Showing posts with label nasa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nasa. Show all posts

Friday, April 17, 2015

Barnard Stares at NGC 2170

Barnard Stares at NGC 2170: APOD: 2013 January 19 - Barnard Stares at NGC 2170


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2013 January 19


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: A gaze across a cosmic skyscape, this telescopic mosaic reveals the continuous beauty of things that are. The evocative scene spans some 6 degrees or 12 Full Moons in planet Earth's sky. At the left, folds of red, glowing gas are a small part of an immense, 300 light-year wide arc. Known as Barnard's loop, the structure is too faint to be seen with the eye, shaped by long gone supernova explosions and the winds from massive stars, and still traced by the light of hydrogen atoms. Barnard's loop lies about 1,500 light-years away roughly centered on the Great Orion Nebula, a stellar nursery along the edge of Orion's molecular clouds. But beyond lie other fertile star fields in the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. At the right, the long-exposure composite finds NGC 2170, a dusty complex of nebulae near a neighboring molecular cloud some 2,400 light-years distant.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 11:54 AM 0 comments
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The Antikythera Mechanism

The Antikythera Mechanism: APOD: 2013 January 20 - The Antikythera Mechanism


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2013 January 20


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
The Antikythera Mechanism

Credit & License: Wikipedia
Explanation: What is it? It was found at the bottom of the sea aboard an ancient Greek ship. Its seeming complexity has prompted decades of study, although some of its functions remained unknown. X-ray images of the device have confirmed the nature of the Antikythera mechanism, and discovered several surprising functions. The Antikythera mechanism has been discovered to be a mechanical computer of an accuracy thought impossible in 80 BC, when the ship that carried it sank. Such sophisticated technology was not thought to be developed by humanity for another 1,000 years. Its wheels and gears create a portable orrery of the sky that predicted star and planet locations as well as lunar and solar eclipses. The Antikythera mechanism, shown above, is 33 centimeters high and therefore similar in size to a large book.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 11:53 AM 0 comments
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ISS and the Summer Milky Way

ISS and the Summer Milky Way: APOD: 2013 January 24 - ISS and the Summer Milky Way


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2013 January 24


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: Clouds on a summer night frame this sea and skyscape, recorded earlier this month near Buenos Aires, Argentina. But planet Earth's clouds are not the only clouds on the scene. Starry clouds and nebulae along the southern hemisphere's summer Milky Way arc above the horizon, including the dark Coal Sack near the Southern Cross and the tantalizing pinkish glow of the Carina Nebula. Both the Large (top center) and Small Magellanic Clouds are also in view, small galaxies in their own right and satellites of the Milky Way up to 200,000 light-years distant. Alpha star of the Carina constellation and second brightest star in Earth's night, Canopus shines above about 300 light-years away. Still glinting in sunlight at an altitude of 400 kilometers, the orbiting International Space Station traces a long streak through the single, 5 minute, star-tracking exposure.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 11:51 AM 0 comments
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Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 4945

Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 4945: APOD: 2013 January 23 - Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 4945


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2013 January 23


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 4945

Image Credit & Copyright: SSRO-South, J. Harvey, S. Mazlin, D. Verschatse, J. Joaquin Perez, (UNC/CTIO/PROMPT)
Explanation: Large spiral galaxy NGC 4945 is seen edge-on near the center of this cosmic galaxy portrait. In fact, NGC 4945 is almost the size of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Its own dusty disk, young blue star clusters, and pink star forming regions standout in the sharp, colorful telescopic image. 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 the 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 likely home to a central supermassive black hole.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 11:50 AM 0 comments
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Alaskan Moondogs

Alaskan Moondogs: APOD: 2013 January 26 - Alaskan Moondogs


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2013 January 26


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: Moonlight illuminates a snowy scene in this night land and skyscape made on January 17 from Lower Miller Creek, Alaska, USA. Overexposed near the mountainous western horizon is the first quarter Moon itself, surrounded by an icy halo and flanked left and right by moondogs. Sometimes called mock moons, a more scientific name for the luminous apparitions is paraselenae (plural). Analogous to a sundog or parhelion, a paraselene is produced by moonlight refracted through thin, hexagonal, plate-shaped ice crystals in high cirrus clouds. As determined by the crystal geometry, paraselenae are seen at an angle of 22 degrees or more from the Moon. Compared to the bright lunar disk, paraselenae are faint and easier to spot when the Moon is low.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 11:49 AM 0 comments
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In the Center of the Trifid Nebula

In the Center of the Trifid Nebula: APOD: 2013 January 28 - In the Center of the Trifid Nebula


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2013 January 28


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
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. Mountains of opaque dust appear on the right, 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, also known as M20, is only about 300,000 years old, making it among the youngest emission nebulae known. The nebula lies about 9,000 light years away and the part pictured here spans about 10 light years. The above image is a composite with luminance taken from an image by the 8.2-m ground-based Subaru Telescope, detail provided by the 2.4-m orbiting Hubble Space Telescope, color data provided by Martin Pugh and image assembly and processing provided by Robert Gendler.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 11:48 AM 0 comments
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One-Armed Spiral Galaxy NGC 4725

One-Armed Spiral Galaxy NGC 4725: APOD: 2015 April 16 - One-Armed Spiral Galaxy NGC 4725


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2015 April 16



See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: While most spiral galaxies, including our own Milky Way, have two or more spiral arms, NGC 4725 has only one. In this sharp color composite image, the solo spira mirabilis seems to wind from a prominent ring of bluish, newborn star clusters and red tinted star forming regions. The odd galaxy also sports obscuring dust lanes a yellowish central bar structure composed of an older population of stars. NGC 4725 is over 100 thousand light-years across and lies 41 million light-years away in the well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. Computer simulations of the formation of single spiral arms suggest that they can be either leading or trailing arms with respect to a galaxy's overall rotation. Also included in the frame, sporting a noticably more traditional spiral galaxy look, is a more distant background galaxy.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 11:46 AM 0 comments
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Thursday, April 16, 2015

TRIFIDI NEBULA ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

TRIFIDI NEBULA ACROSS THE UNIVERSE :
TRIFIDI NEBULA ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
TRIFIDI NEBULA ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
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In the Center of the Trifid Nebula

In the Center of the Trifid Nebula: APOD: 2013 January 28 - In the Center of the Trifid Nebula


Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2013 January 28


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
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. Mountains of opaque dust appear on the right, 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, also known as M20, is only about 300,000 years old, making it among the youngest emission nebulae known. The nebula lies about 9,000 light years away and the part pictured here spans about 10 light years. The above image is a composite with luminance taken from an image by the 8.2-m ground-based Subaru Telescope, detail provided by the 2.4-m orbiting Hubble Space Telescope, color data provided by Martin Pugh and image assembly and processing provided by Robert Gendler.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 12:05 PM 0 comments
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NGC 4372 and the Dark Doodad

NGC 4372 and the Dark Doodad: APOD: 2013 January 31 - NGC 4372 and the Dark Doodad


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2013 January 31
See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: The delightful Dark Doodad Nebula drifts through southern skies, a tantalizing target for binoculars in the constellation Musca, The Fly. The dusty cosmic cloud is seen against rich starfields just south of the prominent Coalsack Nebula and the Southern Cross. Stretching for about 3 degrees across this scene the Dark Doodad seems punctuated at its southern tip (lower left) by 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.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 12:05 PM 0 comments
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Atlas V Launches TDRS-K

Atlas V Launches TDRS-K: APOD: 2013 February 1 - Atlas V Launches TDRS-K


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2013 February 1


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: Beyond a fertile field of satellite communication antennas at Kennedy Space Center, an Atlas V rocket streaks into orbit in this long exposure photograph. In the thoughtfully composed image recorded on the evening of January 30, the antennas in the foreground bring to mind the rocket's payload, a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS; sounds like TEE-dress). This TDRS-K is the first in a next-generation series adding to the constellation of NASA's communication satellites. Operating from geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles (36,000 kilometers) above planet Earth, the network of TDRS satellites relays communications, data, and commands between spacecraft and ground stations. Formerly the TDRS network provided communications for space shuttle missions. In fact, many TDRS satellites were ferried as far as low Earth orbit on space shuttles. The TDRS network continues to support major spacecraft like the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 12:04 PM 0 comments
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Herschel's Andromeda

Herschel's Andromeda: APOD: 2013 February 2 - Herschel's Andromeda


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2013 February 2


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: This infrared view from the Herschel Space Observatory explores the Andromeda Galaxy, the closest large spiral galaxy to our own Milky Way. Only 2.5 million light-years distant, the famous island universe is also known to astronomers as M31. Andromeda spans over 200,000 light-years making it more than twice the size of the Milky Way. Shown in false color, the image data reveal the cool dust lanes and clouds that still shine in the infrared but are otherwise dark and opaque at visual wavelengths. Red hues near the galaxy's outskirts represent the glow of dust heated by starlight to a few tens of degrees above absolute zero. Blue colors correspond to hotter dust warmed by stars in the more crowded central core. Also a tracer of molecular gas, the dust highlights Andromeda's prodigious reservoir of raw material for future star formation.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 12:03 PM 0 comments
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The Arms of M106

The Arms of M106: APOD: 2013 February 6 - The Arms of M106


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2013 February 6


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: The spiral arms of bright galaxy M106 sprawl through this remarkable multiframe portrait, composed of data from ground- and space-based telescopes. Also known as NGC 4258, M106 can be found toward the northern constellation Canes Venatici. The well-measured distance to M106 is 23.5 million light-years, making this cosmic scene about 80,000 light-years across. Typical in grand spiral galaxies, dark dust lanes, youthful blue star clusters, and pinkish star forming regions trace spiral arms that converge on the bright nucleus of older yellowish stars. But this detailed composite reveals hints of two anomalous arms that don't align with the more familiar tracers. Seen here in red hues, sweeping filaments of glowing hydrogen gas seem to rise from the central region of M106, evidence of energetic jets of material blasting into the galaxy's disk. The jets are likely powered by matter falling into a massive central black hole.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 12:03 PM 0 comments
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Comet Lemmon near the South Celestial Pole

Comet Lemmon near the South Celestial Pole: APOD: 2013 February 7 - Comet Lemmon near the South Celestial Pole


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2013 February 7


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: Currently sweeping through southern skies, Comet Lemmon (C/2012 F6) was named for its discovery last year as part of the Mount Lemmon (Arizona) Survey. Brighter than expected but still just below naked-eye visibility, Comet Lemmon sports a stunning lime green coma and faint divided tail in this telescopic image from February 4. The greenish tint comes from the coma's diatomic C2 gas fluorescing in sunlight. Captured from an observatory near Sydney, Australia, the color composite is constructed from a series of individual exposures registered on the comet. Across the 1 degree wide field of view, the star trails are a consequence of the comet's relatively rapid motion against the background of stars near the South Celestial Pole. Moving north, the comet should grow brighter, reaching a peak (3rd magnitude or so) when it is closest to the Sun in late March. By early April it should be visible from the northern hemisphere. Of course, this year Comet Lemmon may be just another pretty comet as skygazers on planet Earth also eagerly anticipate views of Comet PANSTARRS and Comet ISON.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 12:02 PM 0 comments
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NGC 6822: Barnard's Galaxy

NGC 6822: Barnard's Galaxy: APOD: 2013 February 8 - NGC 6822: Barnard's Galaxy


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2013 February 8


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
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. About 7,000 light-years across, the dwarf irregular galaxy is seen to be filled with young blue stars and mottled with the telltale pinkish hydrogen glow of star forming regions in the deep color composite image. Contributing to the science of LITTLE THINGS, this portrait of a small galaxy was made as part of the Lowell Amateur Research Initiative (LARI), welcoming collaborations with amateur astronomers.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 12:02 PM 0 comments
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Asteroids in the Distance

Asteroids in the Distance: APOD: 2013 February 10 - Asteroids in the Distance


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2013 February 10


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Asteroids in the Distance

Image Credit: R. Evans & K. Stapelfeldt (JPL), WFPC2, HST, NASA
Explanation: Rocks from space hit Earth every day. The larger the rock, though, the less often Earth is struck. Many kilograms of space dust pitter to Earth daily. Larger bits appear initially as a bright meteor. Baseball-sized rocks and ice-balls streak through our atmosphere daily, most evaporating quickly to nothing. Significant threats do exist for rocks near 100 meters in diameter, which strike the Earth roughly every 1000 years. An object this size could cause significant tsunamis were it to strike an ocean, potentially devastating even distant shores. A collision with a massive asteroid, over 1 km across, is more rare, occurring typically millions of years apart, but could have truly global consequences. Many asteroids remain undiscovered. In fact, one was discovered in 1998 as the long blue streak in the above archival image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Further, just last year the 50-meter wide asteroid 2012 DA14 was discovered that will pass inside the orbit of Earth's geosynchronous satellites this coming Friday. A collision with a large asteroid would not affect Earth's orbit so much as raise dust that would affect Earth's climate. One likely result is a global extinction of many species of life, possibly dwarfing the ongoing extinction occurring now.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 12:02 PM 0 comments
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N11: Star Clouds of the LMC

N11: Star Clouds of the LMC:

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2013 February 11


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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 Clouds (LMC). The above image was taken for scientific purposes by the Hubble Space Telescope and reprocessed for artistry by an amateur to win the Hubble's Hidden Treasures competition. Although the section imaged above is known as NGC 1763, the entire N11 emission nebula is second in LMC size only to 30 Doradus. Studying the stars in N11 has shown that it actually houses three successive generations of star formation. Compact globules of dark dust housing emerging young stars are also visible around the image.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 12:01 PM 0 comments
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Shadows Across Jupiter

Shadows Across Jupiter: APOD: 2013 February 15 - Shadows Across Jupiter


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2013 February 15


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: Two dark shadows loom across the banded and mottled cloud tops of Jupiter in this sharp telescopic view. In fact, captured on January 3rd, about a month after the ruling gas giant appeared at opposition in planet Earth's sky, the scene includes the shadow casters. Visible in remarkable detail at the left are the large Galilean moons Ganymede (top) and Io. With the two moon shadows still in transit, Jupiter's rapid rotation has almost carried its famous Great Red Spot (GRS) around the planet's limb from the right. The pale GRS was preceded by the smaller but similar hued Oval BA, dubbed Red Spot Jr., near top center. North is down in the inverted image.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 12:00 PM 0 comments
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M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy in Dust and Stars

M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy in Dust and Stars: APOD: 2013 February 24 - M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy in Dust and Stars





Discover the cosmos!
Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is
featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.


2013 February 24


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy in Dust and Stars
Image Credit: N. Scoville
(Caltech), T. Rector
(U. Alaska, NOAO)
et al., Hubble Heritage Team,
NASA
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 above
image
is a digital combination of a ground-based image from the
0.9-meter telescope at
Kitt Peak National Observatory
and a space-based image from the
Hubble Space Telescope highlighting sharp features normally too red to be seen.

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 a
smaller galaxy just off the top of the image.





Ask Me Anything:
APOD Editor to
answer questions on reddit at 11 am EST this Thursday
Posted by Nelio Inacio at 11:58 AM 0 comments
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Fly Me to the Moons

Fly Me to the Moons: APOD: 2013 February 25 - Fly Me to the Moons


Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2013 February 25


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation: Sometimes the Moon is a busy direction. Last week, for example, our very Moon passed in front of the planet Jupiter. While capturing this unusual spectacle from New South Wales, Australia, a quick-thinking astrophotographer realized that a nearby plane might itself pass in front of the Moon, and so quickly reset his camera to take a continuous series of short duration shots. As hoped, for a brief instant, that airplane, the Moon, and Jupiter were all visible in a single exposure, which is shown above. But the project was not complete -- a longer exposure was then taken to bring up three of the Jupiter's own moons: Io, Calisto, and Europa (from left to right). Unfortunately, this triple spectacle soon disappeared. Less than a second later, the plane flew away from the Moon. A few seconds after that, the Moon moved to cover all of Jupiter. A few minutes after that, Jupiter reappeared on the other side of the Moon, and even a few minutes after that the Moon moved completely away from Jupiter. Although hard to catch, planes cross in front of the Moon quite frequently, but the Moon won't eclipse Jupiter again for another three years.

Posted by Nelio Inacio at 11:57 AM 0 comments
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