APOD: 2022 July 7 - The NGC 6914 Complex Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, 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 skyscapefeaturesstars, dust, and glowing gasin the vicinity of NGC 6914.Theinterstellar complex of nebulaelies some 6,000 light-years away,toward the high-flying northern constellationCygnus and the plane of ourMilky Way Galaxy.Obscuring interstellar dust clouds appear insilhouette while reddish hydrogenemission nebulae,along with the dusty bluereflection nebulae,fill the cosmic canvas.Ultraviolet radiation from the massive, hot, young stars of the extensiveCygnus OB2association ionize the region's atomichydrogen gas, producingthe characteristic red glow as protons and electrons recombine.Embedded Cygnus OB2 stars also provide theblue starlight strongly reflected by the dust clouds.The over 1 degree wide telescopic field of view spansabout 100 light-years at the estimated distance of NGC 6914. Tomorrow's picture: star treels<| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip NewmanSpecific rights apply.NASA WebPrivacy Policy and Important NoticesA service of:ASD atNASA /GSFC& Michigan Tech. U.
APOD: 2022 July 5 - A Molten Galaxy Einstein Ring Galaxy Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, 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...
APOD: 2022 July 4 - Strawberry Supermoon Over Devils Saddle Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, 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 horizonthe 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 howred the Sun can look while low on the horizon.The featured montage was taken from Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy, the day after June'sStrawberry Moon, a full moon dubbed a supermoon due toits 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'sdense and dusty atmosphere shifted the moonlight fromstrawberry red through honey-colored and paler yellowish hues.That change seems appropriate for a northern June Full Moonalso known as theStrawberry orHoney Moon.A Thunder Supermoon -- the third of four supermoons in 2022...
APOD: 2022 July 3 - Phobos: Doomed Moon of Mars Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, 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 theRoman god of war, has two tiny moons,Phobos andDeimos, whosenames are derived from the Greek for Fear andPanic.These martian moons may well be capturedasteroidsoriginating in the main asteroid belt between Mars andJupiteror perhaps from even more distant reaches of our Solar System.The larger moon, Phobos, is indeed seento be a cratered, asteroid-like object in thisstunning 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 kilometersfor our Moon - that gravitationaltidal 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 <| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip NewmanSpecific rights apply.NASA WebPrivacy Policy and Important...
APOD: 2022 July 2 - Solargraphic Analemmas Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, 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 reachingits northernmost declination for the year.That would put it at the top of each of these threefigure-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 theremarkable image though.Using a pinhole camera fixed to face southduring the period June 26, 2021 to June 26, 2022,the image was formed directly on a single sheet of photographic paper, atechnique known as solargraphy.The three analemmas are the result of briefly exposing the photopaper 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 Sunfrom daily exposures made every 15 minutes.Over the year-longsolargraphic photo opportunityclouds blocking the Sun during the pinhole exposures createdthe dark gaps. Tomorrow's picture: doomed moon of Mars<| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors:...
APOD: 2022 July 1 - The Solar System's Planet Trails Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, 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 inthis postcard froma rotating planet.The timelapse image is constructed from consecutive exposures madeover nearly three hours with a camera fixed to a tripod besidethe Forbidden City in Beijing, China on June 24.Arcing above the eastern horizon after the series ofexposures began,a waning crescent Moon left the brightest streak and watery reflection.On that date theplanets of the Solar Systemwere alsolined up along the eclipticand left their own trails before sunrise. Saturn was first to rise on that morning and the ringed planet's trailstarts 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 twilightnear the horizon at the far left.Uranus and Neptune are faint and hard to find,but mingled with the star trails theSolar System'splanet trails are all labeled in the scene. Tomorrow's picture: analemmas from a can<| Archive| Submissions...
APOD: 2022 June 30 - Comet C 2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, 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, cometC/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS)shares this widetelescopic field of view with open star cluster IC 4665 and bright starBeta Ophiuchi, near a starry edge of the Milky Way.On its maiden voyage to the inner Solar Systemfrom the dim anddistant Oort cloud,this comet PanSTARRS was initially spotted over five years ago,in May 2017.Then it was themost distant active inbound cometever found,discovered when it was some 2.4 billion kilometers from the Sun.That put it between theorbital distancesof Uranus and Saturn.Hubble Space Telescopeobservations indicatedthe comet had a large nucleus less than 18 kilometers in diameter. Now visible insmall telescopes C/2017 K2will make its closest approachto planet Earth on July 14 and closest approach to the Sun this December.Its extended coma and developing tail areseen here at a distance of some 290 million kilometers, a mere16 light-minutes away. Tomorrow's picture: solar system trails<| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD|...
APOD: 2022 June 29 - Solar System Family Portrait Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, 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...
APOD: 2022 June 28 - Mercury from Passing BepiColombo Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, 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...
APOD: 2022 June 27 - The Gum Nebula over Snowy Mountains Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, 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 evadesnotice 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 cameraand from the same location in Shangri-La, Yunnan, China.The Gum Nebula is so close that we are only about450 light-years from the front edge, while about 1,500 light-years from the back edge.Named for a cosmic cloud hunter, Australian astronomerColin Stanley Gum(1924-1960), the origin of this complexnebula is still being debated.A leading theory...
APOD: 2022 June 26 - Light Echoes from V838 Mon Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, 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...
APOD: 2022 June 25 - Planets of the Solar System Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe isfeatured, 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: Simultaneousimages from four cameras were combined to construct thisatmospheric predawn skyscape.The cooperative astro-panoramacaptures all theplanets of the Solar System,just before sunrise on June 24.That foggy morning found innermost planet Mercury close to the horizonbut just visible against the twilight, below and left of brilliant Venus.Along with the waning crescent Moon, the otherbright naked-eye planets,Mars, Jupiter, and Saturnlie near the ecliptic, arcing up and to the right acrossthe wide field of view.Binoculars would have been required to spot the much fainterplanets Uranus and Neptune, thoughthey also were along the ecliptic in the sky.In the foreground are excavations at an ancient Roman villa nearMarina di San Nicola, Italy,planet Earth. Tomorrow's picture: echo monoceros<| Archive| Submissions | Index| Search| Calendar| RSS| Education| About APOD| Discuss| > Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)NASA Official: Phillip NewmanSpecific rights apply.NASA WebPrivacy Policy and Important NoticesA service of:ASD atNASA /GSFC& Michigan Tech....