National Geographic Photo of the Day: May 30th of 2017

May 30, 2017
Morning Grind
Skateboarders start their day on a ramp in Los Angeles. Your Shot photographer Corban Lundborg says that for him, skateboarding is more than a hobby: "The traffic jams in Los Angeles cause many to look for alternative modes of transportation."
Photograph By Corban Lundborg, National Geographic Your Shot

Astronomy Picture of the Day: May 30th of 2017

A Kalahari Sky
Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horálek Explanation: You wake up in the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, Africa. You go outside your tent, set up your camera, and take long exposures of the land and sky. What might you see? Besides a lot of blowing dust and the occasional acacia tree, you might catch many sky wonders. Pictured in 2015 September, sky highlights include the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy, the Pleiades Star Cluster, Barnard's Loop, and both the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, to name just a few. Although most of these faded in the morning light, they were quickly replaced by a partial eclipse of the Sun.

National geographic Photo of the Day: May 29th of 2017

May 29, 2017

Hello, Spring

A bird inspects the offerings of a cherry tree before all the blossoms are in full bloom. Every spring, the iconic trees, known as sakura, usher in Japan's busiest tourist season.

Photograph By Hayashida Masayoshi, National Geographic Your Shot

Astronomy Picture of the Day: May 29th of 2017

Beneath Jupiter
Image Credit: NASA, Juno, SwRI, MSSS, Gerald Eichstädt & Seán Doran Explanation: Jupiter is stranger than we knew. NASA's Juno spacecraft has now completed its sixth swoop past Jupiter as it moves around its highly elliptical orbit. Pictured, Jupiter is seen from below where, surprisingly, the horizontal bands that cover most of the planet disappear into swirls and complex patterns. A line of white oval clouds is visible nearer to the equator. Recent results from Juno show that Jupiter's weather phenomena can extend deep below its cloud tops, and that Jupiter's magnetic field varies greatly with location. Juno is scheduled to orbit Jupiter 37 times with each orbit taking about six weeks.

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National Geographic Photo of the Day: May 27th of 2017

May 27, 2017

Follow the Leader

A goatherd treks through the snow in Beysehir, Turkey. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, there are 65.5 million goats and sheep in Turkey-- which works out to about 215 goats per square mile.

Photograph By Mustafa Varol, National Geographic Your Shot

Astronomy Picture of the Day: May 27th of 2017

Comet Clark is near the Edge
Image Credit & Copyright: Raul Villaverde Fraile Explanation: Sweeping through this stunning field of view, Comet 71P/Clark really is in the foreground of these cosmic clouds. The 2 panel telescopic mosaic is color enhanced and is about 5 degrees (10 full moons) across. It captures the faint comet's position on the night of May 23/24 over 5 light-minutes from Earth, very near the line-of-sight to bright star Antares and the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. In the frame Antares, also known as Alpha Scorpii, is at bottom center surrounded by a dusty cosmic cloud reflecting the cool giant star's yellowish light. Globular star cluster M4 shines just right of Antares, but M4 lies some 7,000 light-years away compared to Antares' 500 light-year distance. Slightly closer than Antares, Rho Ophiuchi's bluish starlight is reflected by the dust in molecular clouds toward the top. You can spot the small coma and short tail of the comet as a faint smudge near the center of the left edge of the frame. Just look for the comet's striking greenish color, produced as diatomic carbon molecules fluoresce in sunlight.

National Geographic Photo of the Day: May 26th of 2017

May 26, 2017

Bearing the Load

In Bangladesh, a worker in a brickyard carries stacks of bricks out from the kiln. The nation is growing rapidly, and the need for construction materials is constant.

Photograph By Apu Jaman, National Geographic Your Shot

Astronomy Picture of the Day: May 26th of 2017

Spiral Galaxy NGC 6744
Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel Verschatse Explanation: Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 6744 is nearly 175,000 light-years across, larger than our own Milky Way. It lies some 30 million light-years distant in the southern constellation Pavo appearing as a faint, extended object in small telescopes. We see the disk of the nearby island universe tilted towards our line of sight. This remarkably distinct and detailed galaxy portrait covers an area about the angular size of the full moon. In it, the giant galaxy's yellowish core is dominated by the light from old, cool stars. Beyond the core, spiral arms filled with young blue star clusters and pinkish star forming regions sweep past a smaller satellite galaxy at the lower left, reminiscent of the Milky Way's satellite galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud.

National Geographic Photo of the Day: May 25th of 2017

May 25, 2017

A Swarm of Sharks

Your Shot photographer Kimberly Jeffries was scuba diving in the Galápagos Islands when dozens of scalloped hammerhead sharks began swimming above her. "Without the use of video lights or strobes it was challenging to shoot straight up," she recalls, "but we didn't want to disturb the sharks with flashes. It's beautiful to witness nature in its untouched and wild form like this."

Photograph By Kimberly Jeffries, National Geographic Your Shot

Astronomy Picture of the Day: May 25th of 2017

Star Cluster, Spiral Galaxy, Supernova
Image Credit & Copyright: Paolo Demaria Explanation: A cosmic snapshot from May 19, this colorful telescopic field of view spans about 1 degree or 2 full moons on the sky. Spiky in appearance, foreground Milky Way stars are scattered toward the royal constellation Cepheus while stars of open cluster NGC 6939 gather about 5 thousand light-years in the distance near the top of the frame. Face-on spiral galaxy NGC 6946 is toward the lower left nearly 22 million light-years away. The helpful red lines identify recently discovered supernova SN 2017eaw, the death explosion of a massive star nestled in the galaxy's bluish spiral arms. In fact in the last 100 years, 10 supernovae have been discovered in NGC 6946. By comparison, the average rate of supernovae in our Milky Way is about 1 every 100 years or so. Of course, NGC 6946 is also known as The Fireworks Galaxy.

National Geographic Photo of the Day: May 24th of 2017

May 24, 2017

Dreaming in Green

A fruit vendor naps after her lunch in the Kothapet market near Hyderabad, India. The Kothapet fruit market is the largest of its kind in the whole state of Telangana.

Photograph By RaNa Chakrabarti, National Geographic Your Shot

Astronomy Picture of the Day: May 24th of 2017

NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge
Image Credit & Copyright: Lóránd Fényes Explanation: Is our Galaxy this thin? We believe so. Magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 4565 is viewed edge-on from planet Earth. Also known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile, bright NGC 4565 is a stop on many telescopic tours of the northern sky, in the faint but well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. This sharp, colorful image reveals the galaxy's bulging central core cut by obscuring dust lanes that lace NGC 4565's thin galactic plane. An assortment of other background galaxies is included in the pretty field of view, with neighboring galaxy NGC 4562 at the upper left. NGC 4565 itself lies about 40 million light-years distant and spans some 100,000 light-years. Easily spotted with small telescopes, sky enthusiasts consider NGC 4565 to be a prominent celestial masterpiece Messier missed.

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National Geographic Photo of the Day: May 23rd of 2017

May 23, 2017

Misty Mountains

Your Shot photographer Karsten Hoenack says that he was "totally overwhelmed" by the beauty of this mountain chain in Coahuila, Mexico. "Mexico is one of those countries which surprises you around every corner," he says. After this sight, he remembers, "Minutes later Monterrey City appeared. Fantastic how close to a big city such a beautiful landscape can be."

Photograph By Karsten Hoenack, National Geographic Your Shot

Astronomy Picture of the Day: May 23rd of 2017

Approaching Jupiter
Video Composition & Copyright: Peter Rosén et al.; Music: The Awakening by Clemens Ruh
Explanation: What would it look like to approach Jupiter? To help answer this, a team of 91 amateur astrophotographers took over 1,000 pictures of Jupiter from the Earth with the resulting images aligned and digitally merged into the featured time-lapse video. Image taking began in 2014 December and lasted just over three months. The resulting fictitious approach sequence has similarities to what was seen by NASA's robotic Juno spacecraft as it first approached the Jovian world last July. The video begins with Jupiter appearing as a small orb near the image center. As Jupiter nears from below, the planet looms ever larger while the rotation of its cloud bands becomes apparent. Jupiter's shrinking Great Red Spot rotates into view twice, at times showing unusual activity. Many white ovals are visible moving around the giant planet. The video ends as the imaginary spacecraft passes over Jupiter's North Pole.

National Geographic Photo of the Day: May 22nd of 2017

May 22, 2017

Looping Lasso

In Havana, Cuba, a young man shows off his skills with a lasso. As tourism booms in Cuba, locals fear that agricultural ways of life may be in decline.

Photograph By P. Warner, National Geographic Your Shot

Astronomy Picture of the Day: MAy 22nd of 2017

A Zodiacal Sky over Horseshoe Bend
Image Credit & Copyright: David Lane Explanation: What's causing the unusual ray of white light extending upward from the central horizon? Dust orbiting the Sun. At certain times of the year, a band of sun-reflecting dust from the inner Solar System rises prominently before sunrise and is called zodiacal light. The dust originates mostly from faint Jupiter-family comets and slowly spirals into the Sun. Pictured, in front of the zodiacal light, is a spectacular view of Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River. Emitted from well behind the zodiacal light is a spectacular sky that includes many bright stars including Sirius, several blue star clusters including the Pleiades, and an assortment of red nebula including Barnard's Loop in Orion. The 30-image composite was taken earlier this month in nearly complete darkness only six inches from the edge of a dangerous cliff.

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National Geographic Photo of the Day: May 20th of 2017

May 20, 2017

Childhood Wonder

This picture of Your Shot photographer Vironica Golden's son tells a very personal story. "After years of infertility I feel very lucky that we were able to conceive with the help of IVF," she says. "Having children made me change the way I see the world; ordinary things become extraordinary in the eyes of children."

Photograph By Vironica Golden, National Geographic Your Shot

Astronomy Picture of the Day: May 20th of 2017

A View Toward M101
Image Credit & Copyright: Laszlo Bagi Explanation: Big, beautiful spiral galaxy M101 is one of the last entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog, but definitely not one of the least. About 170,000 light-years across, this galaxy is enormous, almost twice the size of our own Milky Way galaxy. M101 was also one of the original spiral nebulae observed by Lord Rosse's large 19th century telescope, the Leviathan of Parsontown. M101 shares this modern telescopic field of view with spiky foreground stars within the Milky Way, and more distant background galaxies. The colors of the Milky Way stars can also be found in the starlight from the large island universe. Its core is dominated by light from cool yellowish stars. Along its grand spiral arms are the blue colors of hotter, young stars mixed with obscuring dust lanes and pinkish star forming regions. Also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy, M101 lies within the boundaries of the northern constellation Ursa Major, about 25 million light-years away.

National geographic Photo of the Day: May 19th of 2017

May 19, 2017

Transport Tetris

Colorful transport containers wait to be shipped in Algeciras, Spain. This port is one of the largest in Europe, transporting roughly 100 million tons of goods in 2015.

Photograph By Aya O., National Geographic Your Shot

Astronomy Picture of the Day: May 19th of 2017

Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte
Image Credit: ESO, VST/Omegacam Local Group Survey Explanation: Named for the three astronomers instrumental in its discovery and identification, Wolf - Lundmark - Melotte (WLM) is a lonely dwarf galaxy. Seen toward the mostly southern constellation Cetus, about 3 million light-years from the Milky Way, it is one of the most remote members of our local galaxy group. In fact, it may never have interacted with any other local group galaxy. Still, telltale pinkish star forming regions and hot, young, bluish stars speckle the isolated island universe. Older, cool yellowish stars fade into the small galaxy's halo, extending about 8,000 light-years across. This sharp portrait of WLM was captured by the 268-megapixel OmegaCAM widefield imager and survey telescope at ESO's Paranal Observatory.

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National Geographic Photo of the Day: May18th of 2017

May 18, 2017

Don't Look Down

Window cleaners work 50, even 60 stories up in the air in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Your Shot photographer Huynh Dung calls them "brave," pointing out that not only are they on minimalist swings way up in the air, they're doing their jobs underneath the hot sun.

Photograph By Huynh Dung, National Geographic Your Shot

Astronomy Picture of the Day: May 18th of 2017

Simeis 147: Supernova Remnant
Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel López / IAC Explanation: It's easy to get lost following intricate filaments in this detailed image of faint supernova remnant Simeis 147. Also cataloged as Sharpless 2-240 it goes by the popular nickname, the Spaghetti Nebula. Seen toward the boundary of the constellations Taurus and Auriga, it covers nearly 3 degrees or 6 full moons on the sky. That's about 150 light-years at the stellar debris cloud's estimated distance of 3,000 light-years. This composite includes image data taken through narrow-band filters, enhancing the reddish emission from ionized hydrogen atoms to trace the shocked, glowing gas. The supernova remnant has an estimated age of about 40,000 years, meaning light from the massive stellar explosion first reached Earth 40,000 years ago. But the expanding remnant is not the only aftermath. The cosmic catastrophe also left behind a spinning neutron star or pulsar, all that remains of the original star's core.

National Geographic Photo of the Day: May 16th of 2017

May 16, 2017

Stay Warm

Gelada baboons huddle together after an icy night in the Simien Mountains of Ethiopia. The geladas are only found in this part of the world, where the temperatures are often described as “summer every day, winter every night."

Photograph By Peter Dvorak, National Geographic Your Shot

Astronomy Picture of the Day: May 16th of 2017

Gemini Stars Pollux and Castor
Image Credit & Copyright: Rogelio Bernal Andreo (Deep Sky Colors) Explanation: Who are the twins of Gemini? It terms of astronomical objects, the famous constellation is dominated by two bright stars: Pollux (left) and Castor (right). Pictured, the two stars stand out because they are so bright, so close together both in angle and brightness, but so different in color. Pollux, at 33 light years distant, is an evolved red giant star twice as massive as our Sun. Castor, at 51 light years distant, is a blue main sequence star about 2.7 times more massive that our Sun. Castor is known to have at least two stellar companions, while Pollux is now known to be circled by at least one massive planet. In terms of ancient Babylonian, Greek, and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux represent twin brothers. Currently, the Earth's orbit is causing the Sun to appear to shift in front of the constellation of Gemini, with the result that, for much of humanity, Castor and Pollux will remain visible toward the west at sunset for only a few more weeks.

National Geographic Photo of the Day: May 14th of 2017

May 14, 2017

Ice Fishing

A fisherman in Beyşehir, Turkey, casts his net into a thawed part of the lake. He must stand on the ice to do so, a dangerous practice, but you can see that the risk has already paid off in the forms of a few fish at his feet.

Photograph By seyit konyali, National Geographic Your Shot

Astronomy Picture of the Day: May 14th of 2017

Ganymede: The Largest Moon
Image Credit: NASA, JPL, Galileo Probe Explanation: What does the largest moon in the Solar System look like? Jupiter's moon Ganymede, larger than even Mercury and Pluto, has an icy surface speckled with bright young craters overlying a mixture of older, darker, more cratered terrain laced with grooves and ridges. The large circular feature on the upper right, called Galileo Regio, is an ancient region of unknown origin. Ganymede is thought to have an ocean layer that contains more water than Earth and might contain life. Like Earth's Moon, Ganymede keeps the same face towards its central planet, in this case Jupiter. The featured image was taken about 20 years ago by NASA's Galileo probe, which ended its mission by diving into Jupiter's atmosphere in 2003. Currently, NASA's Juno spacecraft orbits Jupiter and is studying the giant planet's internal structure, among many other attributes.

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National Geographic Photo of the Day: May 12th of 2017

May 12, 2017

City at Sunrise

Abu Dhabi's skyline soars through the fog above the mangroves below. Your Shot photographer Khalid Al Hammadi says that he took this picture while in college, and that the peaceful view was "a silent haven to me from the pressure of tests and daily life routine."

Photograph By Khalid Al Hammadi, National Geographic Your Shot

Asgtronomy Picture of the Day: May 12th of 2017

M13: The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules
Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block, Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, U. Arizona Explanation: In 1716, English astronomer Edmond Halley noted, "This is but a little Patch, but it shews itself to the naked Eye, when the Sky is serene and the Moon absent." Of course, M13 is now less modestly recognized as the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, one of the brightest globular star clusters in the northern sky. Telescopic views reveal the spectacular cluster's hundreds of thousands of stars. At a distance of 25,000 light-years, the cluster stars crowd into a region 150 light-years in diameter. Approaching the cluster core upwards of 100 stars could be contained in a cube just 3 light-years on a side. For comparison, the closest star to the Sun is over 4 light-years away. Along with the cluster's dense core, the outer reaches of M13 are highlighted in this sharp color image. The cluster's evolved red and blue giant stars show up in yellowish and blue tints.

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National Geographic Photo of the Day: May 11th of 2017

May 11, 2017

Up Close and Personal

A crocodile cruises by Your Shot photographer Fabrice Dudenhofer in Cuba's Jardines de la Reina, or "Gardens of the Queen." Named by Christopher Columbus, the group of islands is one of Cuba's largest protected areas.

Photograph By Fabrice Dudenhofer, National Geographic Your Shot

Astronomy Picture of the Day: May 11th of 2017

The Multiwavelength Crab
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, G. Dubner (IAFE, CONICET-University of Buenos Aires) et al.;
A. Loll et al.; T. Temim et al.; F. Seward et al.; VLA/NRAO/AUI/NSF; Chandra/CXC;
Spitzer/JPL-Caltech; XMM-Newton/ESA; Hubble/STScI Explanation: The Crab Nebula is cataloged as M1, the first object on Charles Messier's famous list of things which are not comets. In fact, the Crab is now known to be a supernova remnant, expanding debris from massive star's death explosion, witnessed on planet Earth in 1054 AD. This brave new image offers a 21st century view of the Crab Nebula by presenting image data from across the electromagnetic spectrum as wavelengths of visible light. From space, Chandra (X-ray) XMM-Newton (ultraviolet), Hubble (visible), and Spitzer (infrared), data are in purple, blue, green, and yellow hues. From the ground, Very Large Array radio wavelength data is in shown in red. One of the most exotic objects known to modern astronomers, the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star spinning 30 times a second, is the bright spot near picture center. Like a cosmic dynamo, this collapsed remnant of the stellar core powers the Crab's emission across the electromagnetic spectrum. Spanning about 12 light-years, the Crab Nebula is 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus.

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National Geographic Photo of the Day: May 10th of 2017

May 10, 2017

Fighting Fire

Your Shot photographer Patrick Ryan is a wildfire fighter in Cape Town, South Africa. Here, he photographs a fellow firefighter during a "suppression operation" on the Simonsberg.

Photograph By Patrick Ryan, National Geographic Your Shot

Astronomy Picture of the Day: May 10th of 2017

UGC 1810: Wildly Interacting Galaxy from Hubble
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Processing & Copyright: Domingo Pestana Explanation: What's happening to this spiral galaxy? Although details remain uncertain, it surely has to do with an ongoing battle with its smaller galactic neighbor. The featured galaxy is labelled UGC 1810 by itself, but together with its collisional partner is known as Arp 273. The overall shape of the UGC 1810 -- in particular its blue outer ring -- is likely a result of wild and violent gravitational interactions. This ring's blue color is caused by massive stars that are blue hot and have formed only in the past few million years. The inner galaxy appears older, redder, and threaded with cool filamentary dust. A few bright stars appear well in the foreground, unrelated to UGC 1810, while several galaxies are visible well in the background. Arp 273 lies about 300 million light years away toward the constellation of Andromeda. Quite likely, UGC 1810 will devour its galactic sidekick over the next billion years and settle into a classic spiral form.

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National Geographic Photo of the Day: May 9th of 2017

May 9, 2017

Norway Lights

The northern lights combine with a sunset to make a beautiful landscape photograph. The Lofoten Islands of Norway, where this shot was taken, are a picturesque place to see the lights from September to April.

Photograph By Dag Dahlberg, National Geographic Your Shot

Astronomy Picture of the Day: May 9th of 2017

Big Dipper Above and Below Chilean Volcanoes
Image Credit & Copyright: Yuri Beletsky (Carnegie Las Campanas Observatory, TWAN) 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 generation. 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. Connecting two stars in the far part of the Big Dipper will lead one to Polaris, the North Star, which is part of the Little Dipper. Relative stellar motions will cause the Big Dipper to slowly change its configuration over the next 100,000 years. Pictured in late April, the Big Dipper was actually imaged twice -- above and below distant Chilean volcanoes, the later reflected from an unusually calm lagoon.

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National Geographic Photo of the Day: May 6th of 2017

May 6, 2017

Under Ice

Your Shot photographer Marc Henauer says that freediving under the ice is "a strange and claustrophobic atmosphere." Divers, like this one in Switzerland, plunge into water as cold as 35 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius), without oxygen tanks.

Photograph By Marc Henauer, National Geographic Your Shot

Astronomy Picture of the Day: May 6th of 2017

Galaxy Cluster Abell 370 and Beyond
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Jennifer Lotz and the HFF Team (STScI) Explanation: Some 4 billion light-years away, massive galaxy cluster Abell 370 only appears to be dominated by two giant elliptical galaxies and infested with faint arcs in this sharp Hubble Space Telescope snapshot. The fainter, scattered bluish arcs along with the dramatic dragon arc below and left of center are images of galaxies that lie far beyond Abell 370. About twice as distant, their otherwise undetected light is magnified and distorted by the cluster's enormous gravitational mass, dominated by unseen dark matter. Providing a tantalizing glimpse of galaxies in the early universe, the effect is known as gravitational lensing. A consequence of warped spacetime it was first predicted by Einstein a century ago. Far beyond the spiky foreground Milky Way star at lower right, Abell 370 is seen toward the constellation Cetus, the Sea Monster. It is the last of six galaxy clusters imaged in the recently concluded Frontier Fields project.