Saturday, March 29, 2014
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 29th of 2014
Île Europa Atoll
March 29, 2014
March 29, 2014
Île Europa Atoll
Photograph by Thomas Peschak, National Geographic
Few divers ever explore the reefs around the Île Europa atoll, which lies in a stretch of the Mozambique Channel known for its massive eddies, productive nutrient upwellings, meandering currents—and spectacular surf.See more pictures from the April 2014 feature story “A Tale of Two Atolls.”
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 29th of 2014
2014 March 29
A Milky Way Dawn
Image Credit & Copyright: Babak Tafreshi (TWAN), ESO Ultra HD Expedition
Explanation: As dawn broke on March 27, the center of the Milky Way Galaxy stood almost directly above the European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory. In the dry, clear sky of Chile's Atacama desert, our galaxy's dusty central bulge is flanked by Paranal's four 8 meter Very Large Telescope units in this astronomical fisheye view. Along the top, Venus is close to the eastern horizon. The brilliant morning star shines very near a waning crescent Moon just at the edge of one of the telescope structures. Despite the bright pairing in the east, the Milky Way dominates the scene though. Cut by dust lanes and charged with clouds of stars and glowing nebulae, the center of our galaxy sprawls across the darker zenith even as the deep blue sky grows brighter and buildings still glint in moonlight.
Image Credit & Copyright: Babak Tafreshi (TWAN), ESO Ultra HD Expedition
Friday, March 28, 2014
National Geographoc Photo of the Day: March 28th of 2014
Break Time
March 28, 2014
March 28, 2014
Break Time
Photograph by Karine Gabrielian, National Geographic Your Shot
"This photo was taken at the break wall at Marina del Rey in southern California," says Your Shot member Karine Gabrielian. "It's a hot spot for brown pelicans, seagulls, and other birds. The excretion patterns that cover the rocks of the break wall create the impression of artwork. The scenery changes every minute: You see birds landing, taking off, thinking, relaxing, and talking to each other."Gabrielian, whose picture was a recent Daily Dozen selection, says one can spend hours watching the birds. "It's impossible to resist the temptation to take hundreds of photos, even if you're not a professional photographer. Since I'm not a professional, I didn't use any specific technique knowingly. I just put into it lots of emotions and feelings."
This photo was submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 28th of 2014
2014 March 28
Stripping ESO 137-001
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CXC
Explanation: Spiral galaxy ESO 137-001 hurtles through massive galaxy cluster Abell 3627 some 220 million light years away. The distant galaxy is seen in this colorful Hubble/Chandra composite image through a foreground of the Milky Way's stars toward the southern constellation Triangulum Australe. As the spiral speeds along at nearly 7 million kilometers per hour, its gas and dust are stripped away when ram pressure with the cluster's own hot, tenuous intracluster medium overcomes the galaxy's gravity. Evident in Hubble's near visible light data, bright star clusters have formed in the stripped material along the short, trailing blue streaks. Chandra's X-ray data shows off the enormous extent of the heated, stripped gas as diffuse, darker blue trails stretching over 400,000 light-years toward the bottom right. The significant loss of dust and gas will make new star formation difficult for this galaxy. A yellowish elliptical galaxy, lacking in star forming dust and gas, is just to the right of ESO 137-001 in the frame.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CXC
National Geographic Photo of the Day: MArch 27th of 2014
A Walk About Paris
March 27, 2014
March 27, 2014
A Walk About Paris
Photograph by Oliver Kremer, National Geographic Your Shot
While preparing for a tough business week in Paris, IT professional Oliver Kremer decided to take a walk through the city for a boost of energy. "On the Pont Alexandre III, I rested for a while watching the Eiffel Tower cast this fantastic light on the foggy sky. I couldn't stop watching it." It took more than an hour to capture the photo at the precise time that the tower's lights pointed toward the sculptures on the bridge.For Kremer, it was a life-changing moment. "I've quit my well-paid job to start all over and create a photography business, hoping that I'm able to make a living for my family and me. One of the first things I did was to pull out this very special photograph from my archives and share it with the community—it was the ignition for the move I made."
Kremer's picture was one of 19 selected for the final story in the I Heart My City assignment.
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 27th of 2014
2014 March 27
Stephan's Quintet Plus One
Image Assembly & Processing: Robert Gendler and Judy Schmidt
Image Data: Subaru Telescope (NAOJ), Hubble Legacy Archive, R. Gendler
Explanation: The first identified compact galaxy group, Stephan's Quintet is featured in this remarkable image constructed with data drawn from Hubble Legacy Archive and the Subaru Telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea. The galaxies of the quintet are gathered near the center of the field, but really only four of the five are locked in a cosmic dance of repeated close encounters taking place some 300 million light-years away. The odd man out is easy to spot, though. The interacting galaxies, NGC 7319, 7318A, 7318B, and 7317 have a more dominant yellowish cast. They also tend to have distorted loops and tails, grown under the influence of disruptive gravitational tides. The mostly bluish galaxy, NGC 7320, is in the foreground about 40 million light-years distant, and isn't part of the interacting group. Still, captured in this field above and to the left of Stephan's Quintet is another galaxy, NGC 7320C, that is also 300 million light-years distant. Of course, including it would bring the four interacting galaxies back up to quintet status. Stephan's Quintet lies within the boundaries of the high flying constellation Pegasus. At the estimated distance of the quintet's interacting galaxies, this field of view spans over 500,000 light-years.
Image Assembly & Processing: Robert Gendler and Judy Schmidt
Image Data: Subaru Telescope (NAOJ), Hubble Legacy Archive, R. Gendler
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 26th of 2014
Deserted Palms
March 26, 2014
March 26, 2014
Deserted Palms
Photograph by Bill Brewer, National Geographic Your Shot
"This group of palms was planted as part of a planned real estate project in Lucerne Valley, a small town in the California desert," says Your Shot member Bill Brewer. "The development failed and years later these dead palms remain. I've shot this group of palms a few times, but never at night. [The night I shot this] I was returning home after shooting along old Route 66 and had driven up on these old friends. The palms were lit by a combination of moonlight and a streetlight. The artificial lighting gives the palms a weird glamour."Brewer's picture was recently selected for the Your Shot Daily Dozen.
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 26th of 2014
2014 March 26
M78 and Reflecting Dust Clouds
Image Credit & Copyright: Ian Sharp
Explanation: An eerie blue glow and ominous columns of dark dust highlight M78 and other bright reflection nebula in the constellation of Orion. The dark filamentary dust not only absorbs light, but also reflects the light of several bright blue stars that formed recently in the nebula. Of the two reflection nebulas pictured above, the more famous nebula is M78, in the image center, while NGC 2071 can be seen to its lower left. The same type of scattering that colors the daytime sky further enhances the blue color. M78 is about five light-years across and visible through a small telescope. M78 appears above only as it was 1600 years ago, however, because that is how long it takes light to go from there to here. M78 belongs to the larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex that contains the Great Nebula in Orion and the Horsehead Nebula.
Image Credit & Copyright: Ian Sharp
Monday, March 24, 2014
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 25th of 2014
See Through
March 25, 2014
March 25, 2014
See Through
Photograph by Hugh Turvey
British artist and photographer Hugh Turvey uses x-ray technology to create what he calls Xograms, a fusion of visible light and x-ray imagery. Here, he captures a swimming goldfish.Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 25th of 2014
2014 March 25
Orion Nebula in Surrounding Dust
Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Fields
Explanation: What surrounds a hotbed of star formation? In the case of the Orion Nebula -- dust. The entire Orion field, located about 1600 light years away, is inundated with intricate and picturesque filaments of dust. Opaque to visible light, dust is created in the outer atmosphere of massive cool stars and expelled by a strong outer wind of particles. The Trapezium and other forming star clusters are embedded in the nebula. The intricate filaments of dust surrounding M42 and M43 appear gray in the above image, while central glowing gas is highlighted in brown and blue. Over the next few million years much of Orion's dust will be slowly destroyed by the very stars now being formed, or dispersed into the Galaxy.
Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Fields
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 24th of 2014
En Fuego
March 24, 2014
March 24, 2014
En Fuego
Photograph by Diego Fabriccio Diaz Palomo, National Geographic Your Shot
"I was standing at the top of Guatemala's Acatenango Volcano watching the stars and the city lights from almost 4,000 meters above sea level," says Your Shot contributor Diego Fabriccio Diaz Palomo, a native of Guatemala who climbs the volcano every year. "That was when the Fuego Volcano literally exploded. I start running with a friend for probably half a mile to get to the right spot to shoot the lava. I almost fell down the cliff because I had to be in a really complicated spot to get the right composition."Diaz Palomo took two long-exposure photos at 90 seconds each. At second 87 of the second shot, lightning appeared in a far cloud on the horizon. "I was without words," he says. "It was indescribable."
Diaz Palomo's picture was published in the recent Moment assignment on Your Shot.
This photo was submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 24th of 2014
2014 March 24
Orion and Aurora over Iceland
Image Credit & Copyright: Þorvarður Árnason
Explanation: If you see a sky like this -- photograph it. A month ago in Iceland, an adventurous photographer chanced across a sky full of aurora and did just that. In the foreground lies the stratovolcano Öræfajökull. In the background, among other sky delights, lies the constellation of Orion, visible to the aurora's left. Auroras are sparked by energetic particles from the Sun impacting the magnetic environment around the Earth. Resultant energetic particles such as electrons and protons rain down near the Earth's poles and impact the air. The impacted air molecules obtain excited electrons, and when electrons in oxygen molecules fall back to their ground state, they emit green light. Auroras are known to have many shapes and colors.
Image Credit & Copyright: Þorvarður Árnason
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 23rd of 2014
The Other Underground
March 23, 2014
March 23, 2014
The Other Underground
Photograph by Mike Deere, National Geographic Your Shot
"I've long held a fascination with unseen spaces, and when I first heard about the vast number of lost rivers in London, it really piqued my interest," says Your Shot contributor Mike Deere, whose photo was selected for the Daily Dozen. "While researching, I came across a very small subculture with similar interests to my own, a small band of curious individuals excited to see the hidden depths that exist so close to our everyday lives but remain all but forgotten."Deere captured this photo at the junction between the River Westbourne, which was assimilated into the London sewer network during its construction in the 19th century, and the Ranelagh Storm Relief Sewer.
"With lighting options very limited in the narrow, pitch-black tunnels, I opted for backlighting to highlight the shape of the space and the texture of the Victorian brickwork," Deere says.
This photo was submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 23rd of 2014
2014 March 23
The View Near a Black Hole
Illustration Credit: April Hobart, CXC
Explanation: In the center of a swirling whirlpool of hot gas is likely a beast that has never been seen directly: a black hole. Studies of the bright light emitted by the swirling gas frequently indicate not only that a black hole is present, but also likely attributes. The gas surrounding GRO J1655-40, for example, has been found to display an unusual flickering at a rate of 450 times a second. Given a previous mass estimate for the central object of seven times the mass of our Sun, the rate of the fast flickering can be explained by a black hole that is rotating very rapidly. What physical mechanisms actually cause the flickering -- and a slower quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) -- in accretion disks surrounding black holes and neutron stars remains a topic of much research.
Illustration Credit: April Hobart, CXC
Saturday, March 22, 2014
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 22nd of 2014
Atoll Tale
March 22, 2014
March 22, 2014
Atoll Tale
Photograph by Thomas Peschak, National Geographic
Young Galápagos sharks—found around tropical oceanic reefs worldwide—nose the camera in the lagoon of the Bassas da India atoll. A protected home for the sharks, Bassas is one of two tiny French territories tucked between Madagascar and southern Africa. The other, Île Europa, is a vital breeding area for endangered green turtles.See more pictures from the April 2014 feature story “A Tale of Two Atolls.”
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 22nd of 2014
2014 March 22
Martian Chiaroscuro
Image Credit: HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA
Explanation: Deep shadows create dramatic contrasts between light and dark in this high-resolution close-up of the martian surface. Recorded on January 24 by the HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the scene spans about 1.5 kilometers across a sand dune field in a southern highlands crater. Captured when the Sun was just 5 degrees above the local horizon, only the dune crests are caught in full sunlight. With the long, cold winter approaching the red planet's southern hemisphere, bright ridges of seasonal frost line the martian dunes.
Image Credit: HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 21st of 2014
Row Up
March 21, 2014
March 21, 2014
Row Up
Photograph by Maqsood Bhat, National Geographic Your Shot
"On the first day of snowfall in the Kashmir valley this year, I decided to survey life on the famous Dal Lake in Srinagar early in the morning," says Your Shot contributor Maqsood Bhat. "While rowing my boat in the backwaters of the lake, I suddenly saw a little shop toward which a man was rowing his boat for some purchases. It was the only shop around, and it seemed to me that everyone was dependent on that little market for their supplies."This photo was submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Astronomy Picture of the Day: MArch 21st of 2014
2014 March 21
Star Trails over El Capitan
Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Bolte (UCSC)
Explanation: Towering 3,000 feet from base to summit, the famous granite face of El Capitan in Earth's Yosemite National Park just hides the planet's north celestial pole in this skyscape. Of course, the north celestial pole is at the center of all the star trails. Their short arcs reflecting the planet's daily rotation on its axis are traced in a digital stack of 36 sequential exposures. Linear trails of passing airplane navigation lights and a flare from car lights along the road below are also captured in the sequential stack. But the punctuated trail of light seen against the sheer El Capitan itself follows a climbing team on the night of November 8, 2013. The team is ascending toward the summit along The Nose, a historic rock climbing route.
Image Credit & Copyright: Michael Bolte (UCSC)
Thursday, March 20, 2014
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 20th of 2014
Seeing Reds
March 20, 2014
March 20, 2014
Seeing Reds
Photograph by Daniel Zvereff
Tombstone Territorial Park in Canada’s Yukon Territory is photographed using Kodak aerochrome infrared film. Originally intended for aerial photography to indicate areas of vegetation in surveys and to find camouflaged military encampments, this infrared-sensitive, false-color reversal film turns plant life a majestic red or purple hue while nonplant life often renders in gray or blue. Photographer Daniel Zvereff made this image as part of a project documenting the changing landscapes of the Arctic, which was featured recently on our photography blog Proof.
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 20th of 2014
2014 March 20
Solargraphy Analemmas
Image Credit & Copyright: Maciej Zapiór and Łukasz Fajfrowski
Explanation: Today is the equinox. The Sun crosses the celestial equator heading north at 16:57 UT, marking the northern hemisphere's first day of spring. To celebrate, consider this remarkable image following the Sun's yearly trek through planet Earth's sky, the first analemmas exposed every day through the technique of solargraphy. In fact, three analemma curves were captured using a cylindrical pinhole camera by daily making three, separate, one minute long exposures for a year, from March 1, 2013 to March 1, 2014, on a single piece of black and white photographic paper. The well-planned daily exposures began at 10:30, 12:00, and 13:30, CET from a balcony looking south from the Kozanów district in Wrocław, Poland. That year's two equinoxes on March 20 and September 22 correspond to the mid-points, not the cross-over points, along the figure-8 shaped curves. Apparent gaps in the curves are due to cloudy days. Two solid lines at the lower left were both caused by a timer switch failure that left the pinhole shutter open.
Image Credit & Copyright: Maciej Zapiór and Łukasz Fajfrowski
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 19th of 2014
Spring Herd
March 19, 2014
March 19, 2014
Spring Herd
Photograph by Tariq Sawyer, National Geographic Your Shot
"I traveled to the Altay Mountains in Mongolia to photograph the Kazakh nomads known for their eagle-hunting traditions," says Your Shot contributor Tariq Sawyer, whose picture was recently discussed in Your Shot's new Weekly Wrap feature."This photo was taken on the first morning I spent with the nomads. Waking up to experience a harsh spring blizzard, I respected the family’s resilience to the subzero temperatures and freezing winds as they continued their daily routine.
"After completing the morning chores, the family went to tend their herd. As the nomad opened the gate of the pen I saw the sheep forming an orderly charge toward the mountains on the horizon. I went ahead to frame the shot and waited for the nomad, who was frantically herding the sheep, to come into the frame. Just as he appeared the sheep had aligned with the landscape and it all came together."
This photo was submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 18th of 2014
Eyes on the Heavens
March 18, 2014
March 18, 2014
Eyes on the Heavens
Photograph by Dave Yoder, National Geographic
Light from the setting sun dances on antennas forming part of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), high in Chile’s Atacama Desert. The world's largest and costliest ground-based telescope, ALMA was officially inaugurated in 2013 and has already delivered on expectations, allowing researchers to peer at 26 distant galaxies showing bursts of star formation.See more pictures from the April 2014 feature story "Cosmic Dawn."
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 18th of 2014
2014 March 18
Cosmic Microwave Map Swirls Indicate Inflation
Image Credit: BICEP2 Collaboration, NSF, Steffen Richter (Harvard)
Explanation: Did the universe undergo an early epoch of extremely rapid expansion? Such an inflationary epoch has been postulated to explain several puzzling cosmic attributes such as why our universe looks similar in opposite directions. Yesterday, results were released showing an expected signal of unexpected strength, bolstering a prediction of inflation that specific patterns of polarization should exist in cosmic microwave background radiation -- light emitted 13.8 billion years ago as the universe first became transparent. Called B-mode polarizations, these early swirling patterns can be directly attributed to squeeze and stretch effects that gravitational radiation has on photon-emitting electrons. The surprising results were discovered in data from the Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization 2 (BICEP2) microwave observatory near the South Pole. BICEP2 is the building-mounted dish pictured above on the left. Note how the black polarization vectors appear to swirl around the colored temperature peaks on the inset microwave sky map. Although statistically compelling, the conclusions will likely remain controversial while confirmation attempts are made with independent observations.
Image Credit: BICEP2 Collaboration, NSF, Steffen Richter (Harvard)
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 17th of 2014
Deer Sight
March 17, 2014
March 17, 2014
Deer Sight
Photograph by Moricz Csaba, National Geographic Your Shot
Roe deer, found throughout Europe, approach the edge of a forest in Bajzattanya, Hungary, near the village of Lónya on the Ukrainian border. Your Shot member Moricz Csaba had finished a day's shooting of landscape photos when the deer appeared. "I knew where they were going," Csaba says, "so I only had to wait for the right moment."This photo was submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Astronomy Picture of the Day: MArch 17th of 2014
2014 March 17
Warped Sky: Star Trails over Arches National Park
Image Credit & Copyright: Vincent Brady
Explanation: What's happened to the sky? A time warp, of sorts, and a digital space warp too. The time warp occurs because this image captured in a single frame a two and a half hour exposure of the night sky. As a result, prominent star trails are visible. The space warp occurs because the picture is actually a full 360 degree panorama, horizontally compressed to fit your browser. As the Earth rotated, stars appeared to circle both the North Celestial Pole, on the left, and the South Celestial Pole, just below the horizon on the right. The above panorama over Arches National Park in Utah, USA, was captured two weeks ago during early morning hours. While the eye-catching texture of ancient layered sandstone covers the image foreground, twenty-meter tall Delicate Arch is visible on the far right, and the distant arch of our Milky Way Galaxy is visible near the image center.
Image Credit & Copyright: Vincent Brady
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 16th of 2014
The Past in the Present
March 16, 2014
March 16, 2014
The Past in the Present
Photograph by Anastasiia Shikina, National Geographic Your Shot
"One day my friends and I went on a trip to the Ivangorod fortress, which is located on the border with Estonia,” says Your Shot contributor Anastasiia Shikina. "I was walking [some] distance from the fortress, and these empty churches drew my attention. The general impression from this place is unforgettable—traces of past centuries in the present.
"From time to time I use materials [I find] nearby, such as paper or glass, to get more interesting pictures. In this case, I [had] found a piece of broken bottle. It was a rainy day, so there were a lot of raindrops on the glass. I held the glass close to my camera lens and got this shot.”
This photo was submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 16th of 2014
2014 March 16
The Antennae Galaxies in Collision
Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, NASA, ESA; Processing & Copyright: Davide Coverta
Explanation: Two galaxies are squaring off in Corvus and here are the latest pictures. When two galaxies collide, the stars that compose them usually do not. That's because galaxies are mostly empty space and, however bright, stars only take up only a small amount of that space. During the slow, hundred million year collision, one galaxy can still rip the other apart gravitationally, and dust and gas common to both galaxies does collide. In this clash of the titans, dark dust pillars mark massive molecular clouds are being compressed during the galactic encounter, causing the rapid birth of millions of stars, some of which are gravitationally bound together in massive star clusters.
Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, NASA, ESA; Processing & Copyright: Davide Coverta
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 15th of 2014
A Movable Feast
March 15, 2014
March 15, 2014
A Movable Feast
Photograph by Merlin Tuttle, National Geographic
A pollen-gilded bat (Phyllonycteris poeyi) emerging from a flower of the blue mahoe tree (Talipariti elatum) demonstrates the carrying capacity of fur. This bat lives in eastern Cuba in a colony more than one million strong—a pollinating powerhouse.For this shot, which appeared in a March 2014 National Geographic story on nectar-seeking bats, the feeder seen here was mist-netted as it approached the flower and released into photographer Merlin Tuttle’s portable studio. A set of blue mahoe branches and a flower indistinguishable from those where the bat was netted were placed in the studio. “After setting up a camera and flashes, we simply waited for the bat to come to the flower,” Tuttle says.
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 15th of 2014
2014 March 15
Apollo 17 VIP Site Anaglyph
Image Credit: Gene Cernan, Apollo 17, NASA; Anaglyph by Erik van Meijgaarden
Explanation: Get out your red/blue glasses and check out this stereo scene from Taurus-Littrow valley on the Moon! The color anaglyph features a detailed 3D view of Apollo 17's Lunar Rover in the foreground -- behind it lies the Lunar Module and distant lunar hills. Because the world was going to be able to watch the Lunar Module's ascent stage liftoff via the rover's TV camera, this parking place was also known as the VIP Site. In December of 1972, Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent about 75 hours on the Moon, while colleague Ronald Evans orbited overhead. The crew returned with 110 kilograms of rock and soil samples, more than from any of the other lunar landing sites. Cernan and Schmitt are still the last to walk (or drive) on the Moon.
Image Credit: Gene Cernan, Apollo 17, NASA; Anaglyph by Erik van Meijgaarden
Friday, March 14, 2014
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 14th of 2014
Morning Catch
March 14, 2014
March 14, 2014
Morning Catch
Photograph by Ly Hoang Long, National Geographic Your Shot
"Along the Cua Dai riverbanks, there are hundreds of fishing nets spread here and there," says Your Shot member Ly Hoang Long, whose picture was featured in the Daily Dozen. "This kind of fishing is quite simple—a ten-square-meter net is stretched using four sticks of bamboo and wood, [then] at night, the fishermen dip their nets under the stream and drop some powder bait on the surface. In the early morning, they just raise the nets and collect the fish inside."To get closer to the nets, Ly hired a sampan to be taken through the water and shot with a long lens.
This photo was submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 14th of 2014
2014 March 14
Polar Ring Galaxy NGC 2685
Image Credit & Copyright: Ken Crawford
Explanation: NGC 2685 is a confirmed polar ring galaxy - a rare type of galaxy with stars, gas and dust orbiting in rings perpendicular to the plane of a flat galactic disk. The bizarre configuration could be caused by the chance capture of material from another galaxy by a disk galaxy, with the captured debris strung out in a rotating ring. Still, observed properties of NGC 2685 suggest that the rotating ring structure is remarkably old and stable. In this sharp view of the peculiar system also known as Arp 336 or the Helix galaxy, the strange, perpendicular rings are easy to trace as they pass in front of the galactic disk, along with other disturbed outer structures. NGC 2685 is about 50,000 light-years across and 40 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.
Image Credit & Copyright: Ken Crawford
Thursday, March 13, 2014
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 13th of 2014
Te Wahipounamu
March 13, 2014
March 13, 2014
Te Wahipounamu
Photograph by Michael Melford
Ice Age remnants of crystalline rock dot the coast north of Haast in southwestern New Zealand. The country’s Te Wahipounamu World Heritage area is a window on Gondwana—the supercontinent that fractured into today’s Southern Hemisphere landmasses.Astronomy Picture of the Day: MArch 13th of 2014
2014 March 13
Messier 63: The Sunflower Galaxy
Image Credit & Copyright: Bill Snyder (at Sierra Remote Observatories)
Explanation: A bright spiral galaxy of the northern sky, Messier 63 is about 25 million light-years distant in the loyal constellation Canes Venatici. Also cataloged as NGC 5055, the majestic island universe is nearly 100,000 light-years across. That's about the size of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Known by the popular moniker, The Sunflower Galaxy, M63 sports a bright yellowish core in this sharp, colorful galaxy portrait. Its sweeping blue spiral arms are streaked with cosmic dust lanes and dotted with pink star forming regions. A dominant member of a known galaxy group, M63 has faint, extended features that could be the result of gravitational interactions with nearby galaxies. In fact, M63 shines across the electromagnetic spectrum and is thought to have undergone bursts of intense star formation.
Image Credit & Copyright: Bill Snyder (at Sierra Remote Observatories)
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 12th of 2014
A Fox Tale
March 12, 2014
March 12, 2014
A Fox Tale
Photograph by Bjorn Anders Nymoen, National Geographic Your Shot
"I was in Svalbard staying in an old trappers' cabin," writes Your Shot contributor Bjorn Anders Nymoen. "I was on my way to go out fishing in a nearby lake when I suddenly got this follower. I had forgotten my wide-angle lens back in the cabin, and after a while he was actually too close. I wanted to catch the colors of the flowers and take advantage of my 300mm lens, so I lay down on the ground to get a nice depth of view." Nymoen, whose shot was a Daily Dozen selection, has been working with Arctic wildlife for 20 years. "I'm still fascinated when animals just pop up while you're changing a lens, charging batteries, and so on. Everything is unpredictable, and that's what I love about the Arctic."
This photo was submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 11th of 2014
Wave of Industry
March 11, 2014
March 11, 2014
Wave of Industry
Photograph by John K. Goodman, National Geographic Your Shot
"A lone surfer returns from the sea, bathed in the sodium light of an onshore industrial site," writes Your Shot member John Goodman of this picture, a Daily Dozen selection. Goodman, who spends a fair amount of time at this spot just north of Manhattan Beach in Los Angeles, says he enjoys photographing surfers in their element."This shot was somewhat different for me because I usually shoot surfers in action, riding the waves," he says. "But the overcast conditions made for an unusually uniform cool, blue dusk that evening, which was complemented by the orange sodium lights. Once I saw that, it was just a matter of patient waiting until one of the last surfers out of the water entered the frame on his way home."
This photo was submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 11th of 2014
2014 March 11
In the Heart of the Rosette Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Don Goldman
Explanation: In the heart of the Rosette Nebula lies a bright open cluster of stars that lights up the nebula. The stars of NGC 2244 formed from the surrounding gas only a few million years ago. The above image taken in January using multiple exposures and very specific colors of Sulfur (shaded red), Hydrogen (green), and Oxygen (blue), captures the central region in tremendous detail. A hot wind of particles streams away from the cluster stars and contributes to an already complex menagerie of gas and dust filaments while slowly evacuating the cluster center. The Rosette Nebula's center measures about 50 light-years across, lies about 4,500 light-years away, and is visible with binoculars towards the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros).
Image Credit & Copyright: Don Goldman
Monday, March 10, 2014
NAtional Geographic Photo of the Day: MArch 10 th of 2014
Fading Gray
March 10, 2014
March 10, 2014
Fading Gray
Photograph by Erika Larsen, National Geographic
Horses forever changed life on the Great Plains, and for Native Americans today, they endure as an emblem of tradition and a source of pride, pageantry, and healing. Here, Zoda, whose name means “gray” in Hidatsa, serves in a youth wellness program in North Dakota.See more pictures from the March 2014 feature story “People of the Horse.”
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 10th of 2014
2014 March 10
Gamma Rays from Galactic Center Dark Matter?
Image Credit: T. Daylan et al., Fermi Space Telescope, NASA
Explanation: What is creating the gamma rays at the center of our Galaxy? Excitement is building that one answer is elusive dark matter. Over the past few years the orbiting Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has been imaging our Galaxy's center in gamma-rays. Repeated detailed analyses indicate that the region surrounding the Galactic center seems too bright to be accounted by known gamma-ray sources. A raw image of the Galactic Center region in gamma-rays is shown above on the left, while the image on the right has all known sources subtracted -- leaving an unexpected excess. An exciting hypothetical model that seems to fit the excess involves a type of dark matter known as WIMPs, which may be colliding with themselves to create the detected gamma-rays. This hypothesis is controversial, however, and debate and more detailed investigations are ongoing. Finding the nature of dark matter is one of the great quests of modern science, as previously this unusual type of cosmologically pervasive matter has shown itself only through gravitation.
Image Credit: T. Daylan et al., Fermi Space Telescope, NASA
Sunday, March 9, 2014
LIMITED EDITION AWESOME DREAM BIG TEE
Click Here
http://teespring.com/dare2dream
LIMITED EDITION AWESOME DREAM BIG TEE
If you believe in the power of dreams then this shirt is for you.
Show the world you have a Big Dream by getting this limited edition "Dream Big" shirt today.
"Show me don't tell me" attitude and modeled by Harley Davidson Racing Jersey, this one of a kind shirt design is guaranteed to attract attention and inspire Dare to Dream Big.
Quantities are limited and only available for a few days, so reserve yours today before they are gone for good.
TIP: These make great gifts for other family members, if you order 2 or more you save on shipping!
"The Future Belongs To Those Who Believe
In The Beauty Of Their Dreams." - Eleanor Roosevelt
http://teespring.com/dare2dream
LIMITED EDITION AWESOME DREAM BIG TEE
If you believe in the power of dreams then this shirt is for you.
Show the world you have a Big Dream by getting this limited edition "Dream Big" shirt today.
"Show me don't tell me" attitude and modeled by Harley Davidson Racing Jersey, this one of a kind shirt design is guaranteed to attract attention and inspire Dare to Dream Big.
Quantities are limited and only available for a few days, so reserve yours today before they are gone for good.
TIP: These make great gifts for other family members, if you order 2 or more you save on shipping!
"The Future Belongs To Those Who Believe
In The Beauty Of Their Dreams." - Eleanor Roosevelt
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)