2019 March 17 M106: A Spiral Galaxy with a Strange Center Image Credit: NASA, ESO , NAOJ, Giovanni Paglioli; Assembling and Processing: R. Colombari and R. Gendler Explanation: What’s happening at the center of spiral galaxy M106? A swirling disk of stars and gas, M106’s appearance is do […]
2019 March 16 NGC 3324 in Carina Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh Explanation: This bright cosmic cloud was sculpted by stellar winds and radiation from the hot young stars of open cluster NGC 3324. With dust clouds in silhouette against its glowing atomic gas, the pocket-shaped star-formin
2019 March 15 A View Toward M101 Image Credit & Copyright: Christoph Kaltseis, CEDIC 2019 Explanation: Big, beautiful spiral galaxy M101 is one of the last entries in Charles Messier’s famous catalog, but definitely not one of the least. About 170,000 light-years across, this galaxy is en
2019 March 14 Perseverance Valley Panorama Image Credit: NASA JPL-Caltech Cornell ASU Explanation: Mars exploration rover Opportunity’s parting panorama from Perseverance Valley spans 360 degrees in this false color mosaic. The scene is composed of 354 individual images recorded through 3 diff
2019 March 13 Highlights of the North Spring Sky Image Credit & Copyright: Universe2go.com Explanation: What can you see in the night sky this season? The featured graphic gives a few highlights for Earth’s northern hemisphere. Viewed as a clock face centered at the bottom, early (northern
2019 March 12 Touchdown on Asteroid Ryugu Video Credit: JAXA Explanation: Last month, humanity bounced a robot off an asteroid. The main reason was to collect a surface sample. Despite concern over finding a safely reboundable touchdown spot, Japan’s robotic Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully t
2019 March 11 The Central Magnetic Field of the Cigar Galaxy Image Credit: NASA, SOFIA, E. Lopez-Rodriguez; NASA, Spitzer, J. Moustakas et al. Explanation: Are galaxies giant magnets? Yes, but the magnetic fields in galaxies are typically much weaker than on Earth’s surface, as well as more co
2019 March 10 Moonrise Through Mauna Kea’s Shadow Images Credit & Copyright: Michael Connelley (U. Hawaii) Explanation: How can the Moon rise through a mountain? It cannot — what was photographed here is a moonrise through the shadow of a large volcano. The volcano is Mauna Kea, Hawa
2019 March 9 Crescent Enceladus Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA Explanation: Peering from the shadows, the Saturn-facing hemisphere of tantalizing inner moon Enceladus poses in this Cassini spacecraft image. North is up in the dramatic scene captured during November 2016 as C
2019 March 8 Stardust and Starlight in M78 Image Credit & Copyright: Richard S. Wright Jr. Explanation: Interstellar dust clouds and bright nebulae abound in the fertile constellation of Orion. One of the brightest, M78, is near the center in this colorful telescopic view, covering an area nort
