Astronomy Picture of the Day: August 14th of 2015

Comet Dust over Enchanted Rock
Image Credit & Copyright: Jared Tennant
Explanation: Dusty debris from periodic Comet Swift-Tuttle was swept up by planet Earth this week. Vaporized by their passage through the dense atmosphere at 59 kilometers per second, the tiny grains produced a stream of Perseid meteors. A bright, colorful Perseid meteor flash was captured during this 20 second exposure. It made its ephemeral appearance after midnight on August 12, in the moonless skies over the broad granite dome of Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, central Texas, USA. Below the Perseid meteor, trees stand in silhouette against scattered lights along the horizon and the faint Milky Way, itself cut by dark clouds of interstellar dust.

National Geographic Photo of the Day: August 9th of 2015

August 9, 2015

A Night at Deadvlei

Photograph by Beth McCarley, National Geographic Your Shot

“The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadvlei,” writes Beth McCarley, who was photographing in Namibia. “The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds. Deadvlei means 'dead marsh.' The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry.”