Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 28th of 2015
Massive Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 2841
Image Credit: Hubble, Subaru; Composition & Copyright: Roberto Colombari
Explanation: It is one of the more massive galaxies known. A mere 46 million light-years distant, spiral galaxy NGC 2841 can be found in the northern constellation of Ursa Major. This sharp view of the gorgeous island universe shows off a striking yellow nucleus and galactic disk. Dust lanes, small, pink star-forming regions, and young blue star clusters are embedded in the patchy, tightly wound spiral arms. In contrast, many other spirals exhibit grand, sweeping arms with large star-forming regions. NGC 2841 has a diameter of over 150,000 light-years, even larger than our own Milky Way and captured by this composite image merging exposures from the orbiting 2.4-meter Hubble Space Telescope and the ground-based 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope. X-ray images suggest that resulting winds and stellar explosions create plumes of hot gas extending into a halo around NGC 2841.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 28th fo 2015
April 28, 2015
Sparks Fly
Photograph by Steve Bradburn, National Geographic Your Shot
Your Shot member Steve Bradburn used wire wool and a long exposure to create this fiery effect in Salcombe, England. Above, stars wheel in the night sky.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 22nd of 2015
Colorful Star Clouds in Cygnus
Image Credit & Copyright: André van der Hoeven
Explanation: Stars can form in colorful surroundings. Featured here is a star forming region rich in glowing gas and dark dust toward the constellation of the Swan (Cygnus), near the bright star Sadr. This region, which spans about 50 light years, is part of the Gamma Cygni nebula which lies about 1,800 light years distant. Toward the right of the image is Barnard 344, a dark and twisted dust cloud rich in cool molecular gas. A dramatic wall of dust and red-glowing hydrogen gas forms a line down the picture center. While the glowing red gas is indicative of small emission nebulas, the blue tinted areas are reflection nebulas -- starlight reflecting from usually dark dust grains. The Gamma Cygni nebula will likely not last the next billion years, as most of the bright young stars will explode, most of the dust will be destroyed, and most of the gas will drift away.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 22nd of 2015
April 22, 2015
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Photograph by Mitch Adolph, National Geographic Your Shot
A red fox meanders through dunes along the New Jersey shore in this picture by Your Shot member Mitch Adolph. “When it got to the top of this dune, I got down on my knees to get a lower point of view and bring the cloudy sky into the background,” he writes. “As the fox looked back, I got this shot."
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 21st of 2015
April 21, 2015
The Brightest Smile in Town
Photograph by Gregor Pirih, National Geographic Your Shot
A street performer and a picture of Ray Charles meet in a window in the small town of Nova Gorica in western Slovenia, home of Your Shot member Gregor Pirih, who came upon this scene while taking a walk. Pirih stopped and listened for a while before taking out his camera and hunting for the serendipitous angle captured here. He then waited to include a passing woman. “I wanted to have a good street atmosphere [in] my photo,” he writes. “I fired off a few frames, and I knew immediately that I just took the photograph I was hoping for.”
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 20th of 2015
Total Solar Eclipse over Svalbard
Image Credit & Copyright: Thanakrit Santikunaporn
Explanation: Going, going, gone. That was the feeling in Svalbard, Norway last month during a total eclipse of the Sun by the Moon. In the featured image, the eclipse was captured every three minutes and then digitally merged with a foreground frame taken from the same location. Visible in the foreground are numerous gawking eclipse seekers, some deploying pretty sophisticated cameras. As the Moon and Sun moved together across the sky -- nearly horizontally from this far north -- an increasing fraction of the Sun appears covered by the Moon. In the central frame, the Moon's complete blockage of the disk of the Sun makes the immediate surroundings appear like night during the day. The exception is the Moon itself, which now appears surrounded by the expansive corona of the Sun. Of course, about 2.5 minutes later, the surface of the Sun began to reappear. The next total eclipse of the Sun will occur in 2016 March and be visible from Southeast Asia.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 20th of 2015
April 20, 2015
Shining Through
Photograph by Ernie Vater, National Geographic Your Shot
The setting sun shines through the ice on the shore of a frozen Lake Superior, traversed by Your Shot member Ernie Vater to reach this spot. “Part of the beauty of this place is the silence of it,” he writes of the ice caves at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore near Bayfield, Wisconsin. “You hear nothing except the occasional creaking of the ice (which can make you jump if it's right under you). There were a few times when I just stopped and enjoyed the quiet. In this spot the only sounds were the water drops splashing.”
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 19th of 2015
Ring Galaxy AM 0644-741 from Hubble
Image Credit: Hubble Heritage Team (AURA / STScI), J. Higdon (Cornell) ESA, NASA
Explanation: How could a galaxy become shaped like a ring? The rim of the blue galaxy pictured on the right is an immense ring-like structure 150,000 light years in diameter composed of newly formed, extremely bright, massive stars. That galaxy, AM 0644-741, is known as a ring galaxy and was caused by an immense galaxy collision. When galaxies collide, they pass through each other -- their individual stars rarely come into contact. The ring-like shape is the result of the gravitational disruption caused by an entire small intruder galaxy passing through a large one. When this happens, interstellar gas and dust become condensed, causing a wave of star formation to move out from the impact point like a ripple across the surface of a pond. The intruder galaxy is just outside of the frame taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. This featured image was taken to commemorate the anniversary of Hubble's launch in 1990. Ring galaxy AM 0644-741 lies about 300 million light years away.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 19th of 2015
April 19, 2015
A Life Apart
Photograph by Mohd Irman Ismail, National Geographic Your Shot
“The Sanskrit term sadhu (‘good man’) refers to renouncers who have chosen to live a life apart from or on the edges of society to focus on their own spiritual practice,” writes Your Shot member Mohd Irman Ismail, who made this portrait in Kathmandu, Nepal. “I was visiting Pashupatinath Temple and saw this lone sadhu relaxing near the bank of the river that passed through the temple. I smiled at him and gestured at the camera, asking for his permission, and he nodded. I lifted the camera and captured him with [this] deep and steely look.”
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 18th of 2015
The Great Crater Hokusai
Image Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins Univ. APL, Arizona State Univ., CIW
Explanation: One of the largest young craters on Mercury, 114 kilometer (71 mile) diameter Hokusai crater's bright rays are known to extend across much of the planet. But this mosaic of oblique views focuses on Hokusai close up, its sunlit central peaks, terraced crater walls, and frozen sea of impact melt on the crater's floor. The images were captured by the MESSENGER spacecraft. The first to orbit Mercury, since 2011 MESSENGER has conducted scientific explorations, including extensive imaging of the Solar System's innermost planet. Now running out of propellant and unable to counter orbital perturbations caused by the Sun's gravity, MESSENGER is predicted to impact the surface of Mercury on April 30.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 18th of 2015
April 18, 2015
Lavender Avenue
Photograph by Jeff Berkes, National Geographic Your Shot
While traveling in Tuscany last summer, Your Shot member Jeff Berkes wanted to experience the culture and vibe of each of its small towns. “I came across this bicycle in Montepulciano, Italy, and the color palette was the first thing that caught my attention—the yellows and purples just stood out to me,” he writes. “I also loved the difference in the type of light there, the direct light on the bike, and the cooler color temperatures of the shaded corridor in the background.”
Friday, April 17, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 17th of 2015
M46 Plus Two
Image Credit & Copyright: Denis Priou
Explanation: Galactic or open star clusters are young. These swarms of stars are born together near the plane of the Milky Way, but their numbers steadily dwindle as cluster members are ejected by galactic tides and gravitational interactions. In fact, this bright open cluster, known as M46, is around 300 million years young. It still contains a few hundred stars within a span of 30 light-years or so. Located about 5,000 light-years away toward the constellation Puppis, M46 also seems to contain contradictions to its youthful status. In this pretty starscape, the colorful, circular patch above and right of the center of M46 is the planetary nebula NGC 2438. Fainter still, a second planetary nebula, PK231+4.1, is identified by the box at the right and enlarged in the inset. Planetary nebulae are a brief, final phase in the life of a sun-like star a billion years old or more, whose central reservoir of hydrogen fuel has been exhausted. NGC 2438 is estimated to be only 3,000 light-years distant, though, and moves at a different speed than M46 cluster members. Along with its fainter cohort, planetary nebula NGC 2438 is likely only by chance appearing near our line-of-sight to the young stars of M46.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 17th of2015
April 17, 2015
Intelligent Travel
Photograph by Brian Skerry, National Geographic
Spinner dolphins return from foraging to a bay off Oahu, Hawaii. Garrulous and gregarious, spinners gather in groups that can number in the thousands.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 16th of 2015
One-Armed Spiral Galaxy NGC 4725
Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh
Explanation: While most spiral galaxies, including our own Milky Way, have two or more spiral arms, NGC 4725 has only one. In this sharp color composite image, the solo spira mirabilis seems to wind from a prominent ring of bluish, newborn star clusters and red tinted star forming regions. The odd galaxy also sports obscuring dust lanes a yellowish central bar structure composed of an older population of stars. NGC 4725 is over 100 thousand light-years across and lies 41 million light-years away in the well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. Computer simulations of the formation of single spiral arms suggest that they can be either leading or trailing arms with respect to a galaxy's overall rotation. Also included in the frame, sporting a noticably more traditional spiral galaxy look, is a more distant background galaxy.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 16th of 2015
April 16, 2015
Pilgrims’ Progress
Photograph by Michael George
On the route known as the Camino Frances, pilgrims dot a trail across the Meseta, the plateau of central Spain. “The Camino has no specific stopping point each day,” wrote photographer Michael George in his journal. “If you are tired, injured, or fall in love with a town or a person, you can stop.” Exploring on foot, he concluded, is “simultaneously the simplest and most intense way to see the world.”
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 15th of 2015
Mystic Mountain Dust Pillars
Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, NASA, ESA; Processing & Copyright: David Forteza
Explanation: It's stars versus dust in the Carina Nebula and the stars are winning. More precisely, the energetic light and winds from massive newly formed stars are evaporating and dispersing the dusty stellar nurseries in which they formed. Located in the Carina Nebula and known informally as Mystic Mountain, these pillar's appearance is dominated by the dark dust even though it is composed mostly of clear hydrogen gas. Dust pillars such as these are actually much thinner than air and only appear as mountains due to relatively small amounts of opaque interstellar dust. About 7,500 light-years distant, the featured image was taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, digitally reprocessed by an industrious amateur, and highlights an interior region of Carina which spans about three light years. Within a few million years, the stars will likely win out completely and the entire dust mountain will be destroyed.
National Geographic Picture of the Day: April 15th of 2015
April 15, 2015
Fuji’s Swan
Photograph by Swapnil Deshpande, National Geographic Your Shot
“I was on my backpacking trip to Japan, and I had decided to spend a day on Lake Yamanaka in Hirano village to photograph Mount Fuji,” writes Swapnil Deshpande, who shared this picture with the Your Shot photo community. “I was fortunate to get this swan swimming in the morning light there.”
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 14th o 2015
Video Credit & Copyright: Stephan Heinsius (Eclipseland)
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 14th of 2015
April 14, 2015
Lighting the Night
Photograph by Fabio Manca, National Geographic Your Shot
“We arrived in Hoi An right after Typhoon Haiyan had hit the Vietnamese coast,” writes Your Shot member Fabio Manca. “The streets in the old part of the city were flooded for several days, and people were using small speed boats to move around. Others were simply trying to push the water out from their homes and shops. Eventually we could ‘walk’ to the city center, where life had started again and shops reopened. There was a full moon that night, and young girls in colorful pink traditional dresses were selling candles to honor their ancestors and bring good luck.”
Monday, April 13, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 13th of 2015
Milky Way over Erupting Volcano
Image Credit & Copyright: Sergio Montúfar
Explanation: The view was worth the trip. Battling high winds, cold temperatures, and low oxygen, the trek to near the top of the volcano Santa Maria in Guatemala -- while carrying sensitive camera equipment -- was lonely and difficult. Once set up, though, the camera captured this breathtaking vista during the early morning hours of February 28. Visible on the ground are six volcanoes of the Central America Volcanic Arc, including Fuego, the Volcano of Fire, which is seen erupting in the distance. Visible in the sky, in separate exposures taken a few minutes later, are many stars much further in the distance, as well as the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy situated horizontally overhead.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 13th of 2015
April 13, 2015
Windswept
Photograph by Yves Vernin, National Geographic Your Shot
A strong, dry wind—called a mistral in southern France—blows through the city of Marseilles, with hair-raising results. Photographer Yves Vernin had for a long time been hoping to do a series on the mistral, so on a windy day he headed to Notre Dame de la Garde, or the "bonne mère," situated on a hill. “This is a famous place in Marseille, and a windy place,” he writes. “After I searched [for] a good place with nice light and a lot of wind, I waited like a hunter. (Of course, I underexposed because of the light on the faces, and I set a high speed to immobilize the hair.) This one was the most interesting I took.”
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 12th of 2015
Sentinels of the Arctic
Image Credit & Copyright: Niccolò Bonfadini
Explanation: Who guards the north? Judging from the above photograph, possibly giant trees covered in snow and ice. The featured picture was taken a few winters ago in Finnish Lapland where weather can include sub-freezing temperatures and driving snow. Surreal landscapes sometimes result, where common trees become cloaked in white and so appear, to some, as watchful aliens. Far in the distance, behind this uncommon Earthly vista, is a more common sight -- a Belt of Venus that divided a darkened from sunlit sky as the Sun rose behind the photographer. Of course, in the spring, the trees thaw and Lapland looks much different.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 12th of 2015
April 12, 2015
Cloud Cover
Photograph by Brendon Wainwright, National Geographic Your Shot
Table Mountain wears her distinctive blanket while Cape Town flickers below in this picture by Brendon Wainwright, a member of our Your Shot community. Taking advantage of a beautiful day, Wainwright had hiked with friends to the top of Lion’s Head in the Table Mountain range. “Most people know [that] when the southeasterly wind is blowing it is unpleasant, strong, and irritating; however, not the case on Lion's Head, which is situated between Table Mountain and Signal Hill,” says Wainwright. “As a result of the southeaster, [we saw] a magical 'tablecloth' cloud phenomenon ... formed over Table Mountain.”
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 11th of 2015
Venus in the West
Image Credit & Copyright: Babak Tafreshi (TWAN)
Explanation: In the coming days, Venus shines near the western horizon at sunset. To find Earth's sister planet in twilight skies just look for the brilliant evening star. Tonight very close to the Pleiades star cluster, Venus dominates this springtime night skyscape taken only a few days ago near the town of Lich in central Germany. Also known as the Seven Sisters, the stars of the compact Pleiades cluster appear above Venus in this picture. The budding tree branches to its left frame bright star Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus the Bull, and the V-shaped Hyades star cluster.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 11th of 2015
April 11, 2015
Come Dancing
Photograph by Visarut Teerawatvichaikul, National Geographic Your Shot
The light and shimmer of the Starlight Room at San Francisco’s Sir Frances Drake Hotel absorbs a couple moved to dance the tango. “I heard the tango music while I was setting up my camera on a tripod,” writes Your Shot member Visarut Teerawatvichaikul, who visited the lounge while at work on a school project. “Suddenly, I saw one couple run up to the dance floor. They danced like a shadow among the stars. I was watching them dance for a while, and I felt like time was paused in that moment between me and them, so I took a shot.”
Friday, April 10, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 10th of 2015
NGC 2903: A Missing Jewel in Leo
Image Credit & Copyright: Tony Hallas
Explanation: Barred spiral galaxy NGC 2903 is only some 20 million light-years distant. Popular among amateur astronomers, it shines in the northern spring constellation Leo, near the top of the lion's head. That part of the constellation is sometimes seen as a reversed question mark or sickle. One of the brighter galaxies visible from the northern hemisphere, NGC 2903 is surprisingly missing from Charles Messier's catalog of lustrous celestial sights. This colorful image from a small ground-based telescope shows off the galaxy's gorgeous spiral arms traced by young, blue star clusters and pinkish star forming regions. Included are intriguing details of NGC 2903's bright core, a remarkable mix of old and young clusters with immense dust and gas clouds. In fact, NGC 2903 exhibits an exceptional rate of star formation activity near its center, also bright in radio, infrared, ultraviolet, and x-ray bands. Just a little smaller than our own Milky Way, NGC 2903 is about 80,000 light-years across.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 10th of 2015
April 10, 2015
The Searcher
Photograph by Carlo Mogavero, National Geographic Your Shot
A lone rider is dwarfed by the immensity of Utah’s Monument Valley. Your Shot member Carlo Mogavero had the benefit of a clear day and an iconic setting but, he writes, his shot was missing a subject. “Suddenly a cowboy started to climb the cliff, and I began to hope that the guy was going to reach the right position,” he writes. “I waited for a while, and luckily the cowboy went [onto] the rock.” For Mogavero, the scene evoked the classic Western films of Sergio Leone and John Ford, once viewed on a black-and-white television.
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 9th of 2015
A Golden Gate Eclipse
Image Credit & Copyright: Rogelio Bernal Andreo (Deep Sky Colors)
Explanation: Shadows play on the water and in the sky in this panoramic view of the April 4 total lunar eclipse over San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. Just within planet Earth's shadow the Full Moon's disk is still easy to spot at its brief total phase. The urban night skyscape was composed to cover the wide range of brightness visible to the eye. The shortest total lunar eclipse of the century, this eclipse was also the third in a string of four consecutive total lunar eclipses, a series known as a tetrad. Coming in nearly six month intervals, the previous two were last April 15 and October 8. The next and final eclipse in the tetrad will be on September 28. This 2014-2015 tetrad is one of 8 total lunar eclipse tetrads in the 21st century.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 9th of 2015
April 9, 2015
When Penguins Attack
Photograph by Gordon Tait, National Geographic Your Shot
“This is what happens when you leave a GoPro out on the sea ice,” writes Your Shot member Gordon Tait, who captured a series of time-lapses with the HD camera system while running an ocean acidification experiment near Casey Station, Antarctica. “We often get groups of Adélie penguins coming to see what we’re doing, and this one was trying to peck the camera.”
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 8th of 2015
Full Moon in Earth's Shadow
Image Credit & Copyright: Rolf Olsen
Explanation: Last week the Full Moon was completely immersed in Earth's dark umbral shadow, just briefly though. The total phase of the April 4, 2015 lunar eclipse lasted less than 5 minutes, the shortest total lunar eclipse of the century. In fact, sliding just within the Earth's umbral shadow's northern edge, the lunar north stayed relatively bright, while a beautiful range of blue and red hues emerged across the rest of the Moon's Earth-facing hemisphere. The reddened light within the shadow that reaches the lunar surface is filtered through the lower atmosphere. Seen from a lunar perspective it comes from all the sunsets and sunrises around the edges of the silhouetted Earth. Close to the shadow's edge, the bluer light is still filtered through Earth's atmosphere, but originates as rays of sunlight pass through layers high in the upper stratosphere. That light is colored by ozone that absorbs red light and transmits bluer hues. In this sharp telescopic view of totality from Auckland, New Zealand, planet Earth, the Moon's north pole has been rotated to the top of the frame.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 8th of 2015
April 8, 2015
Pool of Light
Photograph by Kelsey Gerhard, National Geographic Your Shot
In the summer months in Virginia, writes Your Shot member Kelsey Gerhard, “my daughters practically live in the water.” And the beauty of the girls in their element has become one of Gerhard’s favorite things to photograph. “One night, I knew we would be swimming late at a nearby pool, and I brought along my Nikon D700 and Ikelite underwater housing to play. I knew the pool lights would create some interesting images, but I did not realize just how magical they would be.”
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 7th of 2015
In the Heart of the Virgo Cluster
Image Credit: NASA/ESA/ESO/NAOJ/G. Paglioli; Copyright: R. Colombari/G. Paglioli
Explanation: The Virgo Cluster of Galaxies is the closest cluster of galaxies to our Milky Way Galaxy. The Virgo Cluster is so close that it spans more than 5 degrees on the sky - about 10 times the angle made by a full Moon. With its heart lying about 70 million light years distant, the Virgo Cluster is the nearest cluster of galaxies, contains over 2,000 galaxies, and has a noticeable gravitational pull on the galaxies of the Local Group of Galaxies surrounding our Milky Way Galaxy. The cluster contains not only galaxies filled with stars but also gas so hot it glows in X-rays. Motions of galaxies in and around clusters indicate that they contain more dark matter than any visible matter we can see. Pictured above, the heart of the Virgo Cluster includes bright Messier galaxies such as Markarian's Eyes on the upper left, M86 just to the upper right of center, M84 on the far right, as well as spiral galaxy NGC 4388 at the bottom right.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 7th of 2015
April 7, 2015
Grand Torino
Photograph by Prandoni Livio, National Geographic Your Shot
For Prandoni Livio our city lives are, more and more, lived fleetingly. Livio, who shared this picture with our Your Shot community, was on a trip to Turin, Italy, when he captured this shot of a passing tram. “I look around to discover new situations and photographic opportunities,” he writes. Seeing the passing tram, Livio “concentrated on [the] situation, trying to find the right angles and [waiting] for the passage of people to make the photo dynamic.”
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 6th of 2015
NGC 3293: A Bright Young Star Cluster
Image Credit & License: ESO/G. Beccari
Explanation: Hot blue stars shine brightly in this beautiful, recently formed galactic or "open" star cluster. Open cluster NGC 3293 is located in the constellation Carina, lies at a distance of about 8000 light years, and has a particularly high abundance of these young bright stars. A study of NGC 3293 implies that the blue stars are only about 6 million years old, whereas the cluster's dimmer, redder stars appear to be about 20 million years old. If true, star formation in this open cluster took at least 15 million years. Even this amount of time is short, however, when compared with the billions of years stars like our Sun live, and the over-ten billion year lifetimes of many galaxies and our universe. Pictured, NGC 3293 appears just in front of a dense dust lane and red glowing hydrogen gas emanating from the Carina Nebula.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 6th of 2015
April 6, 2015
Purple Haze
Photograph by Szymon Bielikowski, National Geographic Your Shot
“I cannot describe the feelings that were flowing through my entire self when I finally got to Jökulsárlón,” writes Szymon Bielikowski, a member of our Your Shot community. “It was a spiritual experience.” Bielikowski photographed the glacial lagoon while on a lone journey through Iceland. “I could stay there for weeks, months, who knows how long?” he writes. “It is as beautiful as it is sad. I will get back there as soon as I can.”
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 5th of 2015
Saturn, Tethys, Rings, and Shadows
Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA
Explanation: Seen from ice moon Tethys, rings and shadows would display fantastic views of the Saturnian system. Haven't dropped in on Tethys lately? Then this gorgeous ringscape from the Cassini spacecraft will have to do for now. Caught in sunlight just below and left of picture center in 2005, Tethys itself is about 1,000 kilometers in diameter and orbits not quite five saturn-radii from the center of the gas giant planet. At that distance (around 300,000 kilometers) it is well outside Saturn's main bright rings, but Tethys is still one of five major moons that find themselves within the boundaries of the faint and tenuous outer E ring. Discovered in the 1980s, two very small moons Telesto and Calypso are locked in stable locations along Tethys' orbit. Telesto precedes and Calypso follows Tethys as the trio circles Saturn.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 5th of 2015
April 5, 2015
Shake It Off
Photograph by Michael Pachis, National Geographic Your Shot
“The Memphis Zoo houses bald eagles that have been injured too badly to be returned to the wild,” writes Your Shot member Michael Pachis. “Usually the eagles are perched in their tree watching the visitors. However, this time I noticed one ... hopping on the ground toward a water pool in the aviary. He surprised me by dunking his entire head in the water” before coming up shaking.
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 4th of 2015
Voorwerpjes in Space
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, William Keel (Univ. Alabama)
Explanation: Mysterious Hanny's Voorwerp, Dutch for "Hanny's Object", is really enormous, about the size of the Milky Way Galaxy and glowing strongly in the greenish light produced by ionized oxygen atoms. It is thought to be a tidal tail of material left by an ancient galaxy merger, illuminated and ionized by the outburst of a quasar inhabiting the center of distant spiral galaxy IC 2497. Its exciting 2007 discovery by Dutch schoolteacher Hanny van Arkel while participating online in the Galaxy Zoo project has since inspired a search and discovery of eight more eerie green cosmic features. Imaged in these panels by the Hubble Space Telescope, all eight appear near galaxies with energetic cores. Far outside their associated galaxies, these objects are also likely echoes of quasar activity, illuminated only as light from a core quasar outburst reaches them and ultimately fading tens of thousands of years after the quasar outburst itself has faded away. Of course a galaxy merger like the impending merger of our own Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy, could also trigger the birth of a quasar that would illuminate our distant future version of Hanny's Voorwerp.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 4th of 2015
April 4, 2015
Galaxy West
Photograph by Dan Whittaker, National Geographic Your Shot
The Milky Way arcs above an abandoned farm outside the former railroad town of Bartlett, Texas. Earth’s vast home galaxy spans 120,000 light-years from end to end.
Friday, April 3, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 3rd of 2015
Sun and Moon Halo
Image Credit & Copyright: Göran Strand
Explanation: Two pictures captured on April 1 are combined in this creative day and night composite. Separated in time by about 10 hours the images otherwise match, looking along the coast at Östersund Sweden. The relative times were chosen to show the Sun and a nearly full Moon at the same place in the cold, early springtime sky. In the night scene Jupiter also shines above the waterfront lights, while Sun and Moon are both surrounded by a beautiful circular ice halo. The Sun and Moon halos really do align, each with an angular radius of 22 degrees. That radius is a constant, not determined by the brightness of Sun or Moon but only by the hexagonal geometry of atmospheric ice crystals and the reflection and refraction of light. Of course tomorrow, April 4, will find the Sun and Moon on opposite sides of planet Earth for a total lunar eclipse.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 3rd of 2015
April 3, 2015
Holding Fast
Photograph by Syed Hassan, National Geographic Your Shot
Light and smoke commingle to cast a misty glow over devotees during Rakher Upobash, a Hindu fasting festival, in Bangladesh. This is what lured Your Shot member Syed Hassan to photograph the scene. But he was also drawn to the expressions of the devotees. No matter which religion is practiced, “I love to capture the feeling,” he writes.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Astronomy Picture of the Day: April 2nd of 2015
The Owl and the Galaxy
Image Credit & Copyright: Christoph Kaltseis - Poem: Apologies to Edward Lear
Explanation:
With blue and yellow star.They go together beneath the Big Dipper,
If you wonder where they are. The Galaxy's light shines through the night,
Ten millions of light-years away.But never fear the Owl is near,
Inside the Milky Way.A cosmic shroud, the Owl is proud,
its central star a must.And the spiral Galaxy lies on edge
To show off all its dust,
Its dust,
Its dust,
To show off all its dust.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 2nd of 2015
April 2, 2015
Chasing Rainbows
Photograph by Myriam Casper, National Geographic Your Shot
“I was inside my car as the ferry was getting ready to dock, [and] I see people's faces looking in one direction, in awe, toward the sea,” writes Your Shot member Myriam Casper, who was traveling from Nanaimo on Vancouver Island to mainland Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. “So I grabbed my camera, went to check out what they were looking at, and then saw this perfect double rainbow in front of me.” Casper fought crowds of people on the ferry’s deck to get the shot over Horseshoe Bay. “It’s almost as if we [were] approaching a portal to another planet.”
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
AStronomy Picture of the Day: April 1st of 2015
Suiting Up for the Moon
Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Nemiroff (Michigan Tech. U.)
Explanation: How will cows survive on the Moon? One of the most vexing questions asked about space, scientists have spent decades debating this key issue. Finally, after extensive computer modeling and over a dozen midnight milkings, engineers have designed, built, and now tested the new Lunar Grazing Module (LGM), a multi-purpose celestial bovine containment system. By now, many of you will not be surprised to be wished a Happy April Fool's Day from APOD. To the best of our knowledge, there are no current plans to launch cows into space. For one reason, cows tend to be large animals that don't launch easily or cheaply. As friendly as cows may be, head-to-head comparisons show that robotic rovers are usually more effective as scientific explorers. The featured image is of a thought-provoking work of art named "Mooooonwalk" which really is on display at a popular science museum.
National Geographic Photo of the Day: April 1st of 2015
April 1, 2015
Corazón del Fuego
Photograph by Andrew Shepard, National Geographic Your Shot
Wanting to get a closer look at Fuego, a highly active volcano in Guatemala, Your Shot member Andrew Shepard hiked the adjacent Acatenango Volcano and camped near the summit. “Under the moonlight I set my tripod up just outside the tent, and at around 1:30 a.m. we awoke to the rumbling of the ground and the sound of a breath-stealing explosion,” Shepard writes. “I scrambled to the camera just in time [to] capture a moonlit and lava-covered Fuego as it put on this beautiful display of activity and power."
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