2019 February 18 Dragon Aurora over Iceland Image Credit & Copyright: Jingyi Zhang & Wang Zheng Explanation: Have you ever seen a dragon in the sky? Although real flying dragons don’t exist, a huge dragon-shaped aurora developed in the sky over Iceland earlier this month. The aurora wa […]
2019 February 17 Shadow of a Martian Robot Image Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, JPL, NASA Explanation: What if you saw your shadow on Mars and it wasn’t human? Then you might be the Opportunity rover currently exploring Mars. Opportunity explored the red planet from 2004 to 2018, find
2019 February 16 NGC 2359: Thor’s Helmet Image Credit & Copyright: Ignacio Diaz Bobillo Explanation: NGC 2359 is a helmet-shaped cosmic cloud with wing-like appendages popularly called Thor’s Helmet. Heroically sized even for a Norse god, Thor’s Helmet is about 30 light-years a
2019 February 15 Opportunity at Perseverance Valley Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Kenneth Kremer, Marco Di Lorenzo Explanation: Opportunity had already reached Perseverance Valley by June of 2018. Its view is reconstructed in a colorized mosaic of images taken by the Mars Exploration Rover’
2019 February 14 Solar System Family Portait Image Credit: Voyager Project, NASA Explanation: On Valentine’s Day in 1990, cruising four billion miles from the Sun, the Voyager 1 spacecraft looked back one last time to make this first ever Solar System family portrait. The complete portrait is
2019 February 13 The Helix Nebula in Hydrogen and Oxygen Image Credit & Copyright: Andrew Campbell Explanation: Is the Helix Nebula looking at you? No, not in any biological sense, but it does look quite like an eye. The Helix Nebula is so named because it also appears that you are looking down
2019 February 12 Plane Crossing a Crescent Moon Image Credit & Copyright: Olivier Staiger (Binounistan.com) Explanation: No, this is not a good way to get to the Moon. What is pictured is a chance superposition of an airplane and the Moon. The contrail would normally appear white, but the large
2019 February 11 New Data: Ultima Thule Surprisingly Flat Illustration Credit: NASA, JHU’s APL, SwRI Explanation: Ultima Thule is not the object humanity thought that it was last month. When the robotic New Horizons spacecraft zoomed past the distant asteroid Ultima Thule (officially 2014 MU69
2019 February 10 Venus Unveiled Image Credit: Venus (left): NASA, JPL, Magellan Project; Earth (right): NASA, Apollo 17 Explanation: What does Venus look like beneath its thick clouds? These clouds keep the planet’s surface hidden from even the powerful telescopic eyes of Earth-bound astronome
