2020 April 1 Asteroid or Potato? Image Credit: Jack Sutton Explanation: Is this asteroid Arrokoth or a potato? Perhaps, after all the data was beamed back to Earth from NASA’s robotic New Horizons spacecraft, the featured high resolution image of asteroid Arrokoth was constructed. Perhaps, alt […]
2020 March 31 The Galactic Center from Radio to X-ray Image Credit: X-Ray: NASA, CXC, UMass, D. Wang et al.; Radio: NRF, SARAO, MeerKAT Explanation: In how many ways does the center of our Galaxy glow? This enigmatic region, about 26,000 light years away toward the constellation of the Archer (Sagit
2020 March 30 The Colors of Saturn from Cassini Image Credit: NASA, ESA, JPL, ISS, Cassini Imaging Team; Processing & License: Judy Schmidt Explanation: What creates Saturn’s colors? The featured picture of Saturn only slightly exaggerates what a human would see if hovering close to the g
2020 March 29 A 212-Hour Exposure of Orion Image Credit & Copyright: Stanislav Volskiy, Rollover Annotation: Judy Schmidt Explanation: The constellation of Orion is much more than three stars in a row. It is a direction in space that is rich with impressive nebulas. To better appreciate this wel
2020 March 28 Stars Trail over Ragusa Image Credit & Copyright: Gianni Tumino Explanation: In trying times, stars still trail in the night. Taken on March 14, this night skyscape was made by combining 230 exposures each 15 seconds long to follow the stars’ circular paths. The camera was f
2020 March 27 A Little Drop of Galaxy Image Credit & Copyright: Massimo Tamajo Explanation: A drop of water seems to hold an entire galaxy in this creative macro-astrophotograph. In the imaginative work of cosmic nature photography a close-up lens was used to image a previously made picture of
2020 March 26 Andromeda Station Composite Image Credit & Copyright: Ralf Rohner Explanation: This surreal picture isn’t from a special effects sci-fi movie. It is a digital composite of frames of the real Andromeda Galaxy, also known as M31, rising over a real mountain. Exposures tracking
2020 March 25 Star Forming Region S106 Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive; Processing & Copyright: Utkarsh Mishra Explanation: Massive star IRS 4 is beginning to spread its wings. Born only about 100,000 years ago, material streaming out from this newborn star has formed the nebula
2020 March 24 A Black Hole Disrupts a Passing Star Illustration Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech Explanation: What happens to a star that goes near a black hole? If the star directly impacts a massive black hole, then the star falls in completely — and everything vanishes. More likely, though, the st
2020 March 23 From the Pleiades to the Eridanus Loop Image Credit & Copyright: Hirofumi Okubo Explanation: If you stare at an interesting patch of sky long enough, will it look different? In the case of Pleiades and Hyades star clusters — and surrounding regions — the answer is: yes
