2020 May 1 A View Toward M106 Image Credit & Copyright: Joonhwa Lee Explanation: Big, bright, beautiful spiral, Messier 106 dominates this cosmic vista. The nearly two degree wide telescopic field of view looks toward the well-trained constellation Canes Venatici, near the handle of the Big Dip […]
2020 April 30 Andromeda Island Universe Image Credit & Copyright: Yuzhe Xiao Explanation: The most distant object easily visible to the unaided eye is M31, the great Andromeda Galaxy some two and a half million light-years away. But without a telescope, even this immense spiral galaxy – s
2020 April 29 The Ion Tail of New Comet SWAN Image Credit & Copyright: Gerald Rhemann Explanation: Newly discovered Comet SWAN has already developed an impressive tail. The comet came in from the outer Solar System and has just passed inside the orbit of the Earth. Officially designated C/2020
2020 April 28 The Kepler-90 Planetary System Illustration Credit: NASA Ames, Wendy Stenzel Explanation: Do other stars have planetary systems like our own? Yes — one such system is Kepler-90. Cataloged by the Kepler satellite that operated from Earth orbit between 2009 and 2018, eight planets
2020 April 27 Fresh Tiger Stripes on Saturn’s Enceladus Image Credit: NASA, ESA, JPL, SSI, Cassini Imaging Team Explanation: How will humanity first learn of extraterrestrial life? One possibility is to find it under the icy surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. A reason to think that life
2020 April 26 Edwin Hubble Discovers the Universe Image Credit & Copyright: Courtesy Carnegie Institution for Science Explanation: How big is our universe? This very question, among others, was debated by two leading astronomers 100 years ago today in what has become known as astronomy’s
2020 April 25 Hubble’s Cosmic Reef Image Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI Explanation: These bright ridges of interstellar gas and dust are bathed in energetic starlight. With its sea of young stars, the massive star-forming region NGC 2014 has been dubbed the Cosmic Reef. Drifting just off shore, the
2020 April 24 Around the World at Night Video Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN, IDA), Music: Peter Jeremias Explanation: Watch this video. In only a minute or so you can explore the night skies around planet Earth through a compilation of stunning timelapse sequences. The presentation will ta
2020 April 23 Lyrid Meteor Streak Image Credit & Copyright: Zolt Levay Explanation: Earth’s annual Lyrid Meteor Shower peaked before dawn yesterday, as our fair planet plowed through debris from the tail of long-period comet Thatcher. In crisp, clear and moonless predawn skies over Brown
2020 April 22 Planet Earth at Twilight Image Credit: ISS Expedition 2 Crew, Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth, NASA Explanation: No sudden, sharp boundary marks the passage of day into night in this gorgeous view of ocean and clouds over our fair planet Earth. Instead, the shadow line or ter
