2019 July 23 M82: Galaxy with a Supergalactic Wind Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Copyright: Daniel Nobre Explanation: Why is the Cigar Galaxy billowing red smoke? M82, as this starburst galaxy is also known, was stirred up by a recent pass near large spiral galaxy M81. This doesn […]
2019 July 22 HDR: Earth’s Circular Shadow on the Moon Image Credit & Copyright: Cristian Fattinnanzi Explanation: What could create such a large circular shadow on the Moon? The Earth. Last week’s full Moon — the Buck Moon — was so full that it fell almost exactly in a li
2019 July 21 Moonquakes Surprisingly Common Image Credit: NASA, Apollo 11 Crew Explanation: Why are there so many moonquakes? Analyses of seismometers left on the moon by the Apollo moon landings reveals a surprising number of moonquakes occurring within 100 kilometers of the surface. In fact, 62 mo
2019 July 20 Apollo 11 Landing Panorama Image Credit: Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11, NASA Explanation: Have you seen a panorama from another world lately? Assembled from high-resolution scans of the original film frames, this one sweeps across the magnificent desolation of the Apollo 11 landing site on
2019 July 18 Tranquility Base Panorama Image Credit: Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11, NASA Explanation: On July 20, 1969 the Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle safely touched down on the Moon. It landed near the southwestern corner of the Moon’s Mare Tranquillitatis at a landing site dubbed Tranquility Ba
2019 July 18 Shadowed Moon and Mountain Image Credit: Norbert Span Explanation: On July 16 the Moon celebrated the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11 with a lunar eclipse visible from much of planet Earth. In this view part of the lunar disk is immersed in Earth’s dark, reddened umbra
2019 July 17 Apollo 11: Descent to the Moon Video Credit: NASA, Apollo Flight Journal Compilation & Copyright: W. David Woods Explanation: It had never been done before. But with the words “You’re Go for landing”, 50 years ago this Saturday, Apollo 11 astronauts Aldrin and Arms
2019 July 16 Apollo 11 Launches Humans to the Moon Video Credit: NASA Explanation: Everybody saw the Moon. Nobody had ever been there. Humans across planet Earth watched in awe 50 years ago today as a powerful Saturn V rocket attempted to launch humans — to the Moon. Some in space flight guess
2019 July 15 The Space Station Crosses a Spotless Sun Image Credit & Copyright: Rainee Colacurcio Explanation: That’s no sunspot. It’s the International Space Station (ISS) caught passing in front of the Sun. Sunspots, individually, have a dark central umbra, a lighter surrounding pe
2019 July 14 Eagle Aurora over Norway Image Credit & Copyright: Bjørn Jørgensen Explanation: What’s that in the sky? An aurora. A large coronal mass ejection occurred on our Sun five days before this 2012 image was taken, throwing a cloud of fast moving electrons, protons, and ions toward
