保护地球，探索宇宙，发现文明
2021年03月18日 Stardust in the Perseus Molecular Cloud Image Credit & Copyright: Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn, Stuart Heggie Explanation: Clouds of stardust drift through this deep skyscape, across the Perseus molecular cloud some 850 light-years away. Dusty nebulae reflecting light from embedded young stars stand out in the nearly 2 degree wide telescopic fiel...
2021年03月17日 The Surface of Venus from Venera 13 Image Credit: Soviet Planetary Exploration Program, Venera 13; Processing & Copyright: Donald Mitchell & Michael Carroll (used with permission) Explanation: If you could stand on Venus — what would you see? Pictured is the view from Venera 13, a robotic Soviet lander which parachuted and air-bra...
2021年03月16日 IC 1318: The Butterfly Nebula in Gas and Dust Image Credit & Copyright: Alan Pham Explanation: In the constellation of the swan near the nebula of the pelican lies the gas cloud of the butterfly next to a star known as the hen. That star, given the proper name Sadr, is just to the right of the featured frame, but the central Butterfly Nebula...
2021年03月15日 Meteor Fireballs in Light and Sound Image Credit & Copyright: Thomas Ashcraft (Radio Fireball Observatory) Explanation: Yes, but have you ever heard a meteor? Usually, meteors are too far away to make any audible sound. However, a meteor will briefly create an ionization trail that can reflect a distant radio signal. If the geometry is right...
2021年03月14日 A Flag Shaped Aurora over Sweden Image Credit & Copyright: Mia Stålnacke Explanation: It appeared, momentarily, like a 50-km tall banded flag. In mid-March of 2015, an energetic Coronal Mass Ejection directed toward a clear magnetic channel to Earth led to one of the more intense geomagnetic storms of recent years. A visual result was wide s...
2021年03月13日 SuperCam Target on Ma’az Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS Explanation: What’s the sound of one laser zapping? There’s no need to consult a Zen master to find out, just listen to the first acoustic recording of laser shots on Mars. On Perseverance mission sol 12 (March 2) the SuperCam instrument atop the rover’...
2021年03月12日 Messier 81 Image Credit & Copyright: Wissam Ayoub Explanation: One of the brightest galaxies in planet Earth’s sky is similar in size to our Milky Way Galaxy: big, beautiful Messier 81. Also known as NGC 3031 or Bode’s galaxy for its 18th century discoverer, this grand spiral can be found toward the northern constellation of Ursa...
2021年03月11日 Zodiacal Light and Mars Image Credit & Copyright: Joshua Rhoades Explanation: Just after sunset on March 7, a faint band of light still reaches above the western horizon in this serene, rural Illinois, night skyscape. Taken from an old farmstead, the luminous glow is zodiacal light, prominent in the west after sunset during planet Earth̵...
2021年03月10日 NGC 1499: The California Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Yannick Akar Explanation: Could Queen Calafia’s mythical island exist in space? Perhaps not, but by chance the outline of this molecular space cloud echoes the outline of the state of California, USA. Our Sun has its home within the Milky Way’s Orion Arm, only about 1,000 ...
2021年03月09日 Perseverance 360: Unusual Rocks and the Search for Life on Mars Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, ASU, MSSS Explanation: Is that a fossil? Looking through recent images of Mars taken by the new Perseverance rover may seem a bit like treasure hunting, with the possibility of fame coming to the first person to correctly identify a petrified bone, a ...