Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 31st of 2015
Corona from Svalbard
Image Credit & Copyright: Miloslav Druckmüller, Shadia Habbal, Peter Aniol, Pavel Starha
Explanation: During a total solar eclipse, the Sun's extensive outer atmosphere, or corona, is an inspirational sight. Streamers and shimmering features that engage the eye span a brightness range of over 10,000 to 1, making them notoriously difficult to capture in a single photograph. But this composite of 29 telescopic images covers a wide range of exposure times to reveal the crown of the Sun in all its glory. The aligned and stacked digital frames were recorded in the cold, clear skies above the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norway during the Sun's total eclipse on March 20 and also show solar prominences extending just beyond the edge of the solar disk. Remarkably, even small details on the dark night side of the New Moon can be made out, illuminated by sunlight reflected from a Full Earth. Of course, fortunes will be reversed on April 4 as a Full Moon plunges into the shadow of a New Earth, during a total lunar eclipse.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 31st of 2015
March 31, 2015
Spiritual Niche
Photograph by Yann H., National Geographic Your Shot
Construction vehicles work the ground at the Longmen Grottoes near Luoyang in Henan Province, China. Situated along both banks of the Yi River, the site’s numerous caves and niches house thousands of Buddhist statues carved from the stone cliffs. Longmen’s works—including nearly 3,000 inscriptions—were carved during the late Northern Wei and early Tang dynasties, with the earliest carvings dating to the late fifth century.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 30th of 2015
A Flag Shaped Aurora over Sweden
Image Credit & Copyright: Mia Stålnacke
Explanation: It appeared, momentarily, like a 50-km tall banded flag. In mid-March, an energetic Coronal Mass Ejection directed toward a clear magnetic channel to Earth led to one of the more intense geomagnetic storms of recent years. A visual result was wide spread auroras being seen over many countries near Earth's magnetic poles. Captured over Kiruna, Sweden, the image features an unusually straight auroral curtain with the green color emitted low in the Earth's atmosphere, and red many kilometers higher up. It is unclear where the rare purple aurora originates, but it might involve an unusual blue aurora at an even lower altitude than the green, seen superposed with a much higher red. As the Sun continues near its top level of surface activity, colorful nights of auroras over Earth are likely to continue.
National Geographic Photoo of the Day: March 30th of 2015
March 30, 2015
Caught on Camera
Photograph by Drew Rush, National Geographic
A camera trap near Yellowstone National Park catches a grizzly bear stealing whitebark pine nuts from a squirrel’s cache. The nuts are an important food for the bears, a threatened species.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 29th of 2015
Shadow of a Martian Robot
Image Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, JPL, NASA
Explanation: What if you saw your shadow on Mars and it wasn't human? Then you might be the Opportunity rover currently exploring Mars. Opportunity has been exploring the red planet since early 2004, finding evidence of ancient water, and sending breathtaking images across the inner Solar System. Pictured above in 2004, Opportunity looks opposite the Sun into Endurance Crater and sees its own shadow. Two wheels are visible on the lower left and right, while the floor and walls of the unusual crater are visible in the background. Opportunity is continuing on its long trek exploring unusual terrain in Meridiani Planum which continues to yield clues to the ancient history of Mars, our Solar System, and even humanity.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 29th of 2015
March 29, 2015
All the Fish in the Sea
Photograph by Jeff Hester, National Geographic Your Shot
Your Shot member Jeff Hester was drawn to make this image because, he says, “I believe this is what our oceans should look like.” But Cabo Pulmo, a marine park off Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, hasn't always been this way. “In 1995, [the] park was established by local citizens to counteract depleted reef fishes and marine life due to overfishing,” he says. “Today, the biomass is booming, and the ecosystem is returning to a healthy state. For this particular image, I wanted to show some scale ... so I had my wife, seen in the foreground, swim ahead of me.”
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 28th of 2015
Diamond Rings and Baily's Beads
Image Credit & Copyright: Wang, Letian
Explanation: Near the March 20 equinox the cold clear sky over Longyearbyen, Norway, planet Earth held an engaging sight, a total eclipse of the Sun. The New Moon's silhouette at stages just before and after the three minute long total phase seems to sprout glistening diamonds and bright beads in this time lapse composite of the geocentric celestial event. The last and first glimpses of the solar disk with the lunar limb surrounded by the glow of the Sun's inner corona give the impression of a diamond ring in the sky. At the boundaries of totality, sunlight streaming through valleys in the irregular terrain along the Moon's edge, produces an effect known as Baily's Beads, named after English astronomer Francis Baily who championed an explanation for the phenomenon in 1836. This sharp composition also shows off the array of pinkish solar prominences lofted above the edge of the eclipsed Sun.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 28th of 2015
March 28, 2015
Top of the Ladder
Photograph by Adam Schierberg, National Geographic Your Shot
Cincinnati Fire Department recruits participate in a morning drill. The assignment? Climb to the top of a hundred-foot aerial ladder. Your Shot member Adam Schierberg, also a firefighter, positioned himself at the top of a drill tower to get this shot. “My intention was to capture the intensity of the climb by taking a vertical approach that also captured [the] anxiously awaiting candidates,” he writes
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 27th of 2015
NGC 2403 in Camelopardalis
Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh
Explanation: Magnificent island universe NGC 2403 stands within the boundaries of the long-necked constellation Camelopardalis. Some 10 million light-years distant and about 50,000 light-years across, the spiral galaxy also seems to have more than its fair share of giant star forming HII regions, marked by the telltale reddish glow of atomic hydrogen gas. The giant HII regions are energized by clusters of hot, massive stars that explode as bright supernovae at the end of their short and furious lives. A member of the M81 group of galaxies, NGC 2403 closely resembles another galaxy with an abundance of star forming regions that lies within our own local galaxy group, M33 the Triangulum Galaxy. Spiky in appearance, bright stars in this colorful galaxy portrait of NGC 2403 lie in the foreground, within our own Milky Way.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 27th of 2015
March 27, 2015
Deer Hide
Photograph by Jeremy Baker, National Geographic Your Shot
“This situation happened to come to fruition due to my five-year-old's love of the outdoors,” says Your Shot member Jeremy Baker, who captured this shot in Minot, North Dakota. Baker’s son had asked to go for a drive to look for wildlife to photograph. “[While] driving down a secluded dirt road ... I noticed a doe moving through the dried up sunflowers, trying to hide from me. I turned off my truck and used the window as a tripod and snapped away, as she was curious enough to show me her vulnerable side.”
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 26th of 2015
Orion Spring
Image Credit & Copyright: Bill Dickinson
Explanation: As spring comes to planet Earth's northern hemisphere, familiar winter constellation Orion sets in early evening skies and budding trees frame the Hunter's stars. The yellowish hue of cool red supergiant Alpha Orionis, the great star Betelgeuse, mingles with the branches at the top of this colorful skyscape. Orion's alpha star is joined on the far right by Alpha Tauri. Also known as Aldebaran and also a giant star cooler than the Sun, it shines with a yellow light at the head of Taurus, the Bull. Contrasting blue supergiant Rigel, Beta Orionis, is Orion's other dominant star though, and marks the Hunter's foot below center. Of course, the sword of Orion hangs from the Hunter's three blue belt stars near picture center, but the middle star in the sword is not a star at all. A slightly fuzzy pinkish glow hints at its true nature, a nearby stellar nursery visible to the unaided eye known as the Orion Nebula.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 26th of 2015
March 26, 2015
Grueling Coursework
Photograph by Lynsey Addario, National Geographic
Policemen in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh are put through a grueling commando course at the Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare College, in Kanker. In India’s mineral-rich jungles, Maoist militants called Naxalites have found a foothold through violence and extortion. Chhattisgarh is among two states with the worst record of Naxalite violence.
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 25th of 2015
Naked Eye Nova Sagittarii 2015 No. 2
Image Credit & Copyright: Ajay Talwar (The World at Night)
Explanation: It quickly went from obscurity to one of the brighter stars in Sagittarius -- but it's fading. Named Nova Sagittarii 2015 No. 2, the stellar explosion is the brightest nova visible from Earth in over a year. The featured image was captured four days ago from Ranikhet in the Indian Himalayas. Several stars in western Sagittarius make an asterism known as the Teapot, and the nova, indicated by the arrow, now appears like a new emblem on the side of the pot. As of last night, Nova Sag has faded from brighter than visual magnitude 5 to the edge of unaided visibility. Even so, the nova should still be easily findable with binoculars in dark skies before sunrise over the next week.
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National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 25th of 2015
March 25, 2015
Against the Wind
Photograph by Dominic Roy, National Geographic Your Shot
A snowy owl appears to fight against the elements during extreme weather conditions near Quebec City, Canada. “I knew that many snowy owls were in the area,” writes Your Shot member Dominic Roy, “but it’s not always easy to find them.”
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 24th of 2015
Powers of Ten
Video Credit & Copyright: Charles & Ray Eames (Eames Office)
Explanation: How different does the universe look on small, medium, and large scales? The most famous short science film of its generation gives breathtaking comparisons. That film, Powers of Ten, originally created in the 1960s, has now been officially posted to YouTube and embedded above. Please click the above arrow to see the nine minute movie for yourself. From a picnic blanket near Chicago out past the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies, every ten seconds the film zooms out to show a square a factor of ten times larger on each side. The video then reverses, zooming back in a factor of ten every two seconds and ends up inside a single proton. The Powers of Ten sequence is actually based on the book Cosmic View by Kees Boeke in 1957, as is a similar but mostly animated film Cosmic Zoom that was also created in the late 1960s. The changing perspectives are so enthralling and educational that sections have been recreated using more modern computerized techniques, including the first few minutes of the movie Contact, and in a short digital video called The Known Universe created in 2010 for the American Museum of Natural History. Ray and husband Charles Eames, the film's creators, were known as quite visionary spirits and even invented their own popular chair.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 24th of 2015
March 24, 2015
Character Development
Photograph by Patrick Quinn, National Geographic Your Shot
Amateur opera singers transform themselves into their characters before a performance in China. “They all have day jobs and are extremely busy, but they have a passion for Hainan Opera,” writes Patrick Quinn, who submitted this picture to the recent Your Shot assignment Transitions: As the World Turns. “[This is] where they paint on masks and become someone else.”
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 23rd of 2015
Atlas V Launches MMS
Image Credit & Copyright: Ben Cooper (Launch Photography)
Explanation: Birds don't fly this high. Airplanes don't go this fast. The Statue of Liberty weighs less. No species other than human can even comprehend what is going on, nor could any human just a millennium ago. The launch of a rocket bound for space is an event that inspires awe and challenges description. Pictured above, an Atlas V rocket lifts off carrying NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission into Earth orbit 10 days ago to study the workings of the magnetosphere that surrounds and protects the Earth. From a standing start, the 300,000 kilogram rocket ship left to circle the Earth where the outside air is too thin to breathe. Rockets bound for space are now launched from somewhere on Earth about once a week.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 23rd of 2015
March 23, 2015
Lines in the Sand
Photograph by Cezary Filew, National Geographic Your Shot
The Pan American Highway cuts a modern path past some of Peru’s ancient Nasca lines, here captured from a Cessna by Your Shot member Cezary Filew. For Filew, the mysterious lines and figures—called geoglyphs—have been a draw since childhood. “I am scared of flying, but this time ... I had to overcome it to see what I came for.”
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 22nd of 2015
A Double Eclipse of the Sun
Image Credit & Copyright: Thierry Legault
Explanation: Can the Sun be eclipsed twice at the same time? Last Friday was noteworthy because part of the Earth was treated to a rare total eclipse of the Sun. But also on Friday, from a part of the Earth that only saw part of the Sun eclipsed, a second object appeared simultaneously in front of the Sun: the Earth-orbiting International Space Station. Although space station eclipses are very quick -- in this case only 0.6 seconds, they are not so rare. Capturing this composite image took a lot of planning and a little luck, as the photographer had to dodge a series of third objects that kept, annoyingly, also lining up in front of the Sun: clouds. The above superposed time-lapse sequence was taken from Fregenal de la Sierra in southern Spain. The dark disk of the Moon dominates the lower right, while the Sun's textured surface shows several filaments and, over an edge, a prominence.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 22nd of 2015
March 22, 2015
Sacred Feathers
Photograph by Marco Vernaschi
In Argentina’s Jujuy Province, the Suris, also known as Samilantes, are a cultural group within the Quechua community. This woman is Belén Cruz. Her feathered costume represents the nandu, or rhea, sacred bird of the Suris. Photographer Marco Vernaschi’s Biophilia Foundation looks to help indigenous groups preserve their cultural heritage by developing their own local economy through native products.
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 21st of 2015
Northern Equinox Eclipse
Image Credit & Copyright: Stan Honda
Explanation: Snowy and cold is weather you might expect at the start of spring for Longyearbyen on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norway. But that turned out to be good weather for watching the Moon's umbral shadow race across northern planet Earth. The region was plunged into darkness for 3 minutes during the March 20 total solar eclipse while insulated eclipse chasers witnessed the dark Sun in the cold clear sky. In this well-timed snapshot captured near the end of totality, the Moon's shadow sweeps away from the horizon and the solar corona fades as the lunar disk just begins to uncover the Sun. Streaming past the Moon's edge, direct rays of sunlight create the fleeting appearance of a glistening diamond ring.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 21st of 2015
March 21, 2015
Bushfire Season
Photograph by Pierre Destribats, National Geographic Your Shot
Lightning on a stormy evening near Port Hedland, Western Australia, ignites bushfires that send up an orange glow. A common threat to safety in the province during summer months, bushfires can start without warning and move quickly through vast areas.
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 20th of 2015
Sunshine, Earthshine
Image Credit: Dylan O'Donnell
Explanation: Today's date marks an Equinox and a New Moon. Remarkably, while the exact timing of both geocentric events occur within a span of only 13 hours, the moon also reaches its new phase only 14 hours after perigee, the closest point in its orbit. That makes the Equinox New Moon the largest New Moon of 2015, though hard to see since that lunar phase presents the Moon's dark, night side to planet Earth. Still, in this well composed image of a young lunar phase from late January you can glimpse both night and day on the lunar surface, the night side faintly illuminated by Earthshine next to the day side's brightly sunlit crescent. But some will see today's Equinox New Moon in silhouette! The Equinox Solar Eclipse will be total across stretches of the Arctic Ocean, visible in partial phases from Europe, northern Africa and western Asia.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 20th of 2015
March 20, 2015
Fearless Symmetry
Photograph by Souvik Kundu, National Geographic Your Shot
It’s a rare and privileged experience to witness the interaction of tiger cubs in the wild, says Souvik Kundu, a member of our Your Shot photo community. After learning that a tigress had given birth to cubs in India’s Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, Kundu visited the sanctuary a number of times to photograph the family. On this day his group was treated to an “unforgettable display of tender bonding,” with “the cubs engaged in several bouts of play-fighting under the watchful eyes of the mother.”
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 19th of 2015
Aurora in the Backyard
Image Credit & Copyright: P-M Hedén (Clear Skies, TWAN)
Explanation: On the night of March 17/18 this umbrella of northern lights unfolded over backyards in Vallentuna, Sweden about 30 kilometers north of Stockholm. A result of the strongest geomagnetic storm of this solar cycle, auroral displays were captured on that night from back and front yards at even lower latitudes, including sightings in the midwestern United States. A boon for aurora hunting skywatchers, the space storm began building when a coronal mass ejection, launched by solar activity some two days earlier, struck planet Earth's magnetosphere. So what's the name of the backyard observatory on the right of the wide field view? That's Carpe Noctem Observatory, of course.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March19th of 2015
March 19, 2015
Pandarama
Photograph by Marco Mattiussi, National Geographic Your Shot
In China to photograph the life of the giant panda and its environment, Your Shot member Marco Mattiussi obtained special permission to visit areas with captive-raised pandas that had been released into the wild. “For this shot I was ... [in] the right place at the right time: It was rainy and foggy, very wet weather, and the panda decided to climb a beautiful tree in front of me.”
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 18th of 2015
Earth During a Total Eclipse of the Sun
Image Credit: Expedition 12 Crew, NASA
Explanation: What does the Earth look like during a total solar eclipse? It appears dark in the region where people see the eclipse, because that's where the shadow of the Moon falls. The shadow spot actually shoots across the Earth at nearly 2,000 kilometers per hour, darkening locations in its path for only a few minutes before moving on. The featured image shows the Earth during the total solar eclipse of 2006 March, as seen from the International Space Station. On Friday the Moon will move in front of the Sun once again, casting another distorted circular shadow that, this time, will zip over part of the north Atlantic Ocean.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 18th of 2015
March 18, 2015
Crabbing a Ride
Photograph by Nancy Leigh, National Geographic Your Shot
"The setting was very eerie,” writes Your Shot member Nancy Leigh. “In the darkness [of] an overcast early morning, there was a large gathering of black juvenile iguanas on the rocks of Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island in the Galápagos.” While completely surrounded by iguanas, Leigh spotted a bright-red Sally Lightfoot crab climbing onto one of the lizards. “It was a delicate balance ... acting fast to capture the moment while respecting their space and not disturbing either animal," she says.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 17th of 2015
The Big Dipper Enhanced
Image Credit & Copyright: VegaStar Carpentier
Explanation: Do you see it? This common question frequently precedes the rediscovery of one of the most commonly recognized configurations of stars on the northern sky: the Big Dipper. This grouping of stars is one of the few things that has likely been seen, and will be seen, by every human generation. In this featured image, however, the stars of the Big Dipper have been digitally enhanced -- they do not really appear this much brighter than nearby stars. The image was taken earlier this month from France. The Big Dipper is not by itself a constellation. Although part of the constellation of the Great Bear (Ursa Major), the Big Dipper is an asterism that has been known by different names to different societies. Five of the Big Dipper stars are actually near each other in space and were likely formed at nearly the same time. Relative stellar motions will cause the Big Dipper to slowly change its apparent configuration over the next 100,000 years.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 17th of 2015
March 17, 2015
Evening Snowfall
Photograph by Haruka Iwasaki, National Geographic Your Shot
“When I arrived at the Blue Pond in Biei in Hokkaido, Japan, a lot of snow had fallen and the wind was blowing strongly,” writes Your Shot member Haruka Iwasaki. “The moment the light that illuminates the pond was reflected in the snow, I witnessed a fantastic spectacle.”
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 16th of 2015
The Clouds of Orion the Hunter
Image Credit & Copyright: Rogelio Bernal Andreo
Explanation: Cradled in cosmic dust and glowing hydrogen, stellar nurseries in Orion the Hunter lie at the edge of giant molecular clouds some 1,500 light-years away. Spanning about 30 degrees, this breath-taking vista stretches across the well-known constellation from head to toe (left to right) and beyond. At 1,500 light years away, the Great Orion Nebula is the closest large star forming region, here visible just right and below center. To its left are the Horsehead Nebula, M78, and Orion's belt stars. Sliding your cursor over the picture will also find red giant Betelgeuse at the hunter's shoulder, bright blue Rigel at his foot, the Witch Head Nebula above -- and illuminated by -- Rigel, and the glowing Lambda Orionis (Meissa) nebula on the left, near Orion's head. Of course, the Orion Nebula and bright stars are easy to see with the unaided eye, but dust clouds and emission from the extensive interstellar gas in this nebula-rich complex, are too faint and much harder to record. In this mosaic of broadband telescopic images, additional image data acquired with a narrow hydrogen alpha filter was used to bring out the pervasive tendrils of energized atomic hydrogen gas like in the arc of the giant Barnard's Loop.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 16th of 2015
March 16, 2015
Southwestern Sungraph
Photograph by Andrei Stoica, National Geographic Your Shot
Your Shot member Andrei Stoica used the sun and an Arizona landscape to create this self-portrait for a recent community assignment. “It wasn’t that different from using dyes to create pictographs,” writes Stoica, who calls his image a “sungraph.”
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 15th of 2015
A Total Eclipse at the End of the World
Image Credit & Copyright: Fred Bruenjes (moonglow.net)
Explanation: Would you go to the end of the world to see a total eclipse of the Sun? If you did, would you be surprised to find someone else there already? In 2003, the Sun, the Moon, Antarctica, and two photographers all lined up in Antarctica during an unusual total solar eclipse. Even given the extreme location, a group of enthusiastic eclipse chasers ventured near the bottom of the world to experience the surreal momentary disappearance of the Sun behind the Moon. One of the treasures collected was the above picture -- a composite of four separate images digitally combined to realistically simulate how the adaptive human eye saw the eclipse. As the image was taken, both the Moon and the Sun peeked together over an Antarctic ridge. In the sudden darkness, the magnificent corona of the Sun became visible around the Moon. Quite by accident, another photographer was caught in one of the images checking his video camera. Visible to his left are an equipment bag and a collapsible chair. A total solar eclipse will occur on Friday and be visible from the north Atlantic Ocean.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 15th of 2015
March 15, 2015
The Twins
Photograph by Fabrice Guerin, National Geographic Your Shot
Every year, a sardine run occurs in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, says Your Shot member Fabrice Guerin, who adds that this is when it’s possible to spot the fastest fish in the ocean—the sailfish—hunting fish shoals. “They drill the balls of terrified fish, offering us a stunning show,” he writes. “When I saw these two sailfish going toward the sardines against the sun, I shot as quickly as possible.”
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 14th of 2015
Return at Sunrise
NASA, Bill Ingalls
Explanation: Thursday, shortly after local sunrise over central Asia, this Soyuz spacecraft floated over a sea of golden clouds during its descent by parachute through planet Earth's dense atmosphere. On board were Expedition 42 commander Barry Wilmore of NASA and Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). Touch down was at approximately 10:07 p.m. EDT (8:07 a.m. March 12, Kazakh time) southeast of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. The three were returning from low Earth orbit, after almost six months on the International Space Station as members of the Expedition 41 and Expedition 42 crews.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 14th of 2015
March 14, 2015
Worth the Wait
Photograph by Takashi Nakagawa, National Geographic Your Shot
“A beautiful and active aurora appeared the day after a storm had passed over Iceland,” writes Takashi Nakagawa, a member of our Your Shot community. “Iceland is not an ideal place to watch the aurora because the weather in winter is mostly cloudy. I waited at Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon for three days to photograph the aurora [at] this amazing place. This was a perfect night. I’ll never forget this moment.”
Friday, March 13, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 13th of 2015
The Great Wall by Moonlight
Image Credit & Copyright: Francis Audet
Explanation: Last Friday, an almost Full Moon rose as the Sun set, over this mountainous landscape north of Beijing, China. Also near apogee, the farthest point in its elliptical orbit around planet Earth, it was this year's smallest and faintest Full Moon. The Jiankou section of the Great Wall of China meanders through the scene, the ancient Great Wall itself the subject of an older-than-the-space-age myth that it would be visible to the eye when standing on the lunar surface. But even from low Earth orbit, the large scale artifact of human civilization is very difficult to identify. At its farthest from our fair planet, the Moon shines brightly in the twilight sky though, posing in the faint, pinkish band known as the antitwilight arch or the belt of Venus.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 13th of 2015
March 13, 2015
Group Flight
Photograph by Navtej Singh, National Geographic Your Shot
“Lying on important flyways, the wetlands of Gujarat, India, are thronged by millions of birds migrating south in winter,” writes Your Shot member Navtej Singh, who captured this scene while taking aerial shots of the port town of Jamnagar. “As I flew over the flamingoes, the birds took flight. It was an unbelievable sight, and I was right above them to capture the magnificent event.”
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 12th of 2015
Along the Cygnus Wall
Image Credit & Copyright: Jimmy Walker
Explanation: The W-shaped ridge of emission featured in this vivid skyscape is known as the Cygnus Wall. Part of a larger emission nebula with a distinctive outline popularly called The North America Nebula, the cosmic ridge spans about 20 light-years. Constructed using narrowband data to highlight the telltale reddish glow from ionized hydrogen atoms recombining with electrons, the two frame mosaic image follows an ionization front with fine details of dark, dusty forms in silhouette. Sculpted by energetic radiation from the region's young, hot, massive stars, the dark shapes inhabiting the view are clouds of cool gas and dust with stars likely forming within. The North America Nebula itself, NGC 7000, is about 1,500 light-years away.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 12th of 2015
March 12, 2015
Fox on the Rocks
Photograph by Irina C., National Geographic Your Shot
Lingering at a lookout in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park, Your Shot member Irina C. spotted this fox entering the scene. “It navigated very confidently among the rocks, moving small ones with its paws and picking up food scraps dropped by tourists during the day,” she writes. “I thought it was genius: Instead of wasting energy and time hunting for mice, this fox had it all figured out.”
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 11th of 2015
Volcano of Fire Erupts Under the Stars
Image Credit & Copyright: Diego Rizzo
Explanation: First, there was an unusual smell. Then there was a loud bang. But what appeared to the eye was the most amazing of all. While waiting near midnight to see a possible eruption of Volcán de Fuego (Volcano of Fire) in Guatemala last month, a ready camera captured this extraordinary image. Lava is seen running down the side of the volcano, while ash rises up, and glowing magma bubbles explode out of the caldera. Lights near the town of Escuintla can be seen in the background, one of several nearby towns that have witnessed several spectacular eruptions previously. High above, seemingly tranquil by comparison, are familiar stars from the night sky. Although the Volcán de Fuego usually undergoes low-level activity, when the next spectacular eruption will occur is unknown.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 11th of 2015
March 11, 2015
Parade Rest
Photograph by Sara Lewkowicz, National Geographic
In Teotitlán del Valle, Mexico, a group of unmarried young women and girls gather in front of Preciosa Sangre de Cristo Church after marching in a calenda (parade) for La Fiesta de la Preciosa Sangre. During the parade, the young women wear traditional Zapotec clothing and walk while carrying canastas (baskets) with images of the saints on their heads.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 10th of 2015
Aurora over Icelandic Glacier
Image Credit & Copyright: James Boardman Woodend (Images Inspired by Nature)
Explanation: Several key conditions came together to create this award-winning shot. These included a dark night, few clouds, an epic auroral display, and a body of water that was both calm enough and unfrozen enough to show reflected stars. The featured skyscape of activity and serenity appeared over Iceland's Vatnajökull Glacier a year ago January, with the Jökulsárlón Iceberg Lagoon captured in the foreground. Aurora filled skies continue to be common near Earth's poles as our Sun, near Solar Maximum, continues to expel energetic clouds of plasma into the Solar System.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 10th of 2015
March 10, 2015
Grooming the Young
Photograph by Masanobu Oka, National Geographic Your Shot
A snow monkey grooms a youngster while soaking in a hot spring at the Jigokudani Monkey Park in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. “When I visited, about 30 monkeys were in the hot spring,” writes Your Shot member Masanobu Oka. “I realized that the mother was taking care of her kid just like a human. I watched them for a while before capturing the baby as it opened its eyes.”
Monday, March 9, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 9th of 2015
Galaxy and Cluster Create Four Images of Distant Supernova
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and S. Rodney (JHU) and the FrontierSN team; T. Treu (UCLA), P. Kelly (UC Berkeley), and the GLASS team; J. Lotz (STScI) and the Frontier Fields team; M. Postman (STScI) and the CLASH team; and Z. Levay (STScI)
Explanation: What are the unusual spots surrounding that galaxy? They are all images of the same supernova. For the first time, a single supernova explosion has been seen split into multiple images by the gravitational lens deflections of intervening masses. In this case the masses are a large galaxy and its home galaxy cluster. The featured image was captured last November by the Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. The yellow-hued quadruply-imaged Supernova Refsdal occurred in the early universe far behind the cluster. Measuring the locations and time-delays between the supernova images should allow astrophysicists to recover the amount of dark matter in the galaxy and cluster. With patience and luck, a fifth image of the supernova will also be recovered nearby in the next few years.
National Geographic of the Day: March 9th of 2015
March 9, 2015
Rocket Land
Photograph by Kevin Kunstadt
Strobe rockets light up the night sky in Mason City, Iowa. Mason City is home to the Iowa Thunderstorm, the Pyrotechnics Guild International’s small fireworks convention.
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 8th of the 2015
Stars at the Galactic Center
Image Credit: Susan Stolovy (SSC/Caltech) et al., JPL-Caltech, NASA
Explanation: The center of our Milky Way Galaxy is hidden from the prying eyes of optical telescopes by clouds of obscuring dust and gas. But in this stunning vista, the Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared cameras, penetrate much of the dust revealing the stars of the crowded galactic center region. A mosaic of many smaller snapshots, the detailed, false-color image shows older, cool stars in bluish hues. Reddish glowing dust clouds are associated with young, hot stars in stellar nurseries. The very center of the Milky Way was only recently found capable of forming newborn stars. The galactic center lies some 26,000 light-years away, toward the constellation Sagittarius. At that distance, this picture spans about 900 light-years.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 8th of 2015
March 8, 2015
The Pitcher and the Carpenter
Photograph by Christian Ziegler
The fanged pitcher plant and the carpenter ant (seen here in Borneo) have a mutualistic relationship: While the plant’s pitcher stem provides a home for small ant colonies of up to 30 individuals, the ants keep the chemistry of the pitcher’s liquid balanced by removing large insects that have found their way inside. If the insects were to rot in the liquid, it would spoil.
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: March 7th of 2015
NGC 602 in the Flying Lizard Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Don Goldman
Explanation: Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy some 200 thousand light-years distant, lies 5 million year young star cluster NGC 602. Surrounded by natal gas and dust, NGC 602 is just below center in this telescopic field of view with the angular size of the Full Moon on the sky. The cluster itself is about 200 light-years in diameter. Glowing interior ridges and swept back shapes strongly suggest that energetic radiation and shock waves from NGC 602's massive young stars have eroded the dusty material and triggered a progression of star formation moving away from the cluster's center. Of course, the more extended wings of emission in the region suggest a popular name for the complex cosmic environment, The Flying Lizard Nebula.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: March 7th of 2015
March 7, 2015
Hellenic Cadets
Photograph by Alex Majoli, National Geographic
Cadets from the Hellenic Military Academy tour the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. Degraded by pollution, the ancient temple to the goddess Athena atop the Acropolis is being restored.
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