Astronomy Picture Of the Day (APOD)
The Helix Nebula from CFHT28.08.2000
One day our Sun may look like this. The Helix Nebula is the closest example of a planetary nebula 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.
Orion's Horsehead Nebula
27.08.2000
The Horsehead Nebula is one of the most famous nebulae on the sky. It is visible as the black indentation to the red emission nebula seen just to the right of center of the above photograph. The bright star near the center is located in the belt of the familiar constellation of Orion.
Mir Dreams
26.08.2000
This dream-like image of Mir was recorded by astronauts as the Space Shuttle Atlantis approached the Russian space station prior to docking during the STS-76 mission. Sporting spindly appendages and solar panels...
Folding Europa
25.08.2000
Astypalaea Linea on Jovian ice moon Europa is the broad smooth region running through these images recorded by the Galileo spacecraft in 1998. The pictures are different computer processed versions of the same mosaic -- on the left, small scale details have been enhanced while on the right, large scale features are emphasized.
Eros At Sunset
24.08.2000
Gleaming in the rays of the setting sun, boulders litter the rugged surface of asteroid 433 Eros. The brightest boulder, at the edge of the large, shadowy crater near this picture's bottom center, is about 30 meters (100 feet) across.
NGC 6960: The Witch's Broom Nebula
23.08.2000
Ten thousand years ago, before the dawn of recorded human history, a new light must suddenly have appeared in the night sky and faded after a few weeks. Today we know this light was an exploding star and record the colorful expanding cloud as the Veil Nebula.
NGC 2244: A Star Cluster in the Rosette Nebula
22.08.2000
In the heart of the Rosette Nebula lies a bright open cluster of stars that lights up the nebula. The stars of NGC 2244 formed from the surrounding gas only four million years ago and emit light and wind that define the nebula's appearance today
A Perseid Aurora
21.08.2000
Just after the Moon set but before the Sun rose in the early morning hours of August 12, meteors pelted the Earth from the direction of the constellation Perseus, while ions pelted the Earth from the Sun.
The Surface of Titan
20.08.2000
If sailing the hydrocarbon seas of Titan, beware of gasoline rain. Such might be a travel advisory issued one future day for adventurers visiting Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. New images of Titan's surface were released last week from the Canada-France Hawaii Telescope featuring the finest details yet resolved.
ROSAT Explores The X-Ray Sky
19.08.2000
Launched in 1990, the orbiting ROSAT observatory explored the Universe by viewing the entire sky in x-rays -- photons with about 1,000 times more energy than visible light. This ROSAT survey produced the sharpest, most sensitive image of the x-ray sky to date.
|
January February March April May June July August September October November December |