Saturday, June 29, 2019

Ruby Pinwheel


Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is an image combining data from several instruments of Messier 83, The Southern Pinwheel, studded by dust lanes, blue star clusters and red star-forming regions.

Friday, June 28, 2019

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Koyaanisqatsi


Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is an image of a solargraph, a picture taken by a pinhole camera in a fixed position over a period of six months.

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Smoke on the Water


Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows noctilucent clouds above and below, as the wispy strands in the sky are reflected in the waters of a lake in the Netherlands.

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Degrees of Magnitude


Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the twenty-five brightest (visible to the naked eye) stars of the sky in their true colors.

Monday, June 24, 2019

Sunday, June 23, 2019

Across the Universe


Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a wide view from The Hubble Space Telescope of the rich regions of the Carina Nebula. "Mouseover" the image in the link for a guide.

Saturday, June 22, 2019

Friday, June 21, 2019

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Monday, June 17, 2019

The Serpent and the River


Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the Temple of the Feathered Serpent under the arch of The Milky Way. "Mouseover" the image in the link to see what else is in the picture.

Sunday, June 16, 2019

Wart on a Cosmic Slushy


Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows us Ahuna Mons on the surface of main belt asteroid Ceres. What caused this unusual feature? Perhaps a (geologically "recent") bubble of mud from the interior of the dwarf planet?

Saturday, June 15, 2019

Stereo Rock


Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a anaglyph (red/blue three-dimensional image) of Saturn's tiny (well, relatively tiny!) moon Helene. I know I have a pair of red/blue glasses around here, somewhere...

Friday, June 14, 2019

Cosmic Metamorphosis


Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is an image of NGC 4676, popularly known as The Mice. Will these galaxies metamorphosize into one larger galaxy?

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Illuminated Cave


Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us a Spitzer Space Telescope image of the Cave Nebula region in Cepheus. "Mouseover" the image in the link for a guide, which includes a runaway star.

Saturday, June 8, 2019

Mars Beach


Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us bioluminescence in the ocean, the arch of the Milky Way and Mars all viewed be a beach-going dog walker.

Friday, June 7, 2019

Interloper



Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us dark nebula LDN 1773 (or, The Pipe Nebula) overpowered by an overexposed Jupiter.

Thursday, June 6, 2019

Active Center


Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us Messier 63, more popularly known as The Sunflower Galaxy. Visible with "modest" backyard telescopes, Messier 63 appears to be undergoing a very active phase of star formation.

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Treasures from the Attic


Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day brings us visual treats from the constellation of Orion. "Mouseover" the image in the link for a guide to what you are seeing.

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Traces


Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows cosmic sources of X-rays detected by the Neutron (Star) Interior Composition Explorer on the International Space Station. Funnily, I recall first reading about using neutron stars as a cosmic lighthouse in the works of Carl Sagan.