Astronomy Picture of the Day . The Moon Entering Earth s Shadow . ... 9.10.2015 . ... Credit Copyright: Thodoris Tzalavras Explanation: On September 27/28, from all over the planet's nightside moon watchers enjoyed a total lunar eclipse. ... Entering Earth's shadow, the Moon grew dimmer and its moontrail narrower as the eclipse progressed. ... NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers . ... Publications with keywords: lunar eclipse . Publications with words: lunar eclipse . ...
... In the Center of the Trifid Nebula . ... Credit Copyright: Subaru Telescope ( NAOJ ), Hubble Space Telescope , Martin Pugh ; Processing: Robert Gendler Explanation: Clouds of glowing gas mingle with dust lanes in the Trifid Nebula , a star forming region toward the constellation of the Archer ( Sagittarius ). In the center, the three prominent dust lanes that give the Trifid its name all come together. ... NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers . NASA Official: Jay Norris. ...
... 12.10.2015 . ... Of course the brighter stars show diffraction spikes , the commonly seen effect of internal supports in reflecting telescopes , and lie well within our own Milky Way galaxy . ... The galaxy seemingly tangled in the dust is the striking spiral galaxy NGC 7497 some 60 million light-years away. Seen almost edge-on near the center of the field, NGC 7497's own spiral arms and dust lanes echo the colors of the Milky Way's stars and dust . ... Publications with keywords: spiral galaxy . ...
Astronomy Picture of the Day . ... 16.10.2015 . ... Credit Copyright: Babak Tafreshi ( TWAN ) Explanation: Stars come out as evening twilight fades in this serene skyscape following the Persian proverb "Night hides the world, but reveals a universe." ... On that past November night, a brilliant Venus, then the world's evening star , dominates the starry skies above. ... NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers . ... Publications with keywords: sunset . Publications with words: sunset . ...
... Normally, cloud bottoms are flat . The flatness is caused by moist warm air that rises and cools and so condenses 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. ... Publications with keywords: clouds . Publications with words: clouds . ...
... 19.10.2015 . ... Credit Copyright: Simulating Extreme Spacetimes Collaboration Explanation: What happens when two black holes collide? ... The featured video shows a computer animation of the final stages of such a merger, while highlighting the gravitational lensing effects that would appear on a background starfield . ... Eventually the two black holes coalesce . ... Publications with keywords: black hole - gravitational radiation . Publications with words: black hole - gravitational radiation . ...
Astronomy Picture of the Day . Star Factory Messier 17 . ... 22.10.2015 . ... Credit Copyright: Data - ESO / MPIA / OAC , Assembly - R.Colombari 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 . ... Publications with keywords: M 17 - star formation . Publications with words: M 17 - star formation . ... NGC 3310: A Starburst Spiral Galaxy . ... Massive Stars in NGC 6357 . ...
... 25.10.2015 . ... The sunset conjunction of Jupiter and Venus in 2012 was visible almost no matter where you lived on Earth. ... Jupiter and Venus will be at it again this week before sunrise, passing under two degree from each other -- and even with bonus planet Mars nearby. ... NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers . ... Publications with keywords: Jupiter - Venus - conjunction . Publications with words: Jupiter - Venus - conjunction . ... Comet Meets Moon and Morning Star . ...
... First, the large emission nebula dubbed IC 1805 looks, in whole, like a human heart . ... 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 energetic light and winds. ... NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers . ... Publications with keywords: Heart Nebula - emission nebula - open cluster . Publications with words: Heart Nebula - emission nebula - open cluster . ...
... Credit Copyright: Wally Pacholka ( AstroPics.com , TWAN ) Explanation: You don't have to be at Monument Valley to see the Milky Way arch across the sky like this -- but it helps. Only at Monument Valley USA would you see a picturesque foreground that includes these iconic rock peaks called buttes . Buttes are composed of hard rock left behind after water has eroded away the surrounding soft rock. ... Publications with keywords: Milky Way . Publications with words: Milky Way . ...
... Comet ISON Being Destroyed by the Sun . ... Credit Copyright: NASA , ESA , SOHO Explanation: Most comets don't survive a close encounter with the Sun. ... It is now assumed that no large fragments of Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) survived. Besides the comet, the active Sun is seen to eject puffs of plasma known as coronal mass ejections. Launched in 1995, sun-orbiting SOHO has become a historic device in the discovery and tracking of comets known as sungrazers . ... Close Comet and the Milky Way . ...
... A Quadruple Sky Over Great Salt Lake . ... 8.11.2015 . ... All in all, three children, three planets, the Moon, a star, an airplane and a mom were all captured in one image near Great Salt Lake in Utah , USA in early September of 2005. ... The easiest object to spot is the crescent Moon , which is easily the brightest sky orb in the featured image. Venus is the highest planet in the sky, with Jupiter to its right. The bright star Spica completes the quadruple just below Venus . ... 2015 2016 . ...
... Assembly of The International Space Station . ... Credit Copyright: NASA 's Johnson Space Center Explanation: It is the largest and most sophisticated object ever built off the Earth. ... The featured animation shows the piece-by-piece construction of the ISS from 1998 to 2011. ... 1997 1998 . ... 2011 2012 . ... Publications with keywords: ISS - space shuttle . Publications with words: ISS - space shuttle . ... International Space Station Transits Saturn . Earth and Milky Way from Space . ...
... An Unexpected Rocket Plume over San Francisco . ... It appeared just as the astrophotographer and his friend were photographing the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California against a more predictable night sky. ... The consensus of experienced sky observers was that the plume resulted from a rocket launch -- an explanation that was soon confirmed as an unpublicized test of a submarine-launched, unarmed, Trident II D5 nuclear missile. ... Publications with keywords: rocket - launch . ...
Astronomy Picture of the Day . Wright Mons on Pluto . ... 14.11.2015 . ... Credit Copyright: NASA , Johns Hopkins Univ./ APL , Southwest Research Institute Explanation: Long shadows are cast by a low Sun across this rugged looking terrain. ... Centered is a feature provisionally known as Wright Mons, a broad, tall mountain, about 150 kilometers across and 4 kilometers high, with a 56 kilometer wide, deep summit depression. ... November 2015 . ... Publications with keywords: Pluto - mountains . ...
... Credit Copyright: Sean M. Sabatini Explanation: There was a shower over Monument Valley -- but not water. Meteors. ... The yearly Leonids meteor shower peaks again this week. Although the Moon's glow should not obstruct the visibility of many meteors, this year's shower will peak with perhaps 15 meteors visible in an hour, a rate which is good but not expected to rival the 2001 Leonids . ... Publications with keywords: Leonids - meteors . Publications with words: Leonids - meteors . ...
... The Pelican Nebula in Gas Dust and Stars . ... 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 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. ...
Astronomy Picture of the Day . ... 19.11.2015 . ... Image Data: Hubble Space Telescope , European Southern Observatory Explanation: What's the closest active galaxy to planet Earth? ... Near the galaxy's center , left over cosmic debris is steadily being consumed by a central black hole with a billion times the mass of the Sun. As in other active galaxies , that process generates the radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray energy radiated by Centaurus A. January . ... Publications with keywords: Centaurus A . ...
... Credit Copyright: Malcolm Park ( North York Astronomical Association ) Explanation: Leonid meteors rained down on planet Earth this week, the annual shower of dusty debris from the orbit of Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle . ... Recorded with camera fixed to a tripod, the individual frames capture the bright meteor activity throughout the night of November 16/17, about a day before the shower's very modest peak . ... November . ... Publications with keywords: Leonid meteor shower . ... Leonid Meteors Streak ...
Astronomy Picture of the Day . Planets of the Morning . ... 25.11.2015 . ... Credit Copyright: Yuri Beletsky ( Carnegie Las Campanas Observatory , TWAN ) Explanation: Planet Earth's horizon stretches across this recent Solar System group portrait, seen from the southern hemisphere's Las Campanas Observatory. Taken before dawn it traces the ecliptic with a line-up familiar to November's early morning risers. ... November 2015 . ... NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers . ...