2019 September 11 IC 1805: The Heart Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Bray Falls Explanation: What energizes the Heart Nebula? First, the large emission nebula dubbed IC 1805 looks, in whole, like a human heart. The nebula glows brightly in red light emitted by its most prominent element: hydrog […]
2019 September 10 Pluto in True Color Image Credit: NASA, JHU APL, SwRI, Alex Parker Explanation: What color is Pluto, really? It took some effort to figure out. Even given all of the images sent back to Earth when the robotic New Horizons spacecraft sped past Pluto in 2015, processing these multi-s
2019 September 9 M31: The Andromeda Galaxy Image Credit & Copyright: Amir H. Abolfath (TWAN) Explanation: How far can you see? The most distant object easily visible to the unaided eye is M31, the great Andromeda Galaxy, over two million light-years away. Without a telescope, even this immense s
2019 September 8 Perijove 11: Passing Jupiter Video Credit & License: NASA, Juno, SwRI, MSSS, Gerald Eichstadt; Music: Moonlight Sonata (Ludwig van Beethoven) Explanation: Here comes Jupiter! NASA’s robotic spacecraft Juno is continuing on its 53-day, highly-elongated orbits around our Sol
2019 September 7 In Wolf’s Cave Image Credit & Copyright: Charlie Bracken, Mladen Dugec, Max Whitby Explanation: The mysterious blue reflection nebula found in catalogs as VdB 152 or Ced 201 really is very faint. It lies at the tip of the long dark nebula Barnard 175 in a dusty complex tha
2019 September 6 Recycling Cassiopeia A Image Credit: X-ray – NASA, CXC, SAO; Optical – NASA,STScI Explanation: Massive stars in our Milky Way Galaxy live spectacular lives. Collapsing from vast cosmic clouds, their nuclear furnaces ignite and create heavy elements in their cores. After
2019 September 5 The Large Cloud of Magellan Image Credit & Copyright: Alessandro Cipolat Bares Explanation: The 16th century Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan and his crew had plenty of time to study the southern sky during the first circumnavigation of planet Earth. As a result, two fuzz
2019 September 4 The Spider Nebula in Infrared Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Spitzer Space Telescope, 2MASS Explanation: Will the spider ever catch the fly? Not if both are large emission nebulas toward the constellation of the Charioteer (Auriga). The spider-shaped gas cloud on the left is actua
2019 September 3 Unusual Signal Suggests Neutron Star Destroyed by Black Hole Illustration Video Credit: NASA, Dana Berry (Skyworks Digital) Explanation: What created this unusual explosion? Three weeks ago, gravitational wave detectors in the USA and Europe — the LIGO and Virgo detectors R
2019 September 2 The Moon and Jupiter over the Alps Image Credit & Copyright: Giorgia Hofer (Cortina Astronomical Association) Explanation: What are those bright lights in the sky ahead? When hiking a high mountain pass in northern Italy three weeks ago, a conjunction between our Moon and the di
