2019 November 30 Star Trails for a Red Planet Image Credit & Copyright: Dengyi Huang Explanation: Does Mars have a north star? In long exposures of Earth’s night sky, star trails make concentric arcs around the north celestial pole, the direction of our fair planet’s axis of rotatio […]
2019 November 29 Galileo’s Europa Remastered Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SETI Institute, Cynthia Phillips, Marty Valenti Explanation: Looping through the Jovian system in the late 1990s, the Galileo spacecraft recorded stunning views of Europa and uncovered evidence that the moon’s
2019 November 28 Moon and Planets at Twilight Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horálek Explanation: This week’s ongoing conjunction of Venus and Jupiter may have whetted your appetite for skygazing. Tonight is the main course though. On November 28, a young crescent Moon will join them posin
2019 November 27 Hoag’s Object: A Nearly Perfect Ring Galaxy Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing: Benoit Blanco Explanation: Is this one galaxy or two? This question came to light in 1950 when astronomer Arthur Hoag chanced upon this unusual extragalactic object. On the outside is a ri
2019 November 26 Venus and Jupiter on the Horizon Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Casado (TWAN) Explanation: What are those two bright objects on the horizon? Venus and Jupiter. The two brightest planets in the night sky passed very close together — angularly — just two days ag
2019 November 25 NGC 6995: The Bat Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Josep Drudis Explanation: Do you see the bat? It haunts this cosmic close-up of the eastern Veil Nebula. The Veil Nebula itself is a large supernova remnant, the expanding debris cloud from the death explosion of a massive star.
2019 November 24 Apollo 12: Self-Portrait Image Credit: NASA, Apollo 12, Charles Conrad Explanation: Is this image art? 50 years ago, Apollo 12 astronaut-photographer Charles “Pete” Conrad recorded this masterpiece while documenting colleague Alan Bean’s lunar soil collection activ
2019 November 23 Apollo 12 and Surveyor 3 Stereo View Image Credit: NASA, Apollo 12, Alan Bean – Stereo Image Copyright: Kevin Frank Explanation: Put on your red/blue glasses and gaze across the western Ocean of Storms on the surface of the Moon. The 3D view features Apollo 12 astronaut Pete C
2019 November 22 Orion Rising Image Credit & Copyright: Vitalij Kopa Explanation: Looking toward the east in the early hours of a September morning this single exposure made with tripod and camera captured a simple visual experience. Rising above the tree-lined slope are familiar stars in planet
2019 November 21 Simeis 147: Supernova Remnant Image Credit & Copyright: David Lindemann Explanation: It’s easy to get lost following the intricate looping filaments in this detailed image of supernova remnant Simeis 147. Also cataloged as Sharpless 2-240 it goes by the popular nickname, t
