing Panorama
    Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11, NASA

    Explanation: Have you seen a panorama from another world lately?
    Assembled from high-resolution scans of the original film frames, this
    one sweeps across the magnificent desolation of the Apollo 11 landing
    site on the Moon's Sea of Tranquility. The images were taken by Neil
    Armstrong looking out his window of the Eagle Lunar Module shortly
    after the July 20, 1969 landing. The frame at the far left
    (AS11-37-5449) is the first picture taken by a person on another world.
    Toward the south, thruster nozzles can be seen in the foreground on the
    left, while at the right, the shadow of the Eagle is visible to the
    west. For scale, the large, shallow crater on the right has a diameter
    of about 12 meters. Frames taken from the Lunar Module windows about an
    hour and a half after landing, before walking on the lunar surface,
    were intended to initially document the landing site in case an early
    departure was necessary.

    Tomorrow's picture: hexagon and rings
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, July 25, 2022 00:08:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 25

    Find the New Moon
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mohamad Soltanolkotabi

    Explanation: Can you find the Moon? This usually simple task can be
    quite difficult. Even though the Moon is above your horizon half of the
    time, its phase can be anything from crescent to full. The featured
    image was taken in late May from Sant Mart+í d'Emp+|ries, Spain, over the
    Mediterranean Sea in the early morning. One reason you can't find this
    moon is because it is very near to its new phase, when very little of
    the half illuminated by the Sun is visible to the Earth. Another reason
    is because this moon is near the horizon and so seen through a long
    path of Earth's atmosphere -- a path which dims the already faint
    crescent. Any crescent moon is only visible near the direction the Sun,
    and so only locatable near sunrise of sunset. The Moon runs through all
    of its phases in a month (moon-th), and this month the thinnest sliver
    of a crescent -- a new moon -- will occur in three days.

    Tomorrow's picture: noctilucent comet
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, July 26, 2022 00:12:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Wednesday, July 27, 2022 00:27:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 27

    Crepuscular Moon Rays over Denmark
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ruslan Merzlyakov (astrorms)

    Explanation: This moon made quite an entrance. Typically, a moonrise is
    quiet and serene. Taking a few minutes to fully peek above the horizon,
    Earth's largest orbital companion can remain relatively obscure until
    it rises high in the nighttime sky. About a week ago, however, and
    despite being only half lit by the Sun, this rising moon put on a show
    -- at least from this location. The reason was that, as seen from
    Limfjord in Nyk+.bing Mors, Denmark, the moon rose below scattered
    clouds near the horizon. The result, captured here in a single
    exposure, was that moonlight poured through gaps in the clouds to
    created what are called crepuscular rays. These rays can fan out
    dramatically across the sky when starting near the horizon, and can
    even appear to converge on the other side of the sky. Well behind our
    Moon, stars from our Milky Way galaxy dot the background, and our
    galaxy's largest orbital companion -- the Andromeda galaxy -- can be
    found on the upper left.

    Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
    Tomorrow's picture: tree north
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, July 28, 2022 00:13:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 28

    North Celestial Tree
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN)

    Explanation: An ancient tree seems to reach out and touch Earth's North
    Celestial Pole in this well-planned night skyscape. Consecutive
    exposures for the timelapse composition were recorded with a camera
    fixed to a tripod in the Yiwu Desert Poplar Forests in northwest
    Xinjiang, China. The graceful star trail arcs reflect Earth's daily
    rotation around its axis. By extension, the axis of rotation leads to
    the center of the concentric arcs in the night sky. Known as the North
    Star, bright star Polaris is a friend to northern hemisphere night sky
    photographers and celestial navigators alike. That's because Polaris
    lies very close to the North Celestial Pole on the sky. Of course it
    can be found at the tip of an outstretched barren branch in a postcard
    from a rotating planet.

    Tomorrow's picture: aurora australis
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, July 29, 2022 00:11:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 29

    SOFIA's Southern Lights
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ian Griffin (Otago Museum)

    Explanation: SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared
    Astronomy, is a Boeing 747SP aircraft modified to carry a large
    reflecting telescope into the stratosphere. The ability of the airborne
    facility to climb above about 99 percent of Earth's infrared-blocking
    atmosphere has allowed researchers to observe from almost anywhere over
    the planet. On a science mission flying deep into the southern auroral
    oval, astronomer Ian Griffin, director of New ZealandC╟╓s Otago Museum,
    captured this view from the observatory's south facing starboard side
    on July 17. Bright star Canopus shines in the southern night above
    curtains of aurora australis, or southern lights. The plane was flying
    far south of New Zealand at the time at roughly 62 degrees southern
    latitude. Unfortunately, after a landing at Christchurch severe weather
    damaged SOFIA requiring repairs and the cancellation of the remainder
    of its final southern hemisphere deployment.

    Tomorrow's picture: an eagle rises
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, July 30, 2022 00:16:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 30

    The Eagle Rises
    Image Credit: Apollo 11, NASA - Stereo Image Copyright: John Kaufmann
    (ALSJ)

    Explanation: Get out your red/blue glasses and check out this stereo
    view from lunar orbit. The 3D anaglyph was created from two photographs
    (AS11-44-6633, AS11-44-6634) taken by astronaut Michael Collins during
    the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. It features the lunar module ascent stage,
    dubbed The Eagle, rising to meet the command module in lunar orbit on
    July 21. Aboard the ascent stage are Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin,
    the first to walk on the Moon. 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. Poised beyond the lunar horizon
    is our fair planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: starburst 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 Sunday, July 31, 2022 00:17:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, August 01, 2022 01:11:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 1

    Mountains of Dust in the Carina Nebula
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Proccessing: Javier Pobes

    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 known
    informally as Mystic Mountain, these pillar's appearance is dominated
    by the dark dust even though it is composed mostly of clear hydrogen
    gas. Dust pillars such as these are actually much thinner than air and
    only appear as mountains due to relatively small amounts of opaque
    interstellar dust. About 7,500 light-years distant, the featured image
    was taken with the Hubble Space Telescope and highlights an interior
    region of Carina which spans about three light years. Within a few
    million years, the stars will likely win out completely and the entire
    dust mountain will evaporate.

    Tomorrow's picture: saturnic lunacy
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, August 02, 2022 05:03:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 2

    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.

    News: APOD Receives First Outreach Prize from the International
    Astronomical Union
    Tomorrow's picture: in a cat's eye
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, August 03, 2022 00:18:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Thursday, August 04, 2022 00:37:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 4

    M13: The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules
    Image Credit & Copyright: Joan Josep Isach Cogollos

    Explanation: In 1716, English astronomer Edmond Halley noted, "This is
    but a little Patch, but it shows 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 upper left.

    Tomorrow's picture: A Beautiful Trifid
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, August 05, 2022 01:17:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 5

    A Beautiful Trifid
    Image Credit & Copyright: Vikas Chander

    Explanation: The beautiful Trifid Nebula is a cosmic study in
    contrasts. Also known as M20, it lies about 5,000 light-years away
    toward the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. A star forming region
    in the plane of our galaxy, the Trifid does illustrate three different
    types of astronomical nebulae; red emission nebulae dominated by light
    from hydrogen atoms, blue reflection nebulae produced by dust
    reflecting starlight, and dark nebulae where dense dust clouds appear
    in silhouette. But the red emission region, roughly separated into
    three parts by obscuring dust lanes, is what lends the Trifid its
    popular name. Pillars and jets sculpted by newborn stars, above and
    right of the emission nebula's center, appear in famous Hubble Space
    Telescope close-up images of the region. The Trifid Nebula is about 40
    light-years across. Too faint to be seen by the unaided eye, it almost
    covers the area of a full moon in planet Earth's sky. Open star cluster
    M21 just peeks into this telescopic field of view along the bottom
    right edge of the frame.

    Tomorrow's picture: the grooved moon of Mars
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, August 06, 2022 00:16:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 6

    Stereo Phobos
    Image Credit: G. Neukum (FU Berlin) et al., Mars Express, DLR, ESA

    Explanation: Get out your red/blue glasses and float next to Phobos,
    grooved moon of Mars! Captured in 2004 by the High Resolution Stereo
    Camera on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, the image data was
    recorded at a distance of about 200 kilometers from the martian moon.
    This tantalizing stereo anaglyph view shows the Mars-facing side of
    Phobos. It highlights the asteroid-like moon's cratered and grooved
    surface. Up to hundreds of meters wide, the mysterious grooves may be
    related to the impact that created Stickney crater, the large crater at
    the left. Stickney crater is about 10 kilometers across, while Phobos
    itself is only around 27 kilometers across at its widest point.

    Tomorrow's picture: a galaxy and a grain of sand
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, August 07, 2022 00:11:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Monday, August 08, 2022 00:30:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 8

    The Lagoon Nebula without Stars
    Image Credit & Copyright: Sameer Dhar

    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. But it still 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 stunning, deep view of
    the Lagoon is nearly 100 light-years across. Right of center, the
    bright, compact, hourglass shape is gas ionized and sculpted by
    energetic radiation and extreme stellar winds from a massive young
    star. In fact, although digitally removed from the featured image, the
    many bright stars of open cluster NGC 6530 drift within the nebula,
    just formed in the Lagoon several million years ago.

    Tomorrow's picture: leaving earth
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Tuesday, August 09, 2022 00:27:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 9

    Leaving Earth
    Video Credit: NASA/JHU Applied Physics Lab/Carnegie Inst. Washington

    Explanation: What it would look like to leave planet Earth? Such an
    event was recorded visually in great detail by the MESSENGER spacecraft
    as it swung back past the Earth in 2005 on its way in toward the planet
    Mercury. Earth can be seen rotating in this time-lapse video, as it
    recedes into the distance. The sunlit half of Earth is so bright that
    background stars are not visible. The robotic MESSENGER spacecraft is
    now in orbit around Mercury and has recently concluded the first
    complete map of the surface. On occasion, MESSENGER has continued to
    peer back at its home world. MESSENGER is one of the few things created
    on the Earth that will never return. At the end of its mission
    MESSENGER crashed into Mercury's surface.

    Tomorrow's picture: stars of dust
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Wednesday, August 10, 2022 00:16:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Thursday, August 11, 2022 00:14:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 11

    Perseids and MAGIC
    Image Credit & Copyright: Urs Leutenegger

    Explanation: On August 11, 2021 a multi-mirror, 17 meter-diameter MAGIC
    telescope reflected 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. 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. To the dark-adapted eye the mirror segments offer a
    tantalizing reflection of stars and nebulae along the plane of our
    Milky Way galaxy. But directly behind the segmented mirror telescope,
    low on the horizon, lies the constellation Perseus. And on that date
    the dramatic composite nightscape also captured meteors streaming from
    the radiant of the annual Perseid meteor shower. This year the Perseid
    shower activity will again peak around August 13 but perseid meteors
    will have to compete with the bright light of a Full Moon.

    Tomorrow's picture: Portrait of the Eagle 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 Friday, August 12, 2022 00:25:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 12

    Portrait of the Eagle Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Charles Bonafilia

    Explanation: A star cluster around 2 million years young surrounded by
    natal clouds of dust and glowing gas, Messier 16 (M16) is also known as
    The Eagle Nebula. This beautifully detailed image of the region adopts
    the colorful Hubble palette and 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 left of
    center 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). As
    framed, this telescopic portrait of the Eagle Nebula is about 70
    light-years across.

    Tomorrow's picture: small moon, big crater
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Saturday, August 13, 2022 00:09:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 13

    Herschel Crater on Mimas
    Image Credit Cassini Imaging Team, ISS, JPL, ESA, NASA

    Explanation: Mimas, small 400 kilometer-diameter moon of Saturn, is
    host to 130 kilometer-diameter Herschel crater, one of the larger
    impact craters in the entire Solar System. The robotic Cassini
    spacecraft orbiting Saturn in 2010 recorded this startling view of
    small moon and big crater while making a 10,000-kilometer record close
    pass by the diminutive icy world. Shown in contrast-enhanced false
    color, the image data reveal more clearly that Herschel's landscape is
    colored slightly differently from heavily cratered terrain nearby. The
    color difference could yield surface composition clues to the violent
    history of Mimas. Of course, an impact on Mimas any larger than the one
    that created the 130-kilometer Herschel might have destroyed the small
    moon of Saturn.

    Tomorrow's picture: 4,000 exoplanets
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Sunday, August 14, 2022 00:28:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, August 15, 2022 00:26:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 15

    The Cygnus Wall of Star Formation
    Image Credit & Copyright: Johan Bogaerts

    Explanation: The North America nebula on the sky can do what the North
    America continent on Earth cannot -- form stars. Specifically, in
    analogy to the Earth-confined continent, the bright part that appears
    as Central America and Mexico is actually a hot bed of gas, dust, and
    newly formed stars known as the Cygnus Wall. The featured image shows
    the star forming wall lit and eroded by bright young stars, and partly
    hidden by the dark dust they have created. The part of the North
    America nebula (NGC 7000) shown spans about 15 light years and lies
    about 1,500 light years away toward the constellation of the Swan
    (Cygnus).

    Tomorrow's picture: meteor wind
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Tuesday, August 16, 2022 00:27:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 16

    A Meteor Wind over Tunisia
    Image Credit & Copyright: Makrem Larnaout

    Explanation: Does the Earth ever pass through a wind of meteors? Yes,
    and they are frequently visible as meteor showers. Almost all meteors
    are sand-sized debris that escaped from a Sun-orbiting comet or
    asteroid, debris that continues in an elongated orbit around the Sun.
    Circling the same Sun, our Earth can move through an orbiting debris
    stream, where it can appear, over time, as a meteor wind. The meteors
    that light up in Earth's atmosphere, however, are usually destroyed.
    Their streaks, though, can all be traced back to a single point on the
    sky called the radiant. The featured image composite was taken over two
    days in late July near the ancient Berber village Zriba El Alia in
    Tunisia, during the peak of the Southern Delta Aquariids meteor shower.
    The radiant is to the right of the image. A few days ago our Earth
    experienced the peak of a more famous meteor wind -- the Perseids.

    Tomorrow's picture: stargate 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 Wednesday, August 17, 2022 00:15:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 17

    Stargate Milky Way
    Image Credit & Copyright: Maxime Oudoux

    Explanation: There is a huge gate of stars in the sky, and you pass
    through it twice a day. The stargate is actually our Milky Way Galaxy,
    and it is the spin of the Earth that appears to propel you through it.
    More typically, the central band of our Milky Way appears as a faint
    band stretching across the sky, only visible in away from bright city
    lights. In a long-exposure wide-angle image from a dark location like
    this, though, the Milky Way's central plane is easily visible. The
    featured picture is a digital composite involving multiple exposures
    taken on the same night and with the same camera, but employing a
    stereographic projection that causes the Milky Way to appear as a giant
    circular portal. Inside the stargate-like arc of our Galaxy is a faint
    stripe called zodiacal light -- sunlight reflected by dust in our Solar
    System. In the foreground are cacti and dry rocks found in the rough
    terrain of the high desert of Chile, not far from the El Sauce
    Observatory and the developing Vera Rubin Observatory, the latter
    expected to begin routine operations in 2024.

    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 Thursday, August 18, 2022 00:15:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 18

    Full Moon Perseids
    Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Casado (Starry Earth, TWAN)

    Explanation: The annual Perseid meteor shower was near its peak on
    August 13. As planet Earth crossed through streams of debris left by
    periodic Comet Swift-Tuttle meteors rained in northern summer night
    skies. But even that night's nearly Full Moon shining near the top of
    this composited view couldn't hide all of the popular shower's meteor
    streaks. The image captures some of the brightest perseid meteors in
    many short exposures recorded over more than two hours before the dawn.
    It places the shower's radiant in the heroic constellation of Perseus
    just behind a well-lit medieval tower in the village of Sant Llorenc de
    la Muga, Girona, Spain. Observed in medieval times, the Perseid meteor
    shower is also known in Catholic tradition as the Tears of St.
    Lawrence, and festivities are celebrated close to the annual peak of
    the meteor shower. Joining the Full Moon opposite the Sun, bright
    planet Saturn also shines in the frame at the upper right.

    Tomorrow's picture: one Saturn year
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, August 19, 2022 00:28:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Saturday, August 20, 2022 00:28:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 20

    Stardust and Comet Tails
    Image Credit & Copyright: Rolando Ligustri (CARA Project, CAST)

    Explanation: Heading for its closest approach to the Sun, or
    perihelion, on December 19 comet C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) remains a sight
    for telescopic observers as it sweeps through planet Earth's skies in
    the constellation Scorpius. The comet currently sports a greenish coma,
    long whitish dust tail, and short ion tail in this deep image from
    August 18. The 2x3 degree wide field of view includes part of the dusty
    nebula IC 4592 reflecting blue starlight. Also known as the Blue
    Horsehead Nebula, IC 4592 is about 400 light-years distant while the
    comet is just under 17 light-minutes away. First spotted at a distance
    well beyond the orbit of Saturn C/2017 K2 is on its maiden voyage to
    the inner solar system, a pristine visitor from the remote Oort cloud.

    Tomorrow's picture: cosmic crustacean
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, August 21, 2022 17:49:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, August 22, 2022 07:49:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 22

    Earth's Recent Climate Spiral
    Video Credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

    Explanation: Is our Earth warming? Compared to the past 250 million
    years, the Earth is currently enduring a relative cold spell, possibly
    about four degrees Celsius below average. Over the past 120 years,
    though, data indicate that the average global temperature of the Earth
    has increased by nearly one degree Celsius. The featured visualization
    video depicts Earth's recent global warming in graphic terms. The
    depicted temperatures are taken from the Goddard Institute for Space
    Studies' Surface Temperature Analysis. Already noticeable by many,
    Earth's recent warming trend is causing sea levels to rise,
    precipitation patterns to change, and pole ice to melt. Few now
    disagree that recent global warming is occurring, and the
    Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that we
    humans have created a warming surge that is likely to continue. A
    continuation could impact many local agricultures and even the global
    economy. Although there seems to be no simple solutions, geoengineering
    projects that might help include artificial cloud creation to reduce
    the amount of sunlight heating the Earth's surface.

    Tomorrow's picture: meteor mediterranean
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Tuesday, August 23, 2022 00:36:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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, +½le
    dC╟╓Or 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 Wednesday, August 24, 2022 00:11:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 24

    The Cartwheel Galaxy from Webb
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team

    Explanation: To some, it looks like a wheel of a cart. In fact, because
    of its outward appearance, the presence of a central galaxy, and its
    connection with what looks like the spokes of a wheel, the galaxy on
    the right is known as the Cartwheel Galaxy. To others, however, it
    looks like a complicated interaction between galaxies awaiting
    explanation. Along with the two galaxies on the left, the Cartwheel is
    part of a group of galaxies about 500 million light years away in the
    constellation Sculptor. The large galaxy's rim spans over 100,000 light
    years and is composed of star forming regions filled with extremely
    bright and massive stars. The Cartwheel's ring-like shape is the result
    of gravitational disruption caused by a smaller galaxy passing through
    a large one, compressing the interstellar gas and dust and causing a
    star formation wave to move out like a ripple across the surface of a
    pond. The featured recent image of the Cartwheel Galaxy by the Webb
    Space Telescope reveals new details not only about where stars are
    forming, but also about activity near the galaxy's central black hole.

    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.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, August 25, 2022 00:33:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, August 26, 2022 00:08:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 26

    Little Planet South Pole
    Image Credit & Copyright: Aman Chokshi

    Explanation: Lights play around the horizon of this snowy little planet
    as it drifts through a starry night sky. Of course the little planet is
    actually planet Earth. Recorded on August 21, the digitally warped,
    nadir centered panorama covers nearly 360x180 degrees outside the
    Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica. The southernmost
    research outpost is near the horizon at the top where the light of dawn
    is approaching after nearly six months of darkness. Along the bottom is
    the ceremonial pole marker surrounded by the 12 flags of the original
    signatories of the Antarctic treaty, with a wild display of the aurora
    australis above.

    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 Saturday, August 27, 2022 00:09:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 27

    IC 5146: The Cocoon Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: David Jenkins

    Explanation: Inside the Cocoon Nebula is a newly developing cluster of
    stars. Cataloged as IC 5146, the beautiful nebula is nearly 15
    light-years wide. Climbing high in northern summer night skies, it's
    located some 4,000 light years away toward the constellation Cygnus the
    Swan. Like other star forming regions, it stands out in red, glowing,
    hydrogen gas excited by young, hot stars, and dust-reflected starlight
    at the edge of an otherwise invisible molecular cloud. In fact, the
    bright star found near the center of this nebula is likely only a few
    hundred thousand years old, powering the nebular glow as it clears out
    a cavity in the molecular cloud's star forming dust and gas. A 29 hour
    long integration with a small telescope from Ayr, Ontario, Canada
    resulted in this exceptionally deep color view tracing tantalizing
    features within and surrounding the dusty stellar nursery.

    Tomorrow's picture: perijove passage
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, August 28, 2022 00:25:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 28

    Perijove 11: Passing Jupiter
    Video Credit: License: NASA, Juno, SwRI, MSSS, Gerald Eichstadt; Music:
    Moonlight Sonata (Ludwig van Beethoven)

    Explanation: Here comes Jupiter! NASA's robotic spacecraft Juno is
    continuing on its highly-elongated orbits around our Solar System's
    largest planet. The featured video is from perijove 11 in early 2018,
    the eleventh time Juno has passed near Jupiter since it arrived in
    mid-2016. This time-lapse, color-enhanced movie covers about four hours
    and morphs between 36 JunoCam images. The video begins with Jupiter
    rising as Juno approaches from the north. As Juno reaches its closest
    view -- from about 3,500 kilometers over Jupiter's cloud tops -- the
    spacecraft captures the great planet in tremendous detail. Juno passes
    light zones and dark belt of clouds that circle the planet, as well as
    numerous swirling circular storms, many of which are larger than
    hurricanes on Earth. After the perijove, Jupiter recedes into the
    distance, then displaying the unusual clouds that appear over Jupiter's
    south. To get desired science data, Juno swoops so close to Jupiter
    that its instruments are exposed to very high levels of radiation.

    Teachers & Students: Ideas for utilizing APOD in the classroom
    Tomorrow's picture: starless horse
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Monday, August 29, 2022 00:39:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 29

    The Horsehead Nebula Region without Stars
    Image Credit & Copyright: George Chatzifrantzis

    Explanation: The famous Horsehead Nebula in Orion is not alone. A deep
    exposure shows that the dark familiar shaped indentation, visible just
    right of center, is part of a vast complex of absorbing dust and
    glowing gas. The featured spectacular picture 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
    Flame Nebula is visible in orange just to the Horsehead's left. To
    highlight the dust and gas, most of the stars have been digitally
    removed, although a notable exception is Alnitak, just above the Flame
    Nebula, which is the rightmost star in Orion's famous belt of three
    aligned stars. The Horsehead Nebula lies 1,500 light years distant
    towards the constellation of Orion.

    NASA Coverage: Artemis I Mission to the Moon
    Teachers & Students: Ideas for utilizing APOD in the classroom
    Tomorrow's picture: Jupiter revealed
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, August 30, 2022 00:26:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 30

    Jupiter from the Webb Space Telescope
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; Processing: Ricardo
    Hueso (UPV/EHU) & Judy Schmidt

    Explanation: This new view of Jupiter is illuminating. High-resolution
    infrared images of Jupiter from the new James Webb Space Telescope
    (Webb) reveal, for example, previously unknown differences between
    high-floating bright clouds -- including the Great Red Spot -- and
    low-lying dark clouds. Also clearly visible in the featured Webb image
    are Jupiter's dust ring, bright auroras at the poles, and Jupiter's
    moons Amalthea and Adrastea. Large volcanic moon Io's magnetic
    funneling of charged particles onto Jupiter is also visible in the
    southern aurora. Some objects are so bright that light noticeably
    diffracts around Webb's optics creating streaks. Webb, which orbits the
    Sun near the Earth, has a mirror over 6 meters across making it the
    largest astronomical telescope ever launched -- with 15 times more
    light-collecting area than Hubble.

    Tomorrow's picture: unusual 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 Wednesday, August 31, 2022 00:12:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 31

    Siccar Point on Mars
    Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS; Processing & License: Kevin M.
    Gill

    Explanation: What created this unusual hill on Mars? No one is sure. A
    good outlook to survey the surrounding area, Siccar Point stands out
    from its surroundings in Gale Crater. The unusual mound was visited by
    the robotic Curiosity rover exploring Mars late last year. Siccar Point
    not only has a distinctive shape, it has dark rocks above lighter
    rocks. The apparent much younger age of the dark rocks indicates a
    time-break in the usual geological ordering of rock layers -- by a
    process yet unknown. The Martian hill is named for Siccar Point on
    Earth, a place in Scotland itself distinctive as a junction between two
    different rock layers. Curiosity continues to explore Gale crater on
    Mars, looking for clues of ancient life. Simultaneously, 2300
    kilometers away, its sister rover Perseverance explores Jezero crater,
    there assisted by the flight-capable scout Ingenuity.

    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 Thursday, September 01, 2022 00:28:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, September 02, 2022 00:30:38
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Saturday, September 03, 2022 00:05:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, September 04, 2022 00:17:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, September 05, 2022 00:33:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, September 06, 2022 00:25:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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'Ωoí╓o δt╔¼n'δ

    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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, September 07, 2022 00:11:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Thursday, September 08, 2022 00:29:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Friday, September 09, 2022 00:11:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, September 10, 2022 00:37:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Sunday, September 11, 2022 00:26:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, September 12, 2022 00:23:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 +ß-∞erba

    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 Tuesday, September 13, 2022 03:36:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Wednesday, September 14, 2022 00:14:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, September 15, 2022 00:23:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Friday, September 16, 2022 00:12:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Saturday, September 17, 2022 00:37:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Sunday, September 18, 2022 00:29:38
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Monday, September 19, 2022 00:07:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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+¼s 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)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, September 20, 2022 00:37:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Wednesday, September 21, 2022 01:00:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 21

    The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared from Hubble
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing: Alexandra Nachman

    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 featured gorgeously detailed image was taken in
    infrared light by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. 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 high energy starlight.

    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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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, September 22, 2022 00:14:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Friday, September 23, 2022 00:06:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, September 24, 2022 01:28:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 24

    September Sunrise Shadows
    Image Credit & Copyright: Donato Lioce

    Explanation: The defining astronomical moment for this September's
    equinox was on Friday, September 23, 2022 at 01:03 UTC, when the Sun
    crossed the celestial equator moving south in its yearly journey
    through planet Earth's sky. That marked the beginning of fall for our
    fair planet in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern
    hemisphere, when day and night are nearly equal around the globe. Of
    course, if you celebrate the astronomical change of seasons by watching
    a sunrise you can also look for crepuscular rays. The shadows cast by
    clouds can have a dramatic appearance in the twilight sky during any
    sunrise or sunset. Due to perspective, the parallel shadows will seem
    to point back to the rising Sun and a place due east on your horizon
    near the equinox date. Taken on September 15, this sunrise sea and
    skyscape captured crepuscular rays in the sky and watery specular
    reflections from the Mediterranean coast near the village of
    Petacciato, Italy.

    Tomorrow's picture: shadows of cosmic dust
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Sunday, September 25, 2022 00:15:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Monday, September 26, 2022 00:10:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Tuesday, September 27, 2022 00:12:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Wednesday, September 28, 2022 00:25:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Thursday, September 29, 2022 00:15:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, September 30, 2022 00:10:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Saturday, October 01, 2022 00:21:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Sunday, October 02, 2022 03:12:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Monday, October 03, 2022 05:30:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Tuesday, October 04, 2022 00:09:06
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, October 05, 2022 00:16:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Thursday, October 06, 2022 01:51:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Friday, October 07, 2022 00:21:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Saturday, October 08, 2022 00:23:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Sunday, October 09, 2022 00:43:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, October 10, 2022 00:24:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Tuesday, October 11, 2022 00:40:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, October 12, 2022 00:10:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, October 13, 2022 00:32:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, October 14, 2022 00:29:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, October 15, 2022 00:15:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, October 16, 2022 02:11:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, October 17, 2022 00:52:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, October 18, 2022 00:29:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 00:19:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Thursday, October 20, 2022 03:03:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, October 21, 2022 00:45:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, October 22, 2022 00:39:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, October 23, 2022 00:42:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, October 24, 2022 00:08:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, October 25, 2022 00:16:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, October 26, 2022 00:05:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, October 27, 2022 00:09:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, October 28, 2022 00:15:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Saturday, October 29, 2022 02:46:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, October 30, 2022 00:14:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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: Stñphane Vetter (Nuits sacrñes)

    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
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, October 31, 2022 02:24:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, November 01, 2022 00:10:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, November 02, 2022 00:33:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, November 03, 2022 00:26:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Friday, November 04, 2022 06:05:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, November 05, 2022 00:10:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Sunday, November 06, 2022 00:49:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Tuesday, November 08, 2022 07:21:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, November 09, 2022 01:02:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Thursday, November 10, 2022 01:17:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, November 11, 2022 01:03:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 11

    Blood Moon, Ice Giant
    Image Credit & Copyright: Ryan Han

    Explanation: On November 8 the Full Moon turned blood red as it slid
    through Earth's shadow in a beautiful total lunar eclipse. During
    totality it also passed in front of, or occulted, outer planet Uranus
    for eclipse viewers located in parts of northern America and Asia. For
    a close-up and wider view these two images were taken just before the
    occultation began, captured with different telescopes and cameras from
    the same roof top in Shanghai, China. Normally very faint compared to a
    Full Moon, the tiny, pale, greenish disk of the distant ice giant is
    just to the left of the Moon's edge and about to disappear behind the
    darkened, red lunar limb. Though only visible from certain locations
    across planet Earth, lunar occultations of planets are fairly common.
    But for this rare "lunar eclipse occultation" to take place, at the
    time of the total eclipse the outer planet had to be both at opposition
    and very near the ecliptic plane to fall in line with Sun, Earth, and
    Moon.

    Lunar Eclipse of November 2022: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Love Eclipses? (US): Apply to become a NASA Partner Eclipse Ambassador
    Tomorrow's picture: eclipse in the city
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, November 12, 2022 01:05:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, November 13, 2022 01:18:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Monday, November 14, 2022 01:08:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Tuesday, November 15, 2022 02:12:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Wednesday, November 16, 2022 01:12:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Thursday, November 17, 2022 01:56:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Friday, November 18, 2022 02:14:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Saturday, November 19, 2022 01:07:06
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Sunday, November 20, 2022 01:35:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, November 21, 2022 01:25:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Tuesday, November 22, 2022 01:07:38
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, November 23, 2022 01:11:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Thursday, November 24, 2022 01:35:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Friday, November 25, 2022 01:20:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, November 26, 2022 01:07:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Sunday, November 27, 2022 01:17:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Monday, November 28, 2022 01:04:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, November 29, 2022 02:16:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, November 30, 2022 01:06:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, December 01, 2022 01:03:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Friday, December 02, 2022 01:17:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, December 03, 2022 01:34:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

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    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, December 04, 2022 01:39:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, December 05, 2022 02:14:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, December 06, 2022 00:12:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 6
    The featured image shows a large golden-brown pillar of dust surrounded
    by a few smaller pillars. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    M16: A Star Forming Pillar from Webb
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Processing & Copyright: Mehmet
    Hakan .zsarat

    Explanation: What's happening inside this interstellar mountain? Stars
    are forming. The mountain is actually a column of gas and dust in the
    picturesque Eagle Nebula (M16). A pillar like this is so low in density
    that you could easily fly though it -- it only appears solid because of
    its high dust content and great depth. The glowing areas are lit
    internally by newly formed stars. These areas shine in red and infrared
    light because blue light is scattered away by intervening interstellar
    dust. The featured image was captured recently in near-infrared light
    in unprecedented detail by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST),
    launched late last year. Energetic light, abrasive winds, and final
    supernovas from these young stars will slowly destroy this stellar
    birth column over the next 100,000 years.

    Astrophysicists: Browse 2,900+ 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 Wednesday, December 07, 2022 00:04:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 7

    NGC 7293: The Helix Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Tommaso Stella

    Explanation: A mere seven hundred light years from Earth, toward the
    constellation Aquarius, a sun-like star is dying. The dying star's 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. Combining narrow band image data from
    emission lines of hydrogen atoms in red and oxygen atoms in blue-green
    hues, it shows tantalizing details of the Helix, including its bright
    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.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, December 08, 2022 01:52:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Friday, December 09, 2022 00:17:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, December 10, 2022 00:50:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, December 11, 2022 00:29:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, December 12, 2022 13:07:38
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, December 13, 2022 00:43:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, December 14, 2022 00:05:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, December 15, 2022 00:46:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, December 16, 2022 00:20:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Saturday, December 17, 2022 00:03:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Sunday, December 18, 2022 00:45:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Monday, December 19, 2022 01:39:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, December 20, 2022 00:25:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, December 21, 2022 00:12:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Thursday, December 22, 2022 06:17:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Friday, December 23, 2022 00:13:06
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, December 24, 2022 01:19:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, December 25, 2022 00:21:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Monday, December 26, 2022 06:35:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, December 27, 2022 02:32:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, December 28, 2022 05:41:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Thursday, December 29, 2022 00:23:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, December 30, 2022 00:53:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, December 31, 2022 22:00:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, January 01, 2023 00:11:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Monday, January 02, 2023 00:09:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, January 03, 2023 01:07:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Wednesday, January 04, 2023 01:07:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 4
    The featured image shows a distant galaxy on the left next to a gas
    cloud on the right. An opening in the gas cloud is on the same side as
    the galaxy. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    CG4: The Globule and the Galaxy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby & Mark Hanson

    Explanation: Can a gas cloud eat 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.

    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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, January 05, 2023 00:52:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, January 06, 2023 00:41:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Saturday, January 07, 2023 00:37:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, January 08, 2023 00:49:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Monday, January 09, 2023 09:27:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Hern▀ndez

    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
    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 Tuesday, January 10, 2023 00:24:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, January 11, 2023 00:17:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, January 12, 2023 00:39:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Friday, January 13, 2023 00:11:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Saturday, January 14, 2023 00:24:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, January 15, 2023 00:19:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Monday, January 16, 2023 00:04:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Tuesday, January 17, 2023 00:44:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, January 18, 2023 01:05:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Thursday, January 19, 2023 01:04:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Friday, January 20, 2023 00:14:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, January 21, 2023 03:09:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Astron▀utica 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)
    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 Sunday, January 22, 2023 01:59:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Monday, January 23, 2023 00:20:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, January 24, 2023 00:16:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, January 25, 2023 00:11:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, January 26, 2023 00:06:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, January 27, 2023 00:23:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, January 28, 2023 00:11:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 28

    Comet ZTF over Mount Etna
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dario Giannobile

    Explanation: Comet-like plumes are blowing over the volcanic peaks of
    Mount Etna in this wintry mountain-and-skyscape from planet Earth. The
    stacked and blended combination of individual exposures recorded during
    the cold night of January 23, also capture naked-eye Comet ZTF just
    above Etna's snowy slopes. Of course increasing sunlight and the solar
    wind are responsible for the comet's greenish coma and broad dusty
    tail. This weekend Comet ZTF is dashing across northern skies between
    north star Polaris and the Big Dipper. From a dark site you can only
    just spot it as a fuzzy patch though. That's still an impressive
    achievement if you consider you are gazing at a visitor from the
    distant Oort cloud with your own eyes. But binoculars or a small
    telescope will make for an even more enjoyable view of this Comet ZTF
    in the coming days.

    Comet ZTF Gallery: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: dark 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 Sunday, January 29, 2023 00:02:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Monday, January 30, 2023 00:19:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, January 31, 2023 01:10:38
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 C▀ceres, 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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    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, February 01, 2023 00:21:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, February 02, 2023 00:10:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, February 03, 2023 00:36:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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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 Saturday, February 04, 2023 01:18:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, February 05, 2023 04:31:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 5
    A large tan ball with multiple complex grooves is pictured. A sliver on
    the far right side appears almost white. Please see the explanation for
    more detailed information.

    Enceladus by Saturnshine
    Image Credit: NASA; ESA, JPL, Cassini Imaging Team, SSI; Color
    Composite: Gordan Ugarkovic

    Explanation: This moon is shining by the light of its planet.
    Specifically, a large portion of Enceladus pictured here is illuminated
    primarily by sunlight first reflected from the planet Saturn. The
    result is that the normally snow-white moon appears in the gold color
    of Saturn's cloud tops. As most of the illumination comes from the
    image left, a labyrinth of ridges throws notable shadows just to the
    right of the image center, while the kilometer-deep canyon Labtayt
    Sulci is visible just below. The bright thin crescent on the far right
    is the only part of Enceladus directly lit by the Sun. The featured
    image was taken in 2011 by the robotic Cassini spacecraft during a
    close pass by by the enigmatic moon. Inspection of the lower left part
    of this digitally sharpened image reveals plumes of ice crystals
    thought to originate in a below-surface sea.

    Tomorrow's picture: stars and dust
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, February 06, 2023 01:20:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, February 07, 2023 00:29:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, February 08, 2023 00:07:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, February 09, 2023 02:54:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Friday, February 10, 2023 01:04:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, February 11, 2023 03:48:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 11

    Magellanic Clouds over Chile
    Image Credit & Copyright: Felipe Mac Auliffe L<pez

    Explanation: The two prominent clouds in this Chilean Atacama Desert
    skyscape captured on January 21 actually lie beyond our Milky Way
    galaxy. Known as the Large and the Small Magellanic Clouds they are so
    named for the 16th century Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan,
    leader of the first circumnavigation of planet Earth. Famous jewels of
    southern hemisphere skies, they are the brightest satellite galaxies of
    the Milky Way. The larger cloud is some 160,000 light-years, and the
    smaller 210,000 light-years distant. While both are irregular dwarf
    galaxies in their own right, they exhibit central barred structures in
    the deep wide-angle view. Wide and deep exposures also reveal faint
    dusty galactic cirrus nebulae and the imprints of gravitational tidal
    interactions between the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.

    Tomorrow's picture: another cloudy day
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, February 12, 2023 05:10:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, February 13, 2023 00:46:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, February 14, 2023 00:45:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, February 15, 2023 11:27:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, February 16, 2023 00:26:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, February 17, 2023 02:50:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Kriszti▀n S▀rneczky 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 S▀rneczky'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.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, February 18, 2023 00:06:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    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 Sunday, February 19, 2023 00:06:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, February 20, 2023 02:37:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 (T│rkiye 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 Tuesday, February 21, 2023 00:22:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Wednesday, February 22, 2023 00:51:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Erg│n

    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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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, February 23, 2023 01:47:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Friday, February 24, 2023 01:21:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Saturday, February 25, 2023 00:20:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Sunday, February 26, 2023 00:05:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Monday, February 27, 2023 00:32:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 00:43:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, March 01, 2023 01:50:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, March 02, 2023 00:37:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Friday, March 03, 2023 06:22:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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/NSFC╟╓s NOIRLab),
    J. Miller (Gemini Obs./NSFC╟╓s NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSFC╟╓s
    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.
    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 Saturday, March 04, 2023 01:05:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 4

    10 Days of Venus and Jupiter
    Image Credit & Copyright: Soumyadeep Mukherjee

    Explanation: Venus and Jupiter may have caught your attention lately.
    The impending close conjunction of the two brightest planets visible in
    clear evening skies has been hard to miss. With Jupiter at the top,
    starting on February 21 and ending on March 2, their close approach is
    chronicled daily, left to right, in these panels recorded from Dhanbad,
    India. Near the western horizon, the evening sky colors and exposures
    used for each panel depend on the local conditions near sunset. On
    February 22, Jupiter and Venus were joined by the young crescent Moon.
    The celestial pair appeared to be only the width of a full moon apart
    by March 2. Of course on that date the two planets were physically
    separated by over 600 million kilometers in their orbits around the
    Sun. In the coming days Jupiter will slowly settle into the glare at
    sunset, but Venus will continue to move farther from the Sun in the
    western sky to excel in its current role as the brilliant evening star.

    Jupiter & Venus Conjunction Gallery: Notable Submissions to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: a postcard view
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & 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 Sunday, March 05, 2023 00:24:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Monday, March 06, 2023 00:19:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Tuesday, March 07, 2023 00:33:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, March 08, 2023 00:39:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & 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 Thursday, March 09, 2023 01:10:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 9

    DART vs Dimorphos
    Image Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins APL, DART

    Explanation: On the first planetary defense test mission from planet
    Earth, the DART spacecraft captured this close-up on 26 September 2022,
    three seconds before slamming into the surface of asteroid moonlet
    Dimorphos. The spacecraft's outline with two long solar panels is
    traced at its projected point of impact between two boulders. The
    larger boulder is about 6.5 meters across. While the DART (Double
    Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft had a mass of some 570 kilograms,
    the estimated mass of Dimorphos, the smaller member of a near-Earth
    binary asteroid system, was about 5 billion kilograms. The direct
    kinetic impact of the spacecraft measurably altered the speed of
    Dimorphos by a fraction of a percent, reducing its 12 hour orbital
    period around its larger companion asteroid 65803 Didymos by about 33
    minutes. Beyond successfully demonstrating a technique to change an
    asteroid's orbit that can prevent future asteroid strikes on planet
    Earth, the planetary-scale impact experiment has given the
    150-meter-sized Dimorphos a comet-like tail of material.

    Tomorrow's picture: a great 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,
    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, March 10, 2023 00:23:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & 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 Saturday, March 11, 2023 00:14:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & 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 Sunday, March 12, 2023 00:15:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    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 Monday, March 13, 2023 01:46:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    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 Tuesday, March 14, 2023 00:42:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+¼ Jim+¼nez (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)
    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 Wednesday, March 15, 2023 00:19:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Thursday, March 16, 2023 00:03:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Friday, March 17, 2023 00:40:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 17

    The Medusa Nebula
    Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Bradley Chesterfield Astronomical
    Society

    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 below and right of the bright crescent region. The
    Medusa Nebula is estimated to be over 4 light-years across.

    Tomorrow's picture: supernova's prelude
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & 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 Saturday, March 18, 2023 01:55:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Sunday, March 19, 2023 00:36:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+øn 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+øn, but all over planet Earth.

    Tomorrow's picture: expanding supernova
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, March 20, 2023 01:43:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 01:13:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, March 22, 2023 01:07:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, March 23, 2023 11:45:38
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, March 24, 2023 00:32:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, March 25, 2023 00:43:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 25

    Venus and the Da Vinci Glow
    Image Credit & Copyright: Giorgia Hofer

    Explanation: On March 23 early evening skygazers could watch Venus and
    a young crescent moon, both near the western horizon. On that date
    Earth's brilliant evening star, faint lunar night side and slender
    sunlit crescent were captured in this telephoto skyscape posing
    alongside a church tower from Danta di Cadore, Dolomiti, Italy. Of
    course the subtle lunar illumination 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. On
    March 24, from some locations the Moon could be seen to occult or pass
    in front of Venus. Around the planet tonight, a waxing lunar crescent
    will appear near the Pleiades star cluster.

    Tomorrow's picture: wandering
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, March 27, 2023 08:51:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 00:17:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+ølek (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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, March 29, 2023 01:12:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Thursday, March 30, 2023 00:10:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Friday, March 31, 2023 00:03:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Saturday, April 01, 2023 00:29:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Sunday, April 02, 2023 00:22:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, April 03, 2023 00:56:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, April 04, 2023 00:15:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Wednesday, April 05, 2023 01:34:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, April 06, 2023 00:05:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, April 07, 2023 00:17:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

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    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, April 08, 2023 00:19:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, April 09, 2023 00:42:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, April 10, 2023 00:50:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, April 11, 2023 01:12:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 02:04:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, April 13, 2023 00:59:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, April 14, 2023 00:03:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 14

    Portrait of NGC 3628
    Image Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby & Mark Hanson

    Explanation: Sharp telescopic views of NGC 3628 show a puffy galactic
    disk divided by dark dust lanes. Of course, this portrait of the
    magnificent, edge-on spiral galaxy puts some astronomers in mind of its
    popular moniker, the Hamburger Galaxy. It also reveals a small galaxy
    nearby (below), likely a satellite of NGC 3628, and a very faint but
    extensive tidal tail. The drawn out tail stretches for about 300,000
    light-years, even beyond the left edge of the frame. NGC 3628 shares
    its neighborhood in the local universe with two other large spirals M65
    and M66 in a grouping otherwise known as the Leo Triplet. Gravitational
    interactions with its cosmic neighbors are likely responsible for
    creating the tidal tail, as well as the extended flare and warp of this
    spiral's disk. The tantalizing island universe itself is about 100,000
    light-years across and 35 million light-years away in the northern
    springtime constellation Leo.

    Tomorrow's picture: Z is for Mars
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, April 15, 2023 00:40:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, April 16, 2023 00:16:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Monday, April 17, 2023 01:03:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, April 18, 2023 00:21:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, April 19, 2023 01:39:06
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+± 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
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, April 20, 2023 00:45:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, April 21, 2023 01:59:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+╜l 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.
    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 Saturday, April 22, 2023 00:55:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Sunday, April 23, 2023 06:45:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    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 Monday, April 24, 2023 06:11:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    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 Tuesday, April 25, 2023 00:36:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+øceres 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.
    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 Wednesday, April 26, 2023 06:33:38
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Thursday, April 27, 2023 02:56:06
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Friday, April 28, 2023 00:14:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+¼ 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.
    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 Saturday, April 29, 2023 01:04:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    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 Sunday, April 30, 2023 00:05:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+ø-∞ek

    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
    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 Monday, May 01, 2023 00:40:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Tuesday, May 02, 2023 00:55:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Wednesday, May 03, 2023 01:18:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, May 04, 2023 00:14:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Friday, May 05, 2023 00:46:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 5

    Shackleton from ShadowCam
    Image Credit: NASA, ShadowCam, Korea Aerospace Research Institute,
    Arizona State University

    Explanation: Shackleton crater lies at the lunar south pole. Peaks
    along the 21 kilometer diameter are in sunlight, but Shackleton's floor
    is in dark permanent shadow. Still, this image of the shadowed rim wall
    and floor of Shackleton crater was captured from NASA's ShadowCam, an
    instrument on board the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) launched
    in August 2022. About 200 times more sensitive than, for example, the
    Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's Narrow Angle Camera, ShadowCam was
    designed image the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar surface.
    Avoiding direct sunlight, those regions are expected to be reservoirs
    of water-ice and other volatiles deposited by ancient cometary impacts
    and useful to future Moon missions. Of course, the permanently shadowed
    regions are still illuminated by reflections of sunlight from nearby
    lunar terrain. In this stunningly detailed ShadowCam image, an arrow
    marks the track made by a single boulder rolling down Shackleton
    crater's wall. The image scale is indicated at the bottom of the frame.

    Tomorrow's picture: twilight in a flower
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & 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 Saturday, May 06, 2023 00:51:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Sunday, May 07, 2023 00:16:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Monday, May 08, 2023 00:08:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Tuesday, May 09, 2023 00:08:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 9
    A sunset sky over Sicily is shown with, from top to bottom, a pink
    atmospheric band, a blue atmospheric band containing the Moon, a band
    with land containing buildings, and a band of water reflecting the pink
    and blue atmospheric bands. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Shadows of Earth
    Image Credit & Copyright: Marcella Giulia Pace

    Explanation: Can you find two Earth shadows in today's image? It's a
    bit tricky. To find the first shadow, observe that the top part of the
    atmosphere appears pink and the lower part appears blue. This is
    because the top half is exposed to direct sunlight, while the lower
    part is not. The purple area in between is known as the Belt of Venus,
    even though Venus can only appear on the other side of the sky, near
    the Sun. The blue color of the lower atmosphere is caused by the Earth
    blocking sunlight, creating Earth shadow number 1. Now, where is the
    second Earth shadow? Take a look at the Moon. Do you notice something
    unusual about the lower left part? That area appears unusually dark
    because it is in the shadow of the Earth, creating Earth shadow number
    2. To be precise, the Moon was captured during a lunar eclipse. This
    carefully timed image was taken in Sampieri, Sicily, Italy, in July
    2018.

    Tomorrow's picture: desert 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, May 10, 2023 00:11:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, May 11, 2023 00:21:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+øs G+øsp+ør (Univ. of
    Arizona), Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Science: A. G+øsp+ør (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 Friday, May 12, 2023 00:09:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 12

    Halley Dust, Mars Dust, and Milky Way
    Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horalek / Institute of Physics in Opava

    Explanation: Grains of cosmic dust streaked through night skies in
    early May. Swept up as planet Earth plowed through the debris streams
    left behind by periodic Comet Halley, the annual meteor shower is known
    as the Eta Aquarids. This year, the Eta Aquarids peak was visually
    hampered by May's bright Full Moon, though. But early morning hours
    surrounding last May's shower of Halley dust were free of moonlight
    interference. In exposures recorded between April 28 and May 8 in 2022,
    this composited image shows nearly 90 Eta Aquarid meteors streaking
    from the shower's radiant in Aquarius over San Pedro de Atacama, Chile.
    The central Milky Way arcs above in the southern hemisphere's predawn
    skies. The faint band of light rising from the horizon is Zodiacal
    light, caused by dust scattering sunlight near our Solar System's
    ecliptic plane. Along the ecliptic and entrained in the Zodiacal glow
    are the bright planets Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn. Of course Mars
    itself has recently been found to be a likely source of the dust along
    the ecliptic responsible for creating Zodiacal light.

    Tomorrow's picture: The Crescent 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, May 13, 2023 00:23:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Sunday, May 14, 2023 02:26:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Monday, May 15, 2023 01:02:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Tuesday, May 16, 2023 00:49:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Wednesday, May 17, 2023 00:41:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, May 18, 2023 03:43:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & 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 Friday, May 19, 2023 00:30:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    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 Saturday, May 20, 2023 11:35:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    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 Sunday, May 21, 2023 01:02:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Monday, May 22, 2023 00:05:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, May 23, 2023 00:22:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, May 24, 2023 10:17:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Thursday, May 25, 2023 00:43:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+║ois 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 Friday, May 26, 2023 02:17:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, May 27, 2023 01:56:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Sunday, May 28, 2023 01:50:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Monday, May 29, 2023 00:53:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+ølek / 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Tuesday, May 30, 2023 00:34:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, May 31, 2023 00:22:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, June 01, 2023 12:16:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, June 02, 2023 00:09:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, June 03, 2023 00:33:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, June 04, 2023 01:30:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, June 05, 2023 00:45:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    NASA Science Activation
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, June 06, 2023 00:37:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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: ItC╟╓s 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & 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 Wednesday, June 07, 2023 01:04:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 7
    A spiral galaxy is seen in the image center with a distinct purple hue.
    The galaxy features a bright inner ring, but even outside of that
    appears another large ring. The outer rings appears light brown.
    Foreground stars are visible throughout the image. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    M94: A Double Ring Galaxy
    Image Credit & Copyright: Brian Brennan

    Explanation: Most galaxies don't have any rings of stars and gas -- why
    does M94 have two? First, spiral galaxy M94 has an inner ring of newly
    formed stars surrounding its nucleus, giving it not only an unusual
    appearance but also a strong interior glow. A leading origin hypothesis
    holds that an elongated knot of stars known as a bar rotates in M94 and
    has generated a burst of star formation in this inner ring.
    Observations have also revealed another ring, an outer ring, one that
    is more faint, different in color, not closed, and relatively complex.
    What caused this outer ring is currently unknown. M94, pictured here,
    spans about 45,000 light years in total, lies about 15 million light
    years away, and can be seen with a small telescope toward the
    constellation of the Hunting Dogs (Canes Venatici).

    More Availability: APOD now accessible via Flipboard.
    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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, June 08, 2023 23:17:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Friday, June 09, 2023 00:54:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Saturday, June 10, 2023 01:04:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Sunday, June 11, 2023 00:21:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & 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 Monday, June 12, 2023 00:13:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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: WhatC╟╓s that near the Moon? ItC╟╓s the International Space
    Station (ISS). Although the ISS may appear to be physically near the
    Moon, it is not C╟÷ 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.
    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 Tuesday, June 13, 2023 07:52:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Wednesday, June 14, 2023 00:25:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Thursday, June 15, 2023 00:11:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Friday, June 16, 2023 01:02:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Saturday, June 17, 2023 00:18:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Sunday, June 18, 2023 00:15:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, June 19, 2023 00:15:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Tuesday, June 20, 2023 00:06:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 +µand+| 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 +µand+|. Furthermore, +µand+|'s footprint is
    associated with the Southern Cross asterism. In the foreground, in
    silhouette, is a statue of Mar+ía 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.
    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 Wednesday, June 21, 2023 00:13:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+ß

    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)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, June 22, 2023 00:38:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, June 23, 2023 00:15:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Saturday, June 24, 2023 01:00:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Sunday, June 25, 2023 00:39:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Monday, June 26, 2023 13:09:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Tuesday, June 27, 2023 00:39:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Wednesday, June 28, 2023 01:09:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Thursday, June 29, 2023 02:52:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Friday, June 30, 2023 00:26:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Saturday, July 01, 2023 02:16:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+║ois 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.
    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 Sunday, July 02, 2023 00:11:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Monday, July 03, 2023 02:08:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 +√zsara+║

    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.
    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 Tuesday, July 04, 2023 00:13:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Wednesday, July 05, 2023 01:08:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+¼nard & 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 Thursday, July 06, 2023 01:08:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, July 07, 2023 01:04:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+╤rten 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, July 08, 2023 00:15:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Sunday, July 09, 2023 00:20:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 9
    A Hubble image of the gas and dust surrounding the star Eta Carinae is
    shown. The nebula has two distinct light-colored lobes, surrounded by
    red glowing gas. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    Doomed Star Eta Carinae
    Image Credit & Copyright: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & License: Judy
    Schmidt

    Explanation: Eta Carinae may be about to explode. But no one knows when
    - it may be next year, it may be one million years from now. Eta
    Carinae's mass - about 100 times greater than our Sun - makes it an
    excellent candidate for a full blown supernova. Historical records do
    show that about 170 years ago Eta Carinae underwent an unusual outburst
    that made it one of the brightest stars in the southern sky. Eta
    Carinae, in the Keyhole Nebula, is the only star currently thought to
    emit natural LASER light. This featured image brings out details in the
    unusual nebula that surrounds this rogue star. Diffraction spikes,
    caused by the telescope, are visible as bright multi-colored streaks
    emanating from Eta Carinae's center. Two distinct lobes of the
    Homunculus Nebula encompass the hot central region, while some strange
    radial streaks are visible in red extending toward the image right. The
    lobes are filled with lanes of gas and dust which absorb the blue and
    ultraviolet light emitted near the center. The streaks, however, remain
    unexplained.

    Tomorrow's picture: stellar pandemonium
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Monday, July 10, 2023 01:19:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, July 11, 2023 00:14:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, July 12, 2023 00:56:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Thursday, July 13, 2023 00:32:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Friday, July 14, 2023 01:10:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Sunday, July 16, 2023 00:23:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, July 17, 2023 01:28:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 17
    A star surrounded by orange shells and arcs sit in the center of a dark
    starfield. Galaxies from the distant universe can be seen around the
    edges. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Shells and Arcs around Star CW Leonis
    Image Credit: ESA, NASA, Hubble, T. Ueta (U. Denver), H. Kim (KASI)

    Explanation: What's happening around this star? No one is sure. CW
    Leonis is the closest carbon star, a star that appears orange because
    of atmospheric carbon dispersed from interior nuclear fusion. But CW
    Leonis also appears engulfed in a gaseous carbon-rich nebula. What
    causes the nebula's complexity is unknown, but its geometry of shells
    and arcs are surely intriguing. The featured image by the Hubble Space
    Telescope details this complexity. The low surface gravity of carbon
    stars enhances their ability to expel carbon and carbon compounds into
    space. Some of this carbon ends up forming dark dust that is commonly
    seen in the nebulas of young star-forming regions and the disks of
    galaxies. Humans and all Earth-based life are carbon-based, and at
    least some of our carbon was likely once circulating in the atmospheres
    of near-death stars like carbon stars.

    Tomorrow's picture: telescopes and 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 Saturday, July 15, 2023 00:41:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Tuesday, July 18, 2023 00:07:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+Σski

    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.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 00:03:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Thursday, July 20, 2023 00:09:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Friday, July 21, 2023 00:08:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Saturday, July 22, 2023 04:23:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 22

    Apollo 11: Armstrong's Lunar Selfie
    Image Credit: NASA, Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong; Processing: Michael
    Ranger

    Explanation: A photograph of Buzz Aldrin standing on the Moon taken by
    Neil Armstrong, was digitally reversed to create this lunar selfie.
    Captured in July 1969 following the Apollo 11 moon landing, Armstrong's
    original photograph recorded not only the magnificent desolation of an
    unfamiliar world, but Armstrong himself reflected in Aldrin's curved
    visor. In the unwrapped image, the spherical distortion of the
    reflection in Aldrin's helmet has been reversed. The transformed view
    features Armstrong himself from Aldrin's perspective. Since Armstrong
    took the original picture, today the image represents a fifty-four year
    old lunar selfie. Aldrin's visor reflection in the original image
    appears here on the left. Bright (but distorted) planet Earth hangs in
    the lunar sky above Armstrong's figure, toward the upper right. A
    foil-wrapped leg of the Eagle lander and Aldrin's long shadow
    stretching across the lunar surface are prominently visible. In 2024
    NASA's Artemis II mission will return humans to the Moon.

    Tomorrow's picture: unexpected clock
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & 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 Saturday, July 22, 2023 04:47:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 22

    Apollo 11: Armstrong's Lunar Selfie
    Image Credit: NASA, Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong; Processing: Michael
    Ranger

    Explanation: A photograph of Buzz Aldrin standing on the Moon taken by
    Neil Armstrong, was digitally reversed to create this lunar selfie.
    Captured in July 1969 following the Apollo 11 moon landing, Armstrong's
    original photograph recorded not only the magnificent desolation of an
    unfamiliar world, but Armstrong himself reflected in Aldrin's curved
    visor. In the unwrapped image, the spherical distortion of the
    reflection in Aldrin's helmet has been reversed. The transformed view
    features Armstrong himself from Aldrin's perspective. Since Armstrong
    took the original picture, today the image represents a fifty-four year
    old lunar selfie. Aldrin's visor reflection in the original image
    appears here on the left. Bright (but distorted) planet Earth hangs in
    the lunar sky above Armstrong's figure, toward the upper right. A
    foil-wrapped leg of the Eagle lander and Aldrin's long shadow
    stretching across the lunar surface are prominently visible. In 2024
    NASA's Artemis II mission will return humans to the Moon.

    Tomorrow's picture: unexpected clock
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & 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 Sunday, July 23, 2023 02:34:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Monday, July 24, 2023 08:42:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Tuesday, July 25, 2023 05:55:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Wednesday, July 26, 2023 16:51:38
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Thursday, July 27, 2023 00:21:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 (NSFC╟╓s 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 FoundationC╟╓s 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.
    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 Friday, July 28, 2023 01:49:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Saturday, July 29, 2023 01:08:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Sunday, July 30, 2023 04:24:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Monday, July 31, 2023 00:43:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Tuesday, August 01, 2023 00:39:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Wednesday, August 02, 2023 00:25:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Thursday, August 03, 2023 00:09:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Thursday, August 03, 2023 01:36:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Friday, August 04, 2023 01:58:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 4

    Moonrays of August
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gianni Tumino

    Explanation: A Full Moon rose as the Sun set on August 1. Near perigee,
    the closest point in its almost moonthly orbit, the brighter than
    average lunar disk illuminated night skies around planet Earth as the
    second supermoon of 2023. Seen here above Ragusa, Sicily, cloud banks
    cast diverging shadows through the supermoonlit skies, creating
    dramatic lunar crepuscular rays. The next Full Moon in 2023 will also
    shine on an August night. Rising as the Sun sets on August 30/31, this
    second Full Moon in a month is known as a Blue Moon. Blue moons occur
    only once every 2 or 3 years because lunar phases take almost a
    calendar month (29.5 days) to go through a complete cycle. But August's
    Blue Moon will also be near perigee, the third supermoon in 2023.

    Tomorrow's picture: a robin's egg
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & 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 Saturday, August 05, 2023 08:06:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Sunday, August 06, 2023 02:38:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Monday, August 07, 2023 00:10:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Steve Wolf@1:135/210 to Alan Ianson on Monday, August 07, 2023 09:57:04
    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 Monday, August 07, 2023 12:21:46
    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 Monday, August 07, 2023 22:54:47
    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 Monday, August 07, 2023 13:34:34
    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 Tuesday, August 08, 2023 00:16:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Tuesday, August 08, 2023 21:29:00
    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 Wednesday, August 09, 2023 00:53:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+ølek / 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 Thursday, August 10, 2023 00:25:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Friday, August 11, 2023 00:05:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+±hnck, 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+±nker, 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 Saturday, August 12, 2023 00:39:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Sunday, August 13, 2023 00:32:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Monday, August 14, 2023 01:05:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Thursday, August 17, 2023 00:14:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Friday, August 18, 2023 01:16:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Saturday, August 19, 2023 00:05:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, August 20, 2023 01:05:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, August 21, 2023 00:05:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Tuesday, August 22, 2023 00:56:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Wednesday, August 23, 2023 04:17:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Thursday, August 24, 2023 00:15:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Friday, August 25, 2023 03:52:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Saturday, August 26, 2023 00:48:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Sunday, August 27, 2023 01:51:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, August 28, 2023 00:45:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Tuesday, August 29, 2023 01:09:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Wednesday, August 30, 2023 01:10:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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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 Thursday, August 31, 2023 00:31:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Friday, September 01, 2023 00:56:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 1

    The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules
    Image Credit & Copyright: Serge Brunier, Jean-Fran+║ois Bax, David
    Vernet OCA/C2PU

    Explanation: In 1716, English astronomer Edmond Halley noted, "This is
    but a little Patch, but it shows 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.

    Tomorrow's picture: wisdom in a flower
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, September 02, 2023 01:19:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Sunday, September 03, 2023 00:31:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, September 04, 2023 01:28:38
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 4
    Red glowing gas is seen before a dark starfield. On the upper right is
    a complicated filamentary nebula in blue and red. On the lower left is
    a simple circular nebula in blue. Please see the explanation for more
    detailed information.

    Cygnus: Bubble and Crescent
    Credit & Copyright: Abdullah Al-Harbi

    Explanation: As stars die, they create clouds. Two stellar death clouds
    of gas and dust can be found toward the high-flying constellation of
    the Swan (Cygnus) as they drift through rich star fields in the plane
    of our Milky Way Galaxy. Caught here within the telescopic field of
    view are the Soap Bubble (lower left) and the Crescent Nebula (upper
    right). Both were formed at the final phase in the life of a star. Also
    known as NGC 6888, the Crescent Nebula was shaped as its bright,
    central massive Wolf-Rayet star, WR 136, shed its outer envelope in a
    strong stellar wind. Burning through fuel at a prodigious rate, WR 136
    is near the end of a short life that should finish in a spectacular
    supernova explosion. Discovered in 2013, the Soap Bubble Nebula is
    likely a planetary nebula, the final shroud of a lower mass,
    long-lived, Sun-like star destined to become a slowly cooling white
    dwarf. Both stellar nebulas are about 5,000 light-years distant, with
    the larger Crescent Nebula spanning about 25 light-years across. Within
    a few million years, both will likely have dispersed.

    Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
    (post 1995)
    Tomorrow's picture: blue 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,
    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 Tuesday, September 05, 2023 00:46:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    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 Wednesday, September 06, 2023 02:39:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    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 Thursday, September 07, 2023 01:04:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    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 Friday, September 08, 2023 01:58:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Saturday, September 09, 2023 04:10:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Sunday, September 10, 2023 05:24:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Monday, September 11, 2023 02:58:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+ølek / 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+Ωa hura and Ve-'k+ø 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.
    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 Tuesday, September 12, 2023 00:54:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Wednesday, September 13, 2023 02:15:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 13
    A galaxy with blue spiral arms is seen in the image center in the midst
    of numerous foreground stars. This galaxy is surrounded by a white
    envelope, which was found to be hydrogen gas. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    NGC 4632: Galaxy with a Hidden Polar Ring
    Credit: Jayanne English (U. Manitoba), Nathan Deg (Queen's University)
    & WALLABY Survey, CSIRO/ASKAP, NAOJ/Subaru Telescope; Text: Jayanne
    English (U. Manitoba)

    Explanation: Galaxy NGC 4632 hides a secret from optical telescopes. It
    is surrounded by a ring of cool hydrogen gas orbiting at 90 degrees to
    its spiral disk. Such polar ring galaxies have previously been
    discovered using starlight. However, NGC 4632 is among the first in
    which a radio telescope survey revealed a polar ring. The featured
    composite image combines this gas ring, observed with the highly
    sensitive ASKAP telescope, with optical data from the Subaru telescope.
    Using virtual reality, astronomers separated out the gas in the main
    disk of the galaxy from the ring, and the subtle color gradient traces
    its orbital motion. Why do polar rings exist? They could be material
    pulled from one galaxy as it gravitationally interacts with a
    companion. Or hydrogen gas flows along the filaments of the cosmic web
    and accretes into a ring around a galaxy, some of which gravitationally
    contracts into 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.

    --- 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 Thursday, September 14, 2023 02:13:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Friday, September 15, 2023 04:05:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+íguez

    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+¼petl.

    Tomorrow's picture: Fire over Ice
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & 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 Saturday, September 16, 2023 05:51:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Monday, September 18, 2023 05:23:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Tuesday, September 19, 2023 00:48:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Wednesday, September 20, 2023 01:33:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 20
    An artist's illustration pictures a cloudy red planet orbiting a
    distant red star. Near the exoplanet is a moon. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Methane Discovered on Distant Exoplanet
    Illustration Credit: Ahmad Jabakenji (ASU Lebanon, North Star Space
    Art); Data: NASA, ESA, CSA, JWST

    Explanation: Where else might life exist? One of humanity's great
    outstanding questions, locating planets where extrasolar life might
    survive took a step forward in 2019 with the discovery of a significant
    amount of water vapor in the atmosphere of distant exoplanet K2-18b.
    The planet and its parent star, K2-18, lie about 124 light years away
    toward the constellation of the Lion (Leo). The exoplanet is
    significantly larger and more massive than our Earth, but orbits in the
    habitable zone of its home star. K2-18, although more red than our Sun,
    shines in K2-18b's sky with a brightness similar to the Sun in Earth's
    sky. The 2019 discovery of atmospheric water was made in data from
    three space telescopes: Hubble, Spitzer, and Kepler, by noting the
    absorption of water-vapor colors when the planet moved in front of the
    star. Now in 2023, further observations by the Webb Space Telescope in
    infrared light have uncovered evidence of other life-indicating
    molecules -- including methane. The featured illustration imagines
    exoplanet K2-18b on the far right orbited by a moon (center), which
    together orbit a red dwarf star depicted on the lower left.

    Tomorrow's picture: space tag
    __________________________________________________________________

    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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, September 21, 2023 00:11:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Friday, September 22, 2023 10:12:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Saturday, September 23, 2023 00:09:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Sunday, September 24, 2023 00:24:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Monday, September 25, 2023 00:25:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Tuesday, September 26, 2023 01:32:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Wednesday, September 27, 2023 01:23:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Thursday, September 28, 2023 00:14:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Friday, September 29, 2023 00:09:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 NASAC╟╓s 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 Saturday, September 30, 2023 01:28:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Sunday, October 01, 2023 22:49:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Monday, October 02, 2023 00:05:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Tuesday, October 03, 2023 00:24:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Wednesday, October 04, 2023 00:42:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Thursday, October 05, 2023 00:12:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Friday, October 06, 2023 00:36:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Saturday, October 07, 2023 00:19:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Sunday, October 08, 2023 00:42:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Monday, October 09, 2023 00:17:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 EarthC╟╓s
    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 Tuesday, October 10, 2023 02:07:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Wednesday, October 11, 2023 05:19:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Thursday, October 12, 2023 00:22:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Friday, October 13, 2023 00:03:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Saturday, October 14, 2023 01:48:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Sunday, October 15, 2023 00:53:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 15
    A driveway is shown with a car at the top of the frame but a series of
    shadows across the rest of the frame. A close inspection of these
    shadows shows that they are frequently small images of an ongoing
    partial solar eclipse. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    An Eclipse Tree
    Image Credit & Copyright: Shawn Wyre

    Explanation: Yes, but can your tree do this? If you look closely at the
    ground in the featured image, you will see many images of yesterday's
    solar eclipse -- created by a tree. Gaps between tree leaves act like
    pinhole lenses and each create a small image of the partially eclipsed
    Sun visible in the other direction. The image was taken in Burleson,
    Texas, USA. Yesterday, people across the Americas were treated to a
    partial eclipse of the Sun, when the Moon moves in front of part of the
    Sun. People in a narrow band of Earth were treated to an annular
    eclipse, also called a ring-of-fire eclipse, when the Moon becomes
    completely engulfed by the Sun and sunlight streams around all of the
    Moon's edges. In answer to the lede question, your tree not only can do
    this, but will do it every time that a visible solar eclipse passes
    overhead. Next April 8, a deeper, total solar eclipse will move across
    North America.

    Album: Selected eclipse images sent in to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: eclipse 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 Monday, October 16, 2023 00:54:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 16
    An annular solar eclipse appears in the background with the dark Moon
    appearing completely internal to the bright Sun. In the foreground is a
    ridge with the silhouettes of two people, one standing, and one
    kneeling. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Eclipse Rings
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jerry Zhang (left), Baolong Chen
    (photographer) & Amber Zhang (right)

    Explanation: She knew everything but the question. She was well aware
    that there would be a complete annular eclipse of the Sun visible from
    their driving destination: Lake Abert in Oregon. She knew that the next
    ring-of-fire eclipse would occur in the USA only in 16 more years,
    making this a rare photographic opportunity. She was comfortable with
    the plan: that she and her boyfriend would appear in front of the
    eclipse in silhouette, sometimes alone, and sometimes together. She
    knew that the annular phase of this eclipse would last only a few
    minutes and she helped in the many hours of planning. She could see
    their friend who set up the camera about 400 meters away at the bottom
    of a ridge. What she didn't know was the question she would be asked.
    But she did know the answer: "yes".

    Album: Selected eclipse images sent in to APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: dust 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, October 17, 2023 01:22:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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, thatC╟╓s 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
    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 Wednesday, October 18, 2023 01:01:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Thursday, October 19, 2023 00:05:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 19

    A Sunrise at Sunset Point
    Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Ratcliffe

    Explanation: This timelapse series captured on October 14 is set
    against the sunrise view from Sunset Point, Bryce Canyon, planet Earth.
    Of course on that date the New Moon caught up with the Sun in the
    canyon's morning skies. Local temperatures fell as the Moon's shadow
    swept across the high altitude scene and the brilliant morning sunlight
    became a more subdued yellow hue cast over the reddish rocky landscape.
    In the timelapse series, images were taken at 2 minute intervals. The
    camera and solar filter were fixed to a tripod to follow the phases of
    the annular solar eclipse.

    APOD Album: Annular Solar Eclipse of 2023 October
    Tomorrow's picture: a comet and a 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 Friday, October 20, 2023 00:11:38
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Saturday, October 21, 2023 00:08:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Sunday, October 22, 2023 00:26:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Monday, October 23, 2023 00:29:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 23
    Jupiter's moon Io is shown as photogaphred recently by NASA's passing
    Juno spacecraft. The moon is nearly half- lit by the distant Sun and
    shows a complex surface including the colors yellow, orange, and dark
    brown. Near the top, the plume of an active volcano can be seen. Please
    see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Moon Io from Spacecraft Juno
    Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SwRI, MSSS; Processing & Copyright:
    Ted Stryk & Fernando Garc+ía Navarro

    Explanation: There goes another one! Volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io
    keep erupting. To investigate, NASA's robotic Juno spacecraft has begun
    a series of visits to this very strange moon. Io is about the size of
    Earth's moon, but because of gravitational flexing by Jupiter and other
    moons, Io's interior gets heated and its surface has become covered
    with volcanoes. The featured image is from last week's flyby, passing
    within 12,000 kilometers above the dangerously active world. The
    surface of Io is covered with sulfur and frozen sulfur dioxide, making
    it appear yellow, orange and brown. As hoped, Juno flew by just as a
    volcano was erupting -- with its faint plume visible near the top of
    the featured image. Studying Io's volcanoes and plumes helps humanity
    better understand how Jupiter's complex system of moons, rings, and
    auroras interact. Juno is scheduled to make two flybys of Io during the
    coming months that are almost 10 times closer: one in December and
    another in February 2024.

    Help Wanted: Professional-astronomer level guest writers and assistant
    editors for APOD
    Tomorrow's picture: eclipse 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, October 24, 2023 00:06:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Wednesday, October 25, 2023 00:56:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, October 26, 2023 01:14:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Friday, October 27, 2023 00:25:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Saturday, October 28, 2023 00:49:24
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+║ois 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.
    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 Sunday, October 29, 2023 00:10:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, October 30, 2023 00:26:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Tuesday, October 31, 2023 00:24:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Wednesday, November 01, 2023 00:45:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    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 Thursday, November 02, 2023 00:29:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Saturday, November 04, 2023 01:34:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Sunday, November 05, 2023 04:34:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, November 06, 2023 00:03:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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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 Wednesday, November 08, 2023 00:24:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, November 09, 2023 01:15:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 TelescopeC╟╓s 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, November 10, 2023 05:30:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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/+ⁿkos Bogd+øn; 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
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, November 11, 2023 00:18:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
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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 Sunday, November 12, 2023 00:16:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+±mtland, 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
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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 Monday, November 13, 2023 00:41:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.

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    Tomorrow's picture: planets rock
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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 Tuesday, November 14, 2023 00:38:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 EarthC╟╓s sky: Jupiter, Venus and the Moon.
    Though a thin waning crescent, most of the moonC╟╓s 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 EarthC╟╓s sky C╟⌠ the Sun.

    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 Wednesday, November 15, 2023 00:05:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, November 16, 2023 04:55:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, November 17, 2023 00:33:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 17

    Nightlights in Qeqertaq
    Image Credit & Copyright: Dennis Lehtonen

    Explanation: Light pollution is usually not a problem in Qeqertaq. In
    western Greenland the remote coastal village boasted a population of
    114 in 2020. Lights still shine in its dark skies though. During planet
    Earth's recent intense geomagnetic storm
    , on November 6 these beautiful curtains of aurora borealis fell over
    the arctic realm. On the eve of the coming weeks of polar night at 70
    degrees north latitude, the inspiring display of northern lights is
    reflected in the waters of Disko Bay. In this view from the isolated
    settlement a lone iceberg is illuminated by shore lights as it drifts
    across the icy sea.

    Weekend Watch: The Leonid Meteor Shower.
    Tomorrow's picture: Artemis Anniversary
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Saturday, November 18, 2023 01:08:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 NASAC╟╓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. 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, November 19, 2023 02:12:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 19
    A silhouette of the International Space Station (ISS) is pictured in
    front the top of the Sun, shown with great detail. An inset image shows
    where on the ISS the Dragon capsule is docked. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    Space Station, Solar Prominences, Sun
    Image Credit & Copyright: Mehmet Ergu+Ωn

    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 in 2021 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.

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    Tomorrow's picture: dark horse
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, November 20, 2023 00:07:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Tuesday, November 21, 2023 00:09:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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    A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, November 22, 2023 04:23:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, November 23, 2023 04:11:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Friday, November 24, 2023 01:46:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Saturday, November 25, 2023 08:14:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Sunday, November 26, 2023 00:22:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 26
    A dark and jagged hill is shown strewn with rocks. On the slope is a
    white foggy area that appears to emanate from a non-descript place on
    the rock face. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    A Dust Jet from the Surface of Comet 67P
    Image Credit: ESA, Rosetta, MPS, OSIRIS;
    UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

    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. In 2016, though, ESA's Rosetta spacecraft not only
    imaged a jet emerging from Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, but flew
    right through it. Featured is a telling picture showing a bright plume
    emerging from a small circular dip bounded on one side by a 10-meter
    high wall. Analyses of Rosetta data show that the jet was composed of
    both dust and water-ice. The rugged but otherwise unremarkable terrain
    indicates that something likely happened far under the porous surface
    to create the plume. This image was taken about two months before
    Rosetta's mission ended with a controlled impact onto Comet 67P's
    surface.

    Tomorrow's picture: eagle ray
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, November 27, 2023 06:17:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.

    Follow APOD on: Discord
    Tomorrow's picture: largest moon
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, November 28, 2023 07:48:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.

    Follow Podcasts about APOD's Images: on YouTube
    Tomorrow's picture: double twister
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, November 29, 2023 01:03:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Thursday, November 30, 2023 09:27:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Friday, December 01, 2023 00:52:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+¼ 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 Saturday, December 02, 2023 00:18:06
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Sunday, December 03, 2023 00:10:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Monday, December 04, 2023 10:22:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Tuesday, December 05, 2023 00:18:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, December 06, 2023 04:28:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, December 07, 2023 01:19:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Saturday, December 09, 2023 05:12:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, December 09, 2023 05:46:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, December 10, 2023 01:43:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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)
    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 Monday, December 11, 2023 00:31:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    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 Tuesday, December 12, 2023 00:23:26
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Wednesday, December 13, 2023 00:04:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Thursday, December 14, 2023 01:38:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, December 15, 2023 00:42:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Saturday, December 16, 2023 04:21:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 Sunday, December 17, 2023 00:43:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, December 18, 2023 00:19:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Tuesday, December 19, 2023 00:24:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, December 20, 2023 00:09:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, December 21, 2023 00:09:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Friday, December 22, 2023 00:52:38
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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+¼ 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.
    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 Saturday, December 23, 2023 00:27:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Sunday, December 24, 2023 00:57:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Monday, December 25, 2023 00:59:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Tuesday, December 26, 2023 01:14:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Wednesday, December 27, 2023 01:12:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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
    canC╟╓t 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.
    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 Thursday, December 28, 2023 03:28:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 28

    Jupiter and the Geminid
    Image Credit & Copyright: Gaurav Singh

    Explanation: For a brief moment, this brilliant fireball meteor
    outshone Jupiter in planet Earth's night. The serendipitous image was
    captured while hunting meteors under cold Canadian skies with a camera
    in timelapse mode on December 14, near the peak of the Geminid meteor
    shower. The Geminid meteor shower, asteroid 3200 Phaethon's annual
    gift, always arrives in December. Dust shed along the orbit of the
    mysterious asteroid causes the meteor streaks, as the vaporizing grains
    plow through our fair planet's upper atmosphere at 22 kilometers per
    second. Of course Geminid shower meteors appear to radiate from a point
    in the constellation of the Twins. That's below and left of this frame.
    With bright Jupiter on the right, also in the December night skyview
    are the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters.

    Tomorrow's picture: Shakespeare 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.

    --- 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 Friday, December 29, 2023 04:06:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Saturday, December 30, 2023 01:52:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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.
    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 Sunday, December 31, 2023 01:21:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! 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 31

    Illustris: A 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: a grand design
    __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & 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 Monday, January 01, 2024 01:34:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Tuesday, January 02, 2024 01:14:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Wednesday, January 03, 2024 02:29:54
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Thursday, January 04, 2024 01:39:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Friday, January 05, 2024 03:30:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    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 Saturday, January 06, 2024 03:10:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Sunday, January 07, 2024 04:51:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Monday, January 08, 2024 00:16:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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+¼phane 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.
    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 Tuesday, January 09, 2024 00:16:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, January 10, 2024 00:18:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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+øbor 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.
    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 Thursday, January 11, 2024 00:31:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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: H∙'g#÷HΣ╪ 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 Friday, January 12, 2024 00:09:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Saturday, January 13, 2024 01:10:06
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Sunday, January 14, 2024 14:20:48
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 14
    A person stands on snow and looks up at a starry sky. In the sky is a
    large green aurora that resembles a dragon. Please see the explanation
    for more detailed information.

    Dragon Aurora over Iceland
    Image Credit & Copyright: Jingyi Zhang & Wang Zheng

    Explanation: Have you ever seen a dragon in the sky? Although real
    flying dragons don't exist, a huge dragon-shaped aurora developed in
    the sky over Iceland in 2019. The aurora was caused by a hole in the
    Sun's corona that expelled charged particles into a solar wind that
    followed a changing interplanetary magnetic field to Earth's
    magnetosphere. As some of those particles then struck Earth's
    atmosphere, they excited atoms which subsequently emitted light:
    aurora. This iconic display was so enthralling that the photographer's
    mother ran out to see it and was captured in the foreground. 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: reflecting stars
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Monday, January 15, 2024 00:30:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 15
    A cluster of stars is shown along with surrounding nebular gas a and
    dust. Shown in infrared light in pink, the dust winds around the nebula
    center and itself appears composed of many finer filaments. Please see
    the explanation for more detailed information.

    Star Cluster IC 348 from Webb
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and K. Luhman (Penn State U.) and
    C. Alves de Oliveira (ESA)

    Explanation: Sometimes, it's the stars that are the hardest to see that
    are the most interesting. IC 348 is a young star cluster that
    illuminates surrounding filamentary dust. The stringy and winding dust
    appears pink in this recently released infrared image from the Webb
    Space Telescope. In visible light, this dust reflects mostly blue
    light, giving the surrounding material the familiar blue hue of a
    reflection nebula. Besides bright stars, several cool objects have been
    located in IC 348, visible because they glow brighter in infrared
    light. These objects are hypothesized to be low mass brown dwarfs.
    Evidence for this includes the detection of an unidentified atmospheric
    chemical, likely a hydrocarbon, seen previously in the atmosphere of
    Saturn. These objects appear to have masses slightly greater than known
    planets, only a few times greater than Jupiter. Together, these
    indicate that this young star cluster contains something noteworthy --
    young planet-mass brown dwarfs that float free, not orbiting any other
    star.

    Tomorrow's picture: almost orion
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Tuesday, January 16, 2024 00:34:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, January 17, 2024 00:25:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 17

    America and the Sea of Serenity
    Image Credit & Copyright: 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. 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. Four astronauts will venture around the Moon
    and back again on the Artemis II mission, scheduled for launch no
    earlier than September 2025.

    Tomorrow's picture: geomagnetic stormy weather
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Thursday, January 18, 2024 00:16:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Friday, January 19, 2024 01:10:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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+¼lien 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, January 20, 2024 00:09:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, January 21, 2024 01:12:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Tuesday, January 23, 2024 01:13:34
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Monday, January 29, 2024 00:42:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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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 Tuesday, January 30, 2024 00:34:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Wednesday, January 31, 2024 00:32:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 +▄lipko

    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 +▄nie+'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.
    NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, February 01, 2024 00:08:22
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Friday, February 02, 2024 01:41:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Saturday, February 03, 2024 00:17:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Sunday, February 04, 2024 01:31:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, February 05, 2024 01:07:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, February 06, 2024 00:25:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn; Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, February 07, 2024 05:49:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
    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 Thursday, February 08, 2024 01:19:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, February 09, 2024 00:25:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Saturday, February 10, 2024 02:37:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Sunday, February 11, 2024 01:07:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, February 12, 2024 00:25:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Tuesday, February 13, 2024 00:49:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
    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 Thursday, February 15, 2024 01:08:10
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Friday, February 16, 2024 00:12:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, February 17, 2024 00:17:38
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Sunday, February 18, 2024 01:05:52
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 18
    A nearly perfect circular ring of blue stars is seen against a dark
    field of small background galaxies. In the center of the ring is a ball
    of yellow stars. Please see the explanation for more detailed
    information.

    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 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: sideways sun
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Monday, February 19, 2024 06:03:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, February 20, 2024 00:37:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 AM1054-325C╟╓s
    yellowish body due to the other galaxyC╟╓s 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 Wednesday, February 21, 2024 00:03:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Thursday, February 22, 2024 00:11:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Friday, February 23, 2024 03:17:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Saturday, February 24, 2024 00:06:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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, OdysseusC╟╓ 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)
    NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, February 25, 2024 00:32:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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+ø, both located about 30
    kilometers north of Iceland's capital Reykjav+ík. 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 Monday, February 26, 2024 00:48:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 ESAC╟╓s 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 Tuesday, February 27, 2024 00:19:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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+¼phane Vetter (Nuits sacr+¼es)

    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.
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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, February 28, 2024 10:10:00
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Thursday, February 29, 2024 00:30:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Friday, March 01, 2024 01:25:16
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 CSIROC╟╓s 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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Saturday, March 02, 2024 00:11:02
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 2

    Odysseus on the Moon
    Image Credit: Intuitive Machines

    Explanation: Methalox rocket engine firing, Odysseus' landing legs
    absorb first contact with the lunar surface in this wide-angle snapshot
    from a camera on board the robotic Intuitive Machines Nova-C moon
    lander. Following the landing on February 22, broken landing legs,
    visible in the image, ultimately left the lander at rest but tilted.
    Odysseus' gentle lean into a sloping lunar surface preserved the phone
    booth-sized lander's ability to operate, collect solar power, and
    return images and data to Earth. Its exact landing site in the Moon's
    far south polar region was imaged by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance
    Orbiter. Donated by NASA, the American flag seen on the lander's
    central panel is 1970 Apollo program flight hardware.

    Tomorrow's picture: behind the 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 Sunday, March 03, 2024 00:52:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Monday, March 04, 2024 00:10:42
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 4
    Numerous thin pillars of light connect a landscape filled with snow to
    a star filled sky. The Big Dipper can be seen through the colorful
    pillars. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

    Light Pillars Over Inner Mongolia
    Image Credit & Copyright: N. D. Liao

    Explanation: What's happening across that field? Pictured here are not
    auroras but nearby light pillars, a phenomenon typically much closer.
    In most places on Earth, a lucky viewer can see a Sun pillar, a column
    of light appearing to extend up from the Sun caused by flat fluttering
    ice-crystals reflecting sunlight from the upper atmosphere. Usually,
    these ice crystals evaporate before reaching the ground. During
    freezing temperatures, however, flat fluttering ice crystals may form
    near the ground in a form of light snow sometimes known as a crystal
    fog. These ice crystals may then reflect ground lights in columns not
    unlike a Sun pillar. The featured image was taken last month across the
    Wulan Butong Grasslands in Inner Mongolia, China.

    Tomorrow's picture: star painters
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Tuesday, March 05, 2024 01:19:32
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Wednesday, March 06, 2024 01:08:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, March 07, 2024 01:00:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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.
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, March 08, 2024 00:29:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    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 Saturday, March 09, 2024 00:17:30
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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+ølek / 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 Sunday, March 10, 2024 00:12:18
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Monday, March 11, 2024 00:37:50
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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+ølek / 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
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    NASA Science Activation
    & Michigan Tech. U.

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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 00:58:56
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Wednesday, March 13, 2024 00:38:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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
    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 Thursday, March 14, 2024 00:21:06
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 14

    Moon Pi 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 Pi 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, 2020, 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. Again Pi radians from the Sun, on March 25 the Full
    Moon will dim slightly as it glides through Earth's outer shadow in a
    penumbral lunar eclipse.

    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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  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Friday, March 15, 2024 00:39:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Saturday, March 16, 2024 00:46:40
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Sunday, March 17, 2024 01:22:04
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Monday, March 18, 2024 00:26:14
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Tuesday, March 19, 2024 11:29:12
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 19
    The sun sets in the distance at the horizon end of a long road over
    open country. The sunset is very orange, as is the surrounding sky.
    Telephone poles line the right side of the road. Please see the
    explanation for more detailed information.

    A Picturesque Equinox Sunset
    Image Credit & Copyright: Alan Dyer, Amazingsky.com, TWAN

    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, in some parts of the world
    (tomorrow in others), is one of those days: an equinox. Not only is
    this 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. Displayed
    here is a picturesque rural road in Alberta, Canada that runs
    approximately east-west. The featured image was taken during the
    September Equinox of 2021, but the geometry remains the same every
    year. 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: the eyes of march
    __________________________________________________________________

    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 Wednesday, March 20, 2024 00:17:28
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Thursday, March 21, 2024 04:33:08
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Friday, March 22, 2024 01:34:20
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Saturday, March 23, 2024 07:09:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Sunday, March 24, 2024 01:59:46
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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 Monday, March 25, 2024 00:18:58
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 00:04:36
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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/PonsC╟⌠Brooks 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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    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to All on Thursday, March 28, 2024 00:10:44
    Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the 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)