2019 December 10 Starlink Satellite Trails over Brazil Image Credit & Copyright: Egon Filter Explanation: What are those streaks over the horizon? New Starlink satellites reflecting sunlight. SpaceX launched 60 Starlink communication satellites in May and 60 more in November. These satellites an […]
2019 December 9 Looking Sideways from the Parker Solar Probe Video Credit: NASA, JHUAPL, Naval Research Lab, Parker Solar Probe Explanation: Everybody sees the Sun. Nobody’s been there. Starting in 2018 though, NASA launched the robotic Parker Solar Probe (PSP) to investigate regions near to t
2019 December 8 Geminid Meteors over Chile Image Credit & Copyright: Yuri Beletsky (Carnegie Las Campanas Observatory, TWAN) Explanation: Are meteors streaming out from a point in the sky? Yes, in a way. When the Earth crosses a stream of Sun-orbiting meteors, these meteors appear to come from t
2019 December 7 Lines of Time Image Credit & Copyright: Anton Komlev Explanation: In time stars trace lines through the night sky on a rotating planet. Taken over two hours or more, these digitally added consecutive exposures were made with a camera and wide angle lens fixed to a tripod near Or
2019 December 6 Pleiades to Hyades Image Credit & Copyright: Amir H. Abolfath (TWAN) Explanation: This cosmic vista stretches almost 20 degrees from top to bottom, across the dusty constellation Taurus. It begins at the Pleiades and ends at the Hyades, two star clusters recognized since antiquit
2019 December 5 Spiral Galaxy NGC 6744 Image Credit & Copyright: Zhuokai Liu, Jiang Yuhang Explanation: Beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 6744 is nearly 175,000 light-years across, larger than our own Milky Way. It lies some 30 million light-years distant in the southern constellation Pavo and appears
2019 December 4 Electric Night Image Credit & Copyright: Ivan Pedretti Explanation: It may appear, at first, like the Galaxy is producing the lightning, but really it’s the Earth. The featured nighttime landscape was taken from a southern tip of the Italian Island of Sardinia in early June
2019 December 3 M27: The Dumbbell Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Steve Mazlin Explanation: Is this what will become of our Sun? Quite possibly. The first hint of our Sun’s future was discovered inadvertently in 1764. At that time, Charles Messier was compiling a list of diffuse objects n
2019 December 2 Mercury Crosses a Quiet Sun Video Credit: NASA, SDO, NASA’s Science Visualization Studio; Music: Gustav Sting (Kevin MacLeod) via YouTube Explanation: What’s that black dot crossing the Sun? The planet Mercury. Mercury usually passes over or under the Sun, as seen from Ea
2019 December 1 Starburst Galaxy M94 from Hubble Image Credit & Copyright: ESA/Hubble & NASA Explanation: Why does this galaxy have a ring of bright blue stars? Beautiful island universe Messier 94 lies a mere 15 million light-years distant in the northern constellation of the Hunting Dogs
