2021年01月01日 Galaxies and the South Celestial Pole Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horalek, Josef Kujal Explanation: The South Celestial Pole is easy to spot in star trail images of the southern sky. The extension of Earth’s axis of rotation to the south, it’s at the center of all the […]
2020年11月17日 A Glowing STEVE and the Milky Way Image Credit: NASA, Krista Trinder Explanation: What’s creating these long glowing streaks in the sky? No one is sure. Known as Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancements (STEVEs), these luminous light-purple sky ribbons may resemble regular aur
2020年10月21日 A Night Sky Vista from Sardinia Image Credit & Copyright: Tomáš Slovinský Explanation: How many famous sky objects can you find in this image? The featured dark sky composite combines over 60 exposures spanning over 220 degrees to create a veritable menagerie of night sky wonders. V
2020年8月17日 Perseids Around the Milky Way Image Credit & Copyright: Jingyi Zhang Explanation: Why would meteor trails appear curved? The arcing effect arises only because the image artificially compresses (nearly) the whole sky into a rectangle. The meteors are from the Perseid Meteor Shower that
2020 July 2 The Galaxy, the Planet, and the Apple Tree Image Credit & Copyright: Kristine Richer Explanation: The Old Astronomer’s Milky Way arcs through this peaceful northern sky. Against faint, diffuse starlight you can follow dark rifts of interstellar dust clouds stretching from the
2020 June 17 Magnetic Streamlines of the Milky Way Image Credit: ESA, Planck; Text: Joan Schmelz (USRA) Explanation: What role do magnetic fields play in interstellar physics? Analyses of observations by ESA’s Planck satellite of emission by small magnetically-aligned dust grains reveal previo
2020 May 26 The Milky Way over Snow-Capped Himalayas Image Credit & Copyright: Tomas Havel Explanation: What’s higher than the Himalayas? Although the Himalayan Mountains are the tallest on planet Earth, they don’t measure up to the Milky Way. Visible above the snow-capped mountains in th
2020 May 20 Moon, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Milk Way Image Credit & Copyright: Mihail Minkov Explanation: It is not a coincidence that planets line up. That’s because all of the planets orbit the Sun in (nearly) a single sheet called the plane of the ecliptic. When viewed from inside that pla
2020 April 21 Eye on the Milky Way Image Credit & Copyright: Miguel Claro (TWAN, Dark Sky Alqueva) Explanation: Have you ever had stars in your eyes? It appears that the eye on the left does, and moreover it appears to be gazing at even more stars. The featured 27-frame mosaic was taken last Ju
2020 March 9 Milky Way and Zodiacal Light over Chile Image Credit & Copyright: Roman Ponča (ht: Masaryk U.) Explanation: What is the band of light connecting the ground to the Milky Way? Zodiacal light — a stream of dust that orbits the Sun in the inner Solar System. It is most easily seen
