Posts Tagged ‘astronomy’
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Boston Moonrise Image Credit & Copyright: Dennis Di Cicco (TWAN) Explanation: Last week's Full Moon was hard to miss. Rising on March 19, its exact full phase occurred within an hour of perigee, the closest point in the Moon's orbit to Earth. As a result it appeared some 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than a Full Moon near apogee, the most distant point in the elliptical lunar orbit. Seen here, the near perigee Full Moon still hugs the horizon, distorted by ... Full Story
Astronomy Picture of the Day
MWC 922: The Red Square Nebula Credit & Copyright: Peter Tuthill (Sydney U.) & James Lloyd (Cornell) Explanation: What could cause a nebula to appear square? No one is quite sure. The hot star system known as MWC 922, however, appears to be embedded in a nebula with just such a shape. The above image combines infraredexposures from the Hale Telescope on Mt. Palomar in California, and the Keck-2 Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. A leading progenitor hypothesis for ... Full Story
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Messier 106 Image Credit & Copyright: R Jay Gabany Explanation: Close to the Great Bear (Ursa Major) and surrounded by the stars of the Hunting Dogs (Canes Venatici), this celestial wonder was discovered in 1781 by the metric French astronomer Pierre Mechain. Later, it was added to the catalog of his friend and colleague Charles Messier as M106. Modern deep telescopic views reveal it to be an island universe -- a spiral galaxy around 30 thousand light-years ... Full Story
Astronomy Picture of the Day
NGC 3621: Far Beyond the Local Group Credit & Copyright: Robert Gendler Explanation: Far beyond the local group of galaxies lies NGC 3621, some 22 million light-years away. Found in the multi-headed southern constellation Hydra, the winding spiral arms of this gorgeous island universe are loaded with luminous young star clusters and dark dust lanes. Still, for earthbound astronomers NGC 3621 is not just another pretty face-on spiral galaxy. Some of ... Full Story
Astronomy Picture of the Day
eta Oph: Runaway Star Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, WISE Team 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 from the WISE spacecraft. 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 top at 24 kilometers per second. Its strong stellar wind ... Full Story
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Sideways Galaxy NGC 3628 Image Credit & Copyright: Ken Crawford (Rancho Del Sol Obs.) Explanation: Dark dust lanes cut across the middle of this gorgeous island universe, a strong hint that NGC 3628 is a spiral galaxy seen sideways. About 35 million light-years away in the northern springtime constellation Leo, NGC 3628 bears the distinction of being the only member of the well known Leo triplet of galaxies not in Charles Messier's famous catalog. Otherwise similar in ... Full Story
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Mirach's Ghost Credit & Copyright: Anthony Ayiomamitis (TWAN) Explanation: As far as ghosts go, Mirach's Ghost isn't really that scary. In fact, Mirach's Ghost is just a faint, fuzzy galaxy, well known to astronomers, that happens to be seen nearly along the line-of-sight to Mirach, a bright star. Centered in this star field, Mirach is also called Beta Andromedae. About 200 light-years distant, Mirach is a red giant star, cooler than the Sun but much larger and so ... Full Story
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Dust Pillar of the Carina Nebula Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI) Explanation: Inside the head of this interstellar monster is a star that is slowly destroying it. The monster, on the right, is actually an inanimate pillar of gas and dust that measures over a light year in length. The star, not itself visible through the opaque dust, is bursting out partly by ejecting energetic beams of particles. Similar epic ... Full Story
Astronomy Picture of the Day
NGC 4755: A Jewel Box of Stars Credit & Copyright: Dieter Willasch (Astro-Cabinet) Explanation: The great variety of star colors in this open cluster underlies its name: The Jewel Box. One of the bright central stars is a red supergiant, in contrast to the many blue stars that surround it. The cluster, also known as Kappa Crucis contains just over 100 stars, and is about 10 million years old. Open clusters are younger, contain few stars, and contain a much higher ... Full Story
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Mare Orientale Credit: NASA / GSFC / Arizona State Univ. / Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Explanation: Shaped like a target ring bull's-eye, the Mare Orientale is one of the most striking large scale lunar features. Located on the Moon's extreme western edge, it is unfortunately difficult to see from an earthbound perspective. Still, this mosaic of the multi-ring impact basin, the youngest of the large lunar basins shows off intriguing details (full resolution mosaic), ... Full Story
