2021年05月12日 A Meteor and the Gegenschein Image Credit: J.C. Casado, StarryEarth, EELabs, TWAN Explanation: Is the night sky darkest in the direction opposite the Sun? No. In fact, a rarely discernable faint glow known as the gegenschein (German for “counter glow”) can be seen 180 degrees […]
2021年05月10日 Lightning and Orion Beyond Uluru Image Credit & Copyright: Park Liu Explanation: What’s happening behind Uluru? A United Nations World Heritage Site, Uluru is an extraordinary 350-meter high mountain in central Australia that rises sharply from nearly flat surroundings. Compos
2021年05月09日 Star Clusters M35 and NGC 2158 Image Credit & Copyright: CFHT, Coelum, MegaCam, J.-C. Cuillandre (CFHT) & G. A. Anselmi (Coelum) Explanation: Clusters of stars can be near or far, young or old, diffuse or compact. The featured image shows two quite contrasting open star cluster
2021年05月09日 Horsehead and Orion Nebulas Image Credit & Copyright: Roberto Colombari & Federico Pelliccia Explanation: The dark Horsehead Nebula and the glowing Orion Nebula are contrasting cosmic vistas. Adrift 1,500 light-years away in one of the night sky’s most recognizable conste
2021年05月08日 Deepscape at Yacoraite Image Credit & Copyright: Franco Meconi Explanation: In this evocative night scene a dusty central Milky Way rises over the ancient Andean archaeological site of Yacoraite in northwestern Argentina. The denizens of planet Earth reaching skyward are the large A
2021年05月07日 Mercury-Redstone 3 Launch Image Credit: NASA Explanation: Sixty years ago, near the dawn of the space age, NASA controllers “lit the candle” and sent Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard arcing into space atop a Redstone rocket. His cramped space capsule was dubbed Freedom 7. Broad
2021年05月06日 Windblown NGC 3199 Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby and Roberto Colombari Explanation: NGC 3199 lies about 12,000 light-years away, a glowing cosmic cloud in the nautical southern constellation of Carina. The nebula is about 75 light-years across in this narrowband, false-color
2021年05月05日 STEVE over Copper Harbor Image Credit & Copyright: MaryBeth Kiczenski Explanation: What creates STEVEs? Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancements (STEVEs) have likely been seen since antiquity, but only in the past five years has it been realized that their colors and shapes mak
2021年05月04日 Space Station, Solar Prominences, Sun Image Credit & Copyright: Mehmet Ergün Explanation: That’s no sunspot. It’s the International Space Station (ISS) caught passing in front of the Sun. Sunspots, individually, have a dark central umbra, a lighter surrounding penumbra,
2021年05月03日 Apollo 11: Earth, Moon, Spaceship Image Credit: NASA, Apollo 11; Restoration – Toby Ord Explanation: After the most famous voyage of modern times, it was time to go home. After proving that humanity has the ability to go beyond the confines of planet Earth, the first humans to walk
