Sunday, April 30, 2017

Final Tour



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us a view from Cassini's final tour of Saturn space. Wow. Just wow.

Saturday, April 29, 2017

Arches



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us the spring arches: the Milky Way and the Zodiacal Light (still a quest for me!).

Friday, April 28, 2017

Spooky Action Close Up



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day uses multiple telescopes to study the Antennae. After you're done staring at the image, think about what it might be like to be inside an "interacting" region.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Dust in the Lyra



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a downfall of Lyrid meteors. "Mouseover" the image in the link for a constellation guide.

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Grand Finale



A good rundown on the final legs of the Cassini Orbiter's journey around Saturn.

Etna



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows an eruption at Mount Etna and star trails in the infinite universe.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

The Cometeers Approach



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Comet C/2017 E4 (Lovejoy) and it's recently developed split ion tail.

Monday, April 24, 2017

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Quantum Dots



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is the sort where you need to spend time on the site reading the text. Ponder on.

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Blue Dot



Everyone you know is encompassed in today's Astronomy Picture of the Day. Cassini snaps an image of Earth captured in the ring gaps of Saturn.

Friday, April 21, 2017

Star Dust



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us dusty lanes in NGC 4302 and NGC 4298. How many other galaxies can you spot in the picture?

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Tumbling Dice



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a series of radar images of Asteroid 2014 JO24. A "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid", it's probably prudent to collect data on this whirling bullet.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Phospor



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day has phosphorescent glows above and below. Growing up with the sea-related stories by Arthur C. Clarke, his descriptions of glowing plankton and the Milky Way of the southern hemisphere fascinated me. I hope to someday see both!

Monday, April 17, 2017

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Plumes



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day illuminates recent discoveries by the hard-working Cassini orbiter around Saturn. Does life lurk under the seas of Enceladus?

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Station to Station (to Station)



Comparisons between Mir, the International Space Station and Tianhe-1 (possibly not the ultimate name). Alas, no earlier stations in the mix.

You Could Phone a Friend



Another look on how to get to Proxima B, thanks to Douglas Adams.

Friday, April 14, 2017

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Five



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a chance encounter between five moons and two planets.

First Up



A fascinating look at our first trip into space. Yuri Gagarian survived thanks to good engineering overcoming haste and workmanship. Luckily!

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Triplet



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is the Leo Triplet, riding high in the spring sky. Ah, spring, time of the Messier Marathon!

Monday, April 10, 2017

Tunneling



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a "tunnel" drilling the way through the cosmic microwave background.

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Hale-Bopp



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1), which dazzled us in 1997. Currently there are three (!) binocular comets in the sky, so get out and take a look!

Saturday, April 8, 2017

The Runaways



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows Zeta Ophiuchi as it hurtles through the galaxy. Runaway stars are dangerous things. You never know who is at the controls.

Friday, April 7, 2017

Dipper



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us the Big Dipper from inside the ruins of a castle. "Mouseover" the image in the link for a guide.

Barnard's Loop



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day takes a look at LDN 1633 and Barnard's Loop. Dust, gas and birthing stars, oh my!

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Filaments



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows active galaxy NGC 1275. Could be a special effects sequence from a movie, but this is reality (often stranger than fiction!).

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Outpost



So, is NASA and international partners working on plans to put a station around the Moon? These seem to keep coming back to the same writer, so I'll remain skeptical until I see some real announcements.

Monday, April 3, 2017

Polar Hex



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a magnificent image of Saturn thanks to Cassini. We're going to miss that spacecraft!

Sunday, April 2, 2017

The Cave of Stars



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a stacked image of NGC 602 near the Small Magellanic Cloud. Images from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory are combined into one picture.

Saturday, April 1, 2017