2025年12月16日
Andromeda and Sprites over Australia
Image Credit & Copyright: JJ Rao
Explanation: What’s happening over that tree? Two very different things. On the left is the Andromeda galaxy, an object that is older than humanity and will last billions of years into the future. Andromeda (M31) is similar in size and shape to our own Milky Way Galaxy. On the right is a red sprite, a type of lightning that lasts a fraction of a second and occurs above violent thunderstorms. Red sprites were verified as real atmospheric phenomena only about 35 years ago. The tree in the center is a boab, which may live for as long as a thousand years. Boab trees grow naturally in Australia and Africa and are known for being able to store large amounts of water: up to 100,000 liters. The featured image was captured last month near Derby in Western Australia.
Tomorrow’s picture: Soul Queen
澳大利亚上空的仙女座与红色精灵
影像提供与版权: JJ Rao
说明: 这棵树上方发生了什么事？两种截然不同的景象。左侧是仙女座星系，这个天体比人类还古老，并将持续存在数十亿年。仙女座星系（M31）在大小和形状上都与我们的银河系相似。右侧是一个红色精灵，这是一种持续时间极短，仅为几分之一秒的闪电，通常发生在剧烈雷暴上方。红色精灵大约在35年前才被证实是一种真实的大气现象。中间的树是澳洲猴面包树（当地人称boab），其寿命可达千年之久。猴面包树自然生长于澳大利亚和非洲，以其强大的储水能力而闻名，储水量可达10万公升。这张主题影像拍摄于上个月，地点在西澳大利亚的德比附近。
明日的图片: Soul Queen
