Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)

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Arp 240: A Bridge between Spiral Galaxies from Hubble



Source: APOD, 2016 November 28


Milky Way over Shipwreck



Source: APOD, 2016 November 30


Flaming Star Nebula



Source: APOD, 2016 December 01


Galaxies in Pegasus



Source: APOD, 2016 December 03


Orion and Official Star Names



Source: APOD, 2016 December 04

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IC 4628: The Prawn Nebula



Source: APOD, 2016 November 09

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The Extraordinary Spiral in LL Pegasi



Source: APOD, 2016 December 11

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The Lagoon Nebula in High Definition



Source: APOD, 2016 December 14


Seagull to Sirius


(Click on image to see full-size image without annotations.)

Source: APOD, 2016 December 15

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The Cartwheel Galaxy from Hubble



Source: APOD, 2016 December 18

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Cosmic ‘Winter’ Wonderland

Although there are no seasons in space, this cosmic vista invokes thoughts of a frosty winter landscape. It is, in fact, a region called NGC 6357 where radiation from hot, young stars is energizing the cooler gas in the cloud that surrounds them.

Source: NASA Image of the Day, 2016 December 19

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Traces of the Sun

Source: APOD, 2016 December 21

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Fox Fur, Unicorn, and Christmas Tree



Source: APOD, 2016 December 24

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The Magnificent Horsehead Nebula



Source: APOD, 2016 December 25

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NGC 6357: Stellar Wonderland

Explanation: For reasons unknown, NGC 6357 is forming some of the most massive stars ever discovered. This complex wonderland of star formation consists of numerous filaments of dust and gas surrounding huge cavities of massive star clusters. The intricate patterns are caused by complex interactions between interstellar winds, radiation pressures, magnetic fields, and gravity.

Source: APOD, 2016 December 26

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Hubble Gazes at a Cosmic Megamaser

This galaxy has a far more exciting and futuristic classification than most — it hosts a megamaser. Megamasers are intensely bright, around 100 million times brighter than the masers found in galaxies like the Milky Way. The entire galaxy essentially acts as an astronomical laser that beams out microwave emission rather than visible light (hence the ‘m’ replacing the ‘l’).

A megamaser is a process where some components within a galaxy (like gas clouds) are in the right stimulated physical condition to radiate intense energy  (in this case, microwaves).

This megamaser galaxy is named IRAS 16399-0937 and is located over 370 million light-years from Earth. This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image belies the galaxy’s energetic nature, instead painting it as a beautiful and serene cosmic rosebud.

Source: NASA Image of the Day, 2016 December 29

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M31: The Andromeda Galaxy

Explanation: What is the nearest major galaxy to our own Milky Way Galaxy? Andromeda. In fact, our Galaxy is thought to look much like Andromeda. Together these two galaxies dominate the Local Group of galaxies. The diffuse light from Andromeda is caused by the hundreds of billions of stars that compose it. The several distinct stars that surround Andromeda's image are actually stars in our Galaxy that are well in front of the background object.

Source: APOD, 2016 December 27

A Full Sky Aurora Over Norway



Source: APOD, 2017 January 01

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Your Home Planet, as Seen From Mars

From the most powerful telescope orbiting Mars comes a new view of Earth and its moon, showing continent-size detail on the planet and the relative size of the moon.

Source: NASA Image of the Day, 2017 January 06

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Global Temperature Record Broken for Third Consecutive Year



The planet’s average surface temperature has risen about 1.1°C (2.0°F) since the late 19th century.

Two years ago, we wrote: “The year 2014 was Earth’s warmest in 134 years of records.” Last year we wrote: “2015 was the warmest year ever recorded on Earth, and it was not even close.” This year, we are running out of ways to say it.

Source: NASA Image of the Day, 2017 January 19

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New Weather Satellite Sends First Images of Earth



Source: NASA Image of the Day, 2017 January 23

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Clouds of Andromeda



Source: APOD, 2017 January 04

Peculiar Galaxies of Arp 273



Source: APOD, 2017 January 05

Sentinels of a Northern Sky



Source: APOD, 2017 January 10

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Geostationary Highway through Orion

Source: APOD, 2017 January 16

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Edge-On NGC 891



Source: APOD, 2017 January 12

Stardust in the Perseus Molecular Cloud



Source: APOD, 2017 January 14

The Elephant's Trunk Nebula in Cepheus



Source: APOD, 2017 January 19

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Moon over Planet Earth



Source: APOD, 2017 January 26

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This one's a bit older...

Arp 299: Black Holes in Colliding Galaxies



Source: APOD, 2016 November 01

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Red Aurora Over Australia



Source: APOD, 2017 January 29

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Four Planets Orbiting Star HR 8799

Explanation: Does life exist outside our Solar System? To help find out, NASA has created the Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS) to better locate and study distant star systems that hold hope of harboring living inhabitants. A new observational result from a NExSS collaboration is the featured time-lapse video of recently discovered planets orbiting the star HR 8799. The images for the video were taken over seven years from the Keck Observatory in Hawaii. Four exoplanets appear as white dots partially circling their parent star, purposefully occluded in the center. The central star HR 8799 is slightly larger and more massive than our Sun, while each of the planets is thought to be a few times the mass of Jupiter. The HR 8799 system lies about 130 light years away toward the constellation of the Flying Horse (Pegasus). Research will now continue on whether any known or potential planets -- or even moons of these planets -- in the HR 8799 star system could harbor life.

Source: APOD, 2017 February 01

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NGC 1316: After Galaxies Collide

Explanation: An example of violence on a cosmic scale, enormous elliptical galaxy NGC 1316 lies about 75 million light-years away toward Fornax, the southern constellation of the Furnace. Investigating the startling sight, astronomers suspect the giant galaxy of colliding with smaller neighbor NGC 1317 seen just above, causing far flung loops and shells of stars. Light from their close encounter would have reached Earth some 100 million years ago. In the deep, sharp image, the central regions of NGC 1316 and NGC 1317 appear separated by over 100,000 light-years. Complex dust lanes visible within also indicate that NGC 1316 is itself the result of a merger of galaxies in the distant past. Found on the outskirts of the Fornax galaxy cluster, NGC 1316 is known as Fornax A. One of the visually brightest of the Fornax cluster galaxies it is one of the strongest and largest radio sources with radio emission extending well beyond this telescopic field-of-view, over several degrees on the sky.

Source: APOD, 2017 February 02

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Milky Way with Airglow Australis

Explanation: Captured last April after sunset on a Chilean autumn night an exceptionally intense airglow flooded this scene. The panoramic skyscape is also filled with stars, clusters, and nebulae along the southern Milky Way including the Large and Small Magellanic clouds. Originating at an altitude similar to aurorae, the luminous airglow is due to chemiluminescence, the production of light through chemical excitation. Commonly recorded with a greenish tinge by sensitive digital cameras, both red and green airglow emission here is predominately from atmospheric oxygen atoms at extremely low densities and has often been present in southern hemisphere nights during the last few years. Like the Milky Way on that dark night the strong airglow was visible to the eye, but seen without color. Mars, Saturn, and bright star Antares in Scorpius form the celestial triangle anchoring the scene on the left. The road leads toward the 2,600 meter high mountain Cerro Paranal and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescopes.

Source: APOD, 2017 February 03

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The Porpoise Galaxy from Hubble

Explanation: What's happening to this spiral galaxy? Just a few hundred million years ago, NGC 2936, the upper of the two large galaxies shown, was likely a normal spiral galaxy -- spinning, creating stars -- and minding its own business. But then it got too close to the massive elliptical galaxy NGC 2937 below and took a dive. Dubbed the Porpoise Galaxy for its iconic shape, NGC 2936 is not only being deflected but also being distorted by the close gravitational interaction. A burst of young blue stars forms the nose of the porpoise toward the right of the upper galaxy, while the center of the spiral appears as an eye. Alternatively, the galaxy pair, together known as Arp 142, look to some like a penguin protecting an egg. Either way, intricate dark dust lanes and bright blue star streams trail the troubled galaxy to the lower right. The featured re-processed image showing Arp 142 in unprecedented detail was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope last year. Arp 142 lies about 300 million light years away toward the constellation, coincidently, of the Water Snake (Hydra). In a billion years or so the two galaxies will likely merge into one larger galaxy.

Source: APOD, 2017 February 06

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Potentially Hospitable Enceladus

Seen from outside, Enceladus appears to be like most of its sibling moons: cold, icy and inhospitable. But under that forbidding exterior may exist the very conditions needed for life.

Over the course of the Cassini mission, observations have shown that Enceladus (313 miles or 504 kilometers across) not only has watery jets sending icy grains into space; under its icy crust it also has a global ocean, and may have hydrothermal activity as well. Since scientists believe liquid water is a key ingredient for life, the implications for future missions searching for life elsewhere in our solar system could be significant.

Source: NASA Image of the Day, 2017 February 06

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NGC 6357: The Lobster Nebula

Explanation: Why is the Lobster Nebula forming some of the most massive stars known? No one is yet sure. Near the more obvious Cat's Paw nebula on the upper right, the Lobster Nebula, on the lower left and cataloged as NGC 6357, houses the open star cluster Pismis 24, home to these tremendously bright and blue stars. The overall red glow near the inner star forming region results from the emission of ionized hydrogen gas. The surrounding nebula, featured here, holds a complex tapestry of gas, dark dust, stars still forming, and newly born stars. The intricate patterns are caused by complex interactions between interstellar winds, radiation pressures, magnetic fields, and gravity. The full zoomable version of this image contains about two billion pixels, making it one of the largest space images ever released. NGC 6357 spans about 400 light years and lies about 8,000 light years away toward the constellation of the Scorpion.

Source: APOD, 2017 February 07

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The Butterfly Nebula from Hubble



Source: APOD, 2017 February 08

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Solar System Portrait

Explanation: On Valentine's Day in 1990, cruising four billion miles from the Sun, the Voyager 1 spacecraft looked back one last time to make this first ever Solar System family portrait. The complete portrait is a 60 frame mosaic made from a vantage point 32 degrees above the ecliptic plane. In it, Voyager's wide angle camera frames sweep through the inner Solar System at the left, linking up with gas giant Neptune, the Solar System's outermost planet, at the far right. Positions for Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are indicated by letters, while the Sun is the bright spot near the center of the circle of frames. The inset frames for each of the planets are from Voyager's narrow field camera. Unseen in the portrait are Mercury, too close to the Sun to be detected, and Mars, unfortunately hidden by sunlight scattered in the camera's optical system. Closer to the Sun than Neptune at the time, small, faint Pluto's position was not covered.

Source: APOD, 2017 February 11

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Sounding Rocket Launches to Study Auroras



Source: NASA Image of the Day, 2017 February 22