保护地球，探索宇宙，发现文明
2022年8月16日 A Meteor Wind over Tunisia Image Credit & Copyright: Makrem Larnaout Explanation: Does the Earth ever pass through a wind of meteors? Yes, and they are frequently visible as meteor showers. Almost all meteors are sand-sized debris that escaped from a Sun-orbiting comet or asteroid, debris that continues in an elongated orbit around the Sun. C...
2022年8月11日 Perseids and MAGIC Image Credit & Copyright: Urs Leutenegger Explanation: On August 11, 2021 a multi-mirror, 17 meter-diameter MAGIC telescope reflected this starry night sky from the Roque de los Muchachos European Northern Observatory on the Canary Island of La Palma. MAGIC stands for Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov. The telescope...
2022年8月7日 Meteor before Galaxy Image Credit & Copyright: Fritz Helmut Hemmerich Explanation: What’s that green streak in front of the Andromeda galaxy? A meteor. While photographing the Andromeda galaxy in 2016, near the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower, a small pebble from deep space crossed right in front of our Milky Way Galaxy’s far-dis...
2021年12月20日 The Comet and the Fireball Image Credit & Copyright: Cory Poole Explanation: This picture was supposed to feature a comet. Specifically, a series of images of the brightest comet of 2021 were being captured: Comet Leonard. But the universe had other plans. Within a fraction of a second, a meteor so bright it could be called a fireball streak...
2021年12月13日 Meteors and Auroras over Iceland Image Credit & Copyright: James Boardman-Woodend; Annotation: Judy Schmidt Explanation: What’s going on behind that mountain? Quite a bit. First of all, the mountain itself, named Kirkjufell, is quite old and located in western Iceland near the town of Grundarfjörður. In front of the steeply-sloped stru...
2021年11月16日 Geminids from Gemini Image Credit & Copyright: Wang Jin Explanation: Where are all of these meteors coming from? In terms of direction on the sky, the pointed answer is the constellation of Gemini. That is why the major meteor shower in December is known as the Geminids — because shower meteors all appear to come from a radiant toward G...
2021年10月12日 Fireball over Lake Louise Image Credit & Copyright: Hao Qin Explanation: What makes a meteor a fireball? First of all, everyone agrees that a fireball is an exceptionally bright meteor. Past that, the International Astronomical Union defines a fireball as a meteor brighter than apparent magnitude -4, which corresponds (roughly) to being brig...
2021年8月14日 Island Universe, Cosmic Sand Image Credit & Copyright: Marzena Rogozinska Explanation: Stars in our own Milky Way Galaxy are scattered through this eye-catching field of view. From the early hours after midnight on August 13, the 30 second exposure of the night sky over Busko-Zdroj, Poland records the colorful and bright trail of a Perseid me...
2021年8月9日 Perseus and the Lost Meteors Image Credit & Copyright: Tomas Slovinsky (Slovakia) & Petr Horalek (Czech Republic; Institute of Physics in Opava) Explanation: What’s the best way to watch a meteor shower? This question might come up later this week when the annual Perseid Meteor Shower peaks. One thing that is helpful is a dark sky, ...
2021年03月15日 Meteor Fireballs in Light and Sound Image Credit & Copyright: Thomas Ashcraft (Radio Fireball Observatory) Explanation: Yes, but have you ever heard a meteor? Usually, meteors are too far away to make any audible sound. However, a meteor will briefly create an ionization trail that can reflect a distant radio signal. If the geometry is right...