National Geographic Photo of the Day: July 29th of 2016

July 29, 2016

Old Guard

Photograph by Javier Eduardo Alvarez, National Geographic Your Shot

“Hundreds of old cypresses guard the perimeter of Lake Camécuaro and its turquoise-colored, crystal clear water,” Javier Eduardo Alvarez writes of this photo he made of the small Mexican lake, popular for its picturesque beauty. “This place is magical.”

Astronomy Picture of the Day: July 29th of 2016

Blue Danube Analemma
Image Credit & Copyright: György Soponyai Explanation: The Sun's annual waltz through planet Earth's sky forms a graceful curve known as an analemma. The analemma's figure 8 shape is tipped vertically at far right in this well-composed fisheye view from Budapest, Hungary. Captured at a chosen spot on the western bank of the Danube river, the Sun's position was recorded at 11:44 Central European Time on individual exposures over days spanning 2015 July 23 to 2016 July 4. Of course, on the northern summer solstice the Sun is at the top of the curve, but at the midpoints for the autumn and spring equinoxes. With snow on the ground, the photographer's shadow and equipment bag also appear in the base picture used for the composite panorama, taken on 2016 January 7. On that date, just after the winter solstice, the Sun was leaving the bottom of the beautiful curve over the blue Danube.

Bill Hicks Destroys the Illuminati

National Geographic Photo of the Day: July 12th of 2016

July 12, 2016

By a Thread

Photograph by Kieron Nelson, National Geographic Your Shot

In northern Pakistan’s Hunza region, travelers cross what’s often called the most dangerous bridge in the world: the Hussaini Hanging Bridge, which looks almost as unforgiving as the landscape around it. “[The bridge] is extremely old and very narrow,” photographer Kieron Nelson writes. “Situated high above [Borit Lake], it is missing many of the original wooden planks.”

Astronomy Picture of the Day: July 12th of 2016

Chasing Juno
Image Credit & Copyright: Melissa Christine Kendall Explanation: Wait for me! In 2011, NASA's robotic mission Juno launched for Jupiter from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA. Last week, Juno reached Jupiter and fired internal rockets to become only the second spacecraft to orbit our Solar System's largest planet. Juno, tasked with studying the jovian giant over the next two years, is in a highly elliptical orbit that will next bringing it near Jupiter's cloud tops in late August. Of course, the three-year-old pictured was not able to catch up to the launching rocket. Today, however, five years later, he is eight-years-old and still chasing rockets -- in that now he wants to be an astronaut.

National Geographic Photo of the Day: July 11th of 2016

July 11, 2016

Different Light

Photograph by Bin Yu, National Geographic Your Shot

Sunlight beams through a stained glass window in the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, spotlighting orbs of color onto an adjacent wall. This unique building in Spain is an important archaeological example of both Christian and Muslim influences: It was a mosque in the eighth century, during the period of Moorish conquest, but claimed as a Christian cathedral in the 13th century.

Astronomy Picture of the Day: July 11th of 2016

Aurorae on Jupiter
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Explanation: Jupiter has aurorae. Like Earth, the magnetic field of the gas giant funnels charged particles released from the Sun onto the poles. As these particles strike the atmosphere, electrons are temporarily knocked away from existing gas molecules. Electric force attracts these electrons back. As the electrons recombine to remake neutral molecules, auroral light is emitted. In the featured recently released composite image by the Hubble Space Telescope taken in ultraviolet light, the aurorae appear as annular sheets around the pole. Unlike Earth's aurorae, Jupiter's aurorae include several bright streaks and dots. Jupiter's Great Red Spot is visible on the lower right. Recent aurorae on Jupiter have been particularly strong -- a fortunate coincide with the arrival of NASA's Juno spacecraft at Jupiter last week. Juno was able to monitor the Solar Wind as it approached Jupiter, enabling a better understanding of aurorae in general, including on Earth.

National Geographic Photo of the Day: July 2nd of 2016

July 2, 2016

Timeless Temple

Photograph by Vincent J. Musi, Archaeological Site of the Acropolis, Athens

People mill around the Erechtheion, a temple to Athena erected in 421–406 B.C., which occupies the most sacred ground on Athens’s Acropolis. Ancient Greeks held festivals, sacrifices, games, and religious processions at the site; today it’s a magnet for tourists.

Astronomy Picture of the Day: July 2nd of 2016

Firefly Trails and the Summer Milky Way
Image Credit & Copyright: Malcolm Park (North York Astronomical Association) Explanation: A camera fixed low to a tripod on a northern summer's eve captured the series of images used in this serene, southern Ontario skyscape. The lakeside view frames our fair galaxy above calm water and the night's quintessential luminous apparitions. But the trails of light are neither satellite glint, nor meteor flash, nor auroral glow. In the wide-field composite constructed with four consecutive 15 second exposures, a pulsing firefly enters at the right, first wandering toward the camera, then left and back toward the lake, the central Milky Way rising in the background.